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| A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The EERE Network News is also available on the Web at: www.eere.energy.gov/news/enn.cfm December 09, 2009News and Events
Energy Connections
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News and EventsPresident Obama Proposes Home Energy Retrofit Program for Job Creation
President Barack Obama proposed a new rebate program on Tuesday to reward homeowners for making their homes more energy efficient, while also proposing additional federal investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. As part of a speech about jobs and the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., the president noted that home energy retrofits create jobs, save money for families, and reduce the pollution that threatens our environment. President Obama also called for aid to small businesses and new investments in infrastructure. Most of the president's proposals will require congressional approval. President Obama's job plan calls for an expansion of select American Recovery and Reinvestment Act initiatives that promote energy efficiency and clean energy jobs. The president noted that one-third of the Recovery Act is intended for investments "to put Americans to work doing the work that America needs done," such as doubling the U.S. capacity for producing power from renewable energy. But most of those initiatives are oversubscribed, causing many strong ideas to go unfunded. With that in mind, the Obama Administration is supporting the expansion of programs for which additional federal dollars will leverage private investment and create jobs quickly, such as investments in industrial energy efficiency, as well as new or extended tax incentives for investing in U.S. manufacturing facilities for renewable energy technologies. See the White House press release and a transcript of the president's remarks. DOE and USDA Award $564 Million to Biorefinery ProjectsDOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on December 4 the award of $564 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to 19 integrated biorefinery projects. Located in 15 states, the projects will validate biorefining technologies and help lay the foundation for full commercial-scale development of a biomass industry in the United States. The selected projects will produce advanced biofuels, bioproducts, and power from biomass feedstocks at the pilot, demonstration, and commercial scale. Collectively, these projects will be matched with more than $700 million in private and non-federal cost-share funds, for total project investments of nearly $1.3 billion. These efforts are designed to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, spur the creation of the domestic biomass industry, and provide new jobs in many rural areas of the country. They will also help close the gap between the current biofuels production from a small number of advanced biorefineries and the aggressive goals for cellulosic and advanced biofuels included in the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. Of the new funding, up to $483 million will go to 14 pilot-scale and 4 demonstration-scale biorefinery projects, which will produce biofuels and bioproducts from such sources as algae, poultry fat, plant oils, switchgrass, sweet sorghum, agricultural and forest residues, and various sources of wood (including hybrid poplar trees and wood waste). The projects will produce ethanol and biobased versions of diesel fuel, gasoline, and jet fuel. Several projects will produce high-value biobased chemicals, including potassium acetate, ethyl acrylate, and succinnic acid. One demonstration-scale project will also produce 2 megawatts of power. The funds include a DOE grant of up to $50 million and a USDA loan guarantee of $54.5 million for Sapphire Energy's planned facility in Columbus, New Mexico. Sapphire Energy plans to convert algae into "Green Crude," a drop-in replacement for crude oil that can be refined into a variety of fuels at a traditional oil refinery. See the Sapphire Energy press release. The remaining $81 million will help accelerate the construction of a facility in rural Fulton, Mississippi, that had previously received DOE funding. The project from BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. will have the capacity to generate 19 million gallons of ethanol per year from woody biomass, mill residue, and municipal solid waste. BlueFire announced in October that it had decided to locate in Mississippi after it faced licensing difficulties and a challenging business climate in California. The Mississippi site will draw on forest residues and wood wastes available in the region. See the DOE press release, the BlueFire Ethanol press release, and the complete list of selected projects (PDF 100KB). Download Adobe Reader. DOE Launches Save Energy Now LEADER Program with 32 CompaniesDOE has joined forces with 32 industrial companies to launch the Save Energy Now LEADER Program, which will provide technical assistance and resources to companies that pledge significant improvements in industrial energy efficiency. The 32 charter member companies from a broad spectrum of the U.S. industrial sector signed a voluntary pledge on December 2 to reduce their industrial energy intensity by 25% over the next decade. The industrial sector accounts for more than 18 million jobs in the United States, but it also consumes nearly 30% of the energy used nationwide and produces 27% of the country's carbon emissions. The charter member companies agreed to establish energy use and energy intensity baselines and develop an energy management plan over the next 12 months. As indicated by the special "LEADER" designation, these companies are more than just first actors on the path to greater energy efficiency; they are serving as role models on an ongoing basis for others in the industrial sector. In return, the companies will receive access to select DOE resources, as well as national recognition for their energy management achievements. The companies signing the pledge include such industry heavyweights as 3M, AT&T, Bridgestone, Dow Chemical Company, Honeywell, Intel, Mohawk Industries, and Sherwin-Williams. For a complete list, see the DOE press release. The LEADER program is a new component of the existing and successful Save Energy Now initiative, through which companies partner with DOE to conduct energy audits and assessments that identify the opportunities for energy and cost savings in the companies' operations. Participating businesses also have access to the tools and training they need to implement those recommendations. Since 2006, more than 2,000 plants received energy assessments through Save Energy Now, identifying opportunities for $1.3 billion in cost savings, 119 trillion Btu of natural gas savings, and carbon dioxide reductions totaling 11.2 million metric tons. See the Save Energy Now Web site. ARPA-E Offers $100 Million for Biofuel and Battery Research Projects
DOE announced on Monday that the department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is offering a second round of grants for innovative energy research projects. The grants will draw upon $100 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and are designed to accelerate innovation in green technology, increase U.S. competitiveness, and create jobs. This funding round is focused specifically on new approaches for biofuels and electric vehicle batteries, as well as carbon capture technologies. For now, applicants need to submit a concept paper by January 15, 2010. The deadline for full applications has not been determined yet. For biofuels, ARPA-E is seeking new ways to make liquid transportation fuels from carbon dioxide, without using petroleum or biomass. Instead, the intent is toemploy microorganisms to harness the chemical or electrical energy needed to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels. The objective is to develop an entirely new paradigm for the production of liquid fuels that could overcome the challenges associated with current technologies, including a dependence on biomass supplies or waste streams. While there are also approaches to produce liquid transportation fuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide using photosynthesis, these approaches suffer from low efficiencies. ARPA-E requests innovative proposals that can overcome these challenges through the use of metabolic engineering and synthetic biological approaches for the efficient conversion of carbon dioxide to liquid transportation fuels. Such approaches could be 10 times more efficient than current techniques that rely on photosynthetic biomass. ARPA-E is also looking to develop a new generation of low-cost batteries with ultra-high energy densities for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs). ARPA-E's objective is to fund high-risk, high-reward research efforts that will promote leadership in the emerging EV battery market. The development of high-energy, low-cost batteries represents the critical barrier to widespread deployment of EVs, which could improve U.S. oil security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and spur economic growth. If successful, new battery technologies developed under this program will give electrified light-duty vehicles the range, performance, lifetime, and cost required to shift transportation energy from oil to the domestically powered U.S. electric grid. See the DOE press release, DOE's ARPA-E Web site, and the ARPA-E Web site for Funding Opportunity Announcements. And on December 8, DOE announced the creation of the ARPA-E Fellows Program, which will consist of highly technical scientists and researchers who will actively help create the strategic direction and vision of ARPA-E. Fellows, selected for no more than two year terms, will support ARPA-E's program directors in program creation, while also undertaking independent explorations of promising future research areas for the agency. They will also engage with world-class researchers and innovators to develop theses for high-impact ARPA-E research program areas, prepare energy technology and economic analyses, and make recommendations to DOE senior management. See the DOE press release. Commerce Department to Speed Review of Green Technology PatentsThe U.S. Commerce Department announced on Monday that its U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will pilot a year-long program to accelerate the examination of certain "green" technology patent applications by as much as one year. The new initiative is designed to speed the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness. In particular, the program focuses on patents for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, plus other environmental technologies. The program rules spell out 29 categories of renewable energy technologies and 23 categories of energy efficiency technologies that are eligible. Pending patent applications in these technologies will be eligible for special status and given expedited review. Earlier patenting of these technologies enables inventors to secure funding, create businesses, and bring vital green technologies into use much sooner. Patent applications are normally taken up for examination in the order that they are filed. It typically takes the USPTO two and a half years to start taking action on a patent application, and it takes another 10 months to reach a final decision on the patent. Under the pilot program, the office will examine patent applications on an accelerated basis for the first 3,000 applications related to green technologies for which a petition is filed. Petitions are currently being accepted, and the program will accept petitions through December 8, 2010. If the trial is successful, the USPTO will consider ways to expand the initiative. See the Commerce Department press release; the USPTO Web site; the full details on the pilot program as published in the Federal Register (PDF 452 KB); and the petition form for the pilot program (PDF 158 KB). Download Adobe Reader. DOE to Prohibit Energy Star Labels on Certain LG RefrigeratorsDOE announced on Monday that certain LG French-door refrigerator-freezers are banned from using the Energy Star label, effective January 2, 2010. Energy Star is a voluntary program, sponsored through DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, that promotes the development and sale of energy-efficient products. The labels associated with the program inform consumers of the most energy-efficient products in a particular product category. DOE's announcement is part of a broader effort at the agency to expand enforcement efforts for the Energy Star and appliance standards programs. DOE is proceeding with this action after multiple independent labs confirmed that when certain LG French-door refrigerator-freezers are tested using existing DOE test procedures, they do not qualify for the Energy Star Program. In November 2008, DOE and LG entered into an agreement that was intended to let LG transition away from test procedures that significantly underestimated the amount of energy that certain LG French-door refrigerator-freezers would consume during normal use. Because recent testing confirms that problems persist, DOE has exercised its right to give notice and terminate the agreement. As a result of DOE’s actions, LG has now sued the department in federal court. "We intend to defend the Department's actions in federal court," said DOE General Counsel Scott Blake Harris, "and to prove that the law of the United States does not give LG any right to continue using the Energy Star label in a way that could impose unexpected costs upon American families and unjustly disadvantage manufacturers of more energy efficient products." See the DOE press release and the Energy Star Web site. | ||||
Energy ConnectionsEIA: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Decreased by 2.2% in 2008The total U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases dropped to the equivalent of 7,053 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2008, a 2.2% decrease, according to a new report from DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The drop was largely due to a 2.9% decrease in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, which the EIA attributes to record-high oil prices for much of the year, followed by a decline in economic activity. That decline is expected to continue this year, as the EIA's "Short Term Energy Outlook," released on December 8, projects a 6.1% decrease in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, which are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. But a healthier economy tends to bring increases in such emissions, and the EIA projects a 1.5% increase in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2010. Since 1990, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 0.7%. See the EIA press release, the greenhouse gas report, and the "Short-Term Energy Outlook." The EIA reports are timely, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has officially declared that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the residents of the United States, which means that they fit within the Clean Air Act's definition of air pollutants and are subject to regulation. The so-called endangerment finding covers six key greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. The finding does not in and of itself impose any emissions requirements, but it does allow the EPA to finalize its proposed greenhouse gas standards for light-duty vehicles. Although it opens the six greenhouse gases to regulation under the Clean Air Act, the Obama Administration prefers a legislative solution to the problem of climate change. See the EPA press release and the endangerment finding. The EIA reports and the EPA endangerment finding also come as international negotiations on a climate change pact are underway in Copenhagen, Denmark. The United Nations (U.N.) climate change conference, technically known as the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP 15 for short, started on Monday and runs through December 18. President Obama had planned to attend the conference today, but he changed his plans and will now attend on December 18. The president's arrival near the end of the negotiations allows him to potentially play a role in achieving an international agreement. See the White House press release, the official U.N. COP-15 Web site, and the official U.S. COP-15 Web site. | ||||
| This newsletter is funded by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and is also available on the EERE Web site. If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact the editor, Kevin Eber. Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact support@govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE). Visit the Web site at http://www.eere.energy.gov. |
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