|
|
The new DOE-funded projects aim to achieve greater
efficiency in mining operations.
Credit: Ernie Sistek, Kennametal
|
DOE announced last week its selection of five new projects to develop
new mining technologies that will reduce energy use and lower costs. DOE
will contribute nearly $1.88 million to the five projects, matched by $1.13
million from the private sector. The largest project is the development of
an integrated data analysis system that aims to change the way mines measure,
predict, control, and monitor their processes, with a goal of making the
processes more efficient. The other four projects will investigate the use
of high-pressure water jets for hard rock mining, develop a novel
processing technology for dry coal, and evaluate two methods to remove
water from wet slurries containing small particles of coal. See the DOE
press release.
Each year, nearly 47,000 pounds of materials are mined for each person
in the United States.
The Mining Industry of the Future—a
collaboration between the U.S. mining industry and DOE's Industrial Technologies
Program—is working to make the
U.S. mining industry the most efficient, advanced, and
energy-efficient in the world. See the Mining Industry of the
Future Web page.
Washington State Adopts New Renewable Energy and Efficiency Laws
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed a number of energy-related
bills into law on Friday that will set up the state as a policy leader for
renewable energy and energy efficiency. For renewable energy, perhaps the
most significant bill is Senate Bill 5101, which pays incentives of 15
cents per kilowatt-hour (capped at $2,000 per year) to individuals,
businesses, or local governments that generate electricity from solar
power, wind power, or anaerobic digesters. The state's utilities will pay
the incentives and earn a tax credit for those payments. The incentive
increases if certain components for the system are manufactured within the
state, but could also be uniformly reduced if too many utility customers
apply for the incentive. The bill applies to power generated as of July 1st
and remains in effect through June 30, 2014. It applies initially to
off-grid power sources, but will extend to grid-connected power sources
once most utilities in the state adopt uniform standards for connecting to
the grid. In addition to Senate Bill 5101, the governor signed Senate Bill
5111, which creates tax credits for manufacturers and wholesale marketers
of solar photovoltaic modules or silicon components of those systems. See
the texts of Senate
Bill 5101 and the Senate
Bill 5111.
Washington is also the latest state to
adopt energy efficiency standards for 12 products not covered by current
federal standards, a step taken most recently by Arizona in late April. House Bill 1062
sets standards for illuminated exit signs, low-voltage dry-type
distribution transformers, metal halide lamp fixtures, external power
supplies, incandescent reflector lamps, torchieres, traffic signals, unit
heaters, and automatic commercial ice cube machines, as well as commercial
clothes washers, pre-rinse spray valves, and refrigerators and freezers.
According to the legislation, the standards are expected to save consumers
$490 million by 2020 while reducing the state's annual energy and water
consumption by 900,000 megawatt-hours of electricity, 13 million therms of
natural gas, and 1.7 billion gallons of water. The governor also signed
House Bill 1895, which encourages energy efficiency at all levels of
government, and Senate Bill 5916, which provides a sales tax exemption for
passenger cars and trucks purchased during 2009 or 2010 that run on natural
gas, propane, electricity, hydrogen, or hybrid technology. See the press
release from Washington Representative Jeff Morris, a sponsor of several
of the bills, or go directly to the texts of House
Bill 1062, House
Bill 1895, and Senate
Bill 5916.
Last but not least, Washington has
become the latest state to adopt California's
motor vehicle emissions standards, including its greenhouse gas emission
standards, but not including California's
zero emissions vehicle program. The regulations take effect in 2009, but
only if Oregon
also adopts the standards. See the governor's press
release and the text of the vehicle emissions bill, House
Bill 1397.
Montana Laws Set Requirements for Renewable Energy and
Ethanol
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer signed two bills into law in late
April, establishing requirements for renewable energy and ethanol use
throughout the state. Senate Bill 415 requires public utilities to purchase
at least 5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources in
2008, increasing to 15 percent by 2015. Eligible renewable energy sources
include small hydropower, most biomass sources, and wind, solar, and
geothermal energy, as well as fuel cells using hydrogen generated from any
of these energy sources. The law also requires public utilities to buy some
of their renewable energy from customer-sited facilities with capacities of
5 megawatts or less. By 2015, such "community renewable energy
projects" must provide 75 megawatts of renewable energy capacity for
each of the state's public utilities. Montana has two public utilities:
NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities. See the full text
and history
of Senate Bill 415.
Senate Bill 293 requires nearly all gasoline in the state to be blended
with 10 percent ethanol. The law will take effect a year after the state's
ethanol plants achieve the ability to produce 40 million gallons of ethanol
per year and demonstrate that ability for three months. With the mandate in
place, the law also reduces tax incentives and credits for the production
and sale of ethanol. See the full text
and history
of Senate Bill 293.
Other energy-related bills that the governor recently signed include
Senate Bill 50, which expands the state's alternative energy revolving loan
program and extends it to local government, universities, and nonprofits;
Senate Bill 83, which clarifies that renewable energy projects are eligible
for the state's renewable resource grants and loans; Senate Bill 340, which
provides a tax credit for residential geothermal heating and cooling
systems; and Senate Bill 365, which extends funding for energy efficiency
and renewable energy projects through 2009. See the texts of Senate
Bill 50, Senate
Bill 83, Senate
Bill 340, and Senate
Bill 365.
|
|
Ormat is adding to its Heber geothermal complex in California's Imperial Valley.
Credit: Warren Gretz
|
Ormat Technologies, Inc. broke ground last week on a new 10-megawatt
geothermal power plant at its 40-megawatt Heber Geothermal Facilities
Complex in southern California's Imperial Valley. Ormat, a leader in geothermal power
production, is also modifying its existing Heber facilities to generate an
additional 8 megawatts of power. Ormat helped to cement its position in
southern California on Friday, when the
Southern California Power Purchase Authority agreed to purchase power from
the Heber facility and Ormat's 73.2-megawatt Ormesa Geothermal Facilities
Complex (also in the Imperial Valley) for
the next 25 years. Ormat plans to add an additional 125 megawatts of
generating capacity over the next two to three years. See the Ormat press release and
Ormat's descriptions of its Heber
and Ormesa facilities.
Geothermal power plants have a number of environmental benefits, as
spelled out in a new 87-page publication, "A Guide to Geothermal
Energy and the Environment," produced by the Geothermal Energy Association.
The new guide updates information on geothermal energy use—particularly electric power
production—for a wide range of environmental issues and offers
pictures, graphs, and charts that help to place the potential benefits of
expanded geothermal energy use in perspective. See the guide (PDF
1.1 MB). Download
Acrobat Reader.
Invenergy, LLC is preparing to build Idaho's
largest wind plant, a 64.5-megawatt wind power project located about 10
miles southeast of Idaho Falls.
PacifiCorp announced last week that it signed a power purchase agreement
with Invenergy, allowing the company to move ahead with its Wolverine Creek
project, which will comprise 43 1.5-megawatt wind turbines from GE Energy.
Invenergy's subsidiary, Wolverine Creek Energy LLC, will build the project
and place it in service by the end of this year. The project was one of
many proposed to PacifiCorp in response to its February 2004 solicitation
and is the first to result in a power purchase agreement. The utility
remains in negotiations on other renewable energy projects. See the PacifiCorp
press release.
While the Wolverine Creek project will be Idaho's largest to date, it's
not clear if it will be the state's first large wind plant. The
10.5-megawatt Fossil Gulch Wind Plant is currently under development in
Hagerman, Idaho, and it's uncertain which plant will be completed first.
Like Wolverine Creek, the Fossil Gulch Wind Plant will feature GE Energy's
1.5-megawatt wind turbines. See the GE
Energy press release.
Meanwhile, a number of other large wind projects are pressing ahead. FPL
Energy just started commercial operation of its 106.5-megawatt Weatherford
Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma, and is already planning to add another 40.5
megawatts. Farther north, the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) broke
ground in mid-April on its 60-megawatt Ainsworth Wind Energy Facility,
located six miles south of Ainsworth, Nebraska. The project will be Nebraska's
largest wind facility when it begins operation in fall. In the Northeast,
EverPower Wind LLC announced plans in mid-April to build a 70-megawatt wind
project in Steuben County, New York, west of Elmira. And on the West Coast,
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has approved the
final Environmental Impact Report for the 120-megawatt Pine Tree Wind
Project, which will be located about 12 miles north of Mojave, California.
If construction is approved, LADWP will start on the project this summer
and complete it next year. Once built, it will be the largest municipally
owned wind plant in the United States. See the press releases from FPL Energy, NPPD,
EverPower
Wind, and LADWP.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week that
10 corporations in its Climate Leaders program have set specific goals for
reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. According to EPA, 37 of the 68
companies in the voluntary program have now set emissions goals that will
prevent the equivalent of more than 8 million metric tons of carbon
emissions per year. See the EPA
press release and the Climate
Leaders Web site.
Many of the actions companies are taking to reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions involve energy efficiency and renewable energy. For instance,
Xerox Corporation plans to achieve a 30 percent improvement in energy
efficiency by 2012. Green Mountain Energy Company, a green power provider,
is offsetting its carbon emissions by buying renewable energy credits, and is
also encouraging its employees to find creative ways to get to work. Exelon
Corporation, an electric utility, plans to increase its use of renewable
energy while undertaking energy efficiency initiatives across its
operations. Meanwhile, General Motors Corporation (GM), one of the early
Climate Leaders partners, has already achieved its goal: an 11 percent
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over three years. GM achieved its
goal in part by fueling coal-fired boilers with natural gas or landfill gas
instead. See the press releases from Xerox,
Green
Mountain Energy Company, Exelon
Corporation, and GM.
|
