FW: [sustainable1] EERE Network News -- 05/05/04

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From: "EERE Network News" <[email protected]> (by way of Tom Gray
<[email protected]>)
Reply-To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 10:38:45 -0400
To: [email protected]
Subject: [sustainable1] EERE Network News -- 05/05/04


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A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/>Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy (EERE).


May 05, 2004




News and Events

    * GM Delivers the World's First Full-Sized Hybrid Pickup
    * U.S. Hybrid Vehicle Registrations and Sales on the Increase
    * Technologies to Boost the Fuel Efficiency of Cars and Planes
    * University of Victoria Wins Hydrogen Fueling Design Contest
    * Canadian Company Starts Production of Ethanol from Cellulose
    * New England Grid Operator Awards Energy Efficiency Contract


Site News

    * Treepower.org


Energy Connections

    * EPA: No Change in U.S. Fuel Economy in 2004
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News and Events




GM Delivers the World's First Full-Sized Hybrid Pickup

General Motors Corporation (GM) delivered its first commercial
hybrid-electric vehicle on Monday, presenting the first Chevrolet Silverado
hybrid pickup to Miami-Dade County in Florida. The vehicle is the first
full-sized hybrid pickup in the world, achieving a fuel economy that is 10
to 12 percent higher than GM's other half-ton pickups. GM also takes
advantage of the truck's electrical generator, providing four auxiliary
power outlets under the rear seat of the cab for use in powering tools and
other accessories. By the end of May, GM will deliver a total of 50
Silverado hybrid pickups to Miami-Dade County for use in its fleet, and
will start selling hybrid versions of the Silverado and the GMC Sierra
pickups at dealerships this fall. See the
<http://www.media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.
gm.com/gmnews/viewmonthlyreleasedetail.do?domain=3&docid=3640>GM
press release.
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A look under the hood of the Ford Escape Hybrid.
Credit: Ford Motor Company

GM delivered its new hybrid vehicle during the 10th National Clean Cities
Conference and Expo, now taking place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. DOE's
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Gold Coast
Clean Cities Coalition are hosting this year's event, which EERE marked in
part by launching a revised Web site for its Clean Cities Program. The
revised Web site provides simple, intuitive access to information about the
program, and reflects the looks and feel of the EERE Web site. See the
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/>Clean Cities Program Web site and
the 
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/conference/lauderdale/>conference
Web site.

Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company is preparing to start selling its Escape
Hybrid sport utility vehicle in late summer. Ford expects the
front-wheel-drive version to achieve 35 to 40 miles per gallon in city
driving. See the updated
<http://www.fordvehicles.com/escapehybrid/home/index.asp>Escape Hybrid Web
site.


U.S. Hybrid Vehicle Registrations and Sales on the Increase

The number of hybrid electric vehicles registered in the United States
increased nearly 26 percent in 2003 to a total of 43,435, according to R.L.
Polk & Co., a provider of automotive marketing data. The Polk report,
released in late April, found that the Honda Civic Hybrid accounted for
half of the hybrid registrations in 2003, followed closely by the Toyota
Prius, with 47 percent. Honda's two-seater Insight accounted for the
remaining 3 percent of hybrid vehicles. California is by far the state
where the most hybrids are registered, and more than 40 percent of that
state's owners are in Los Angeles. See the
<http://www.polk.com/news/releases/2004_0422.asp>R.L. Polk press release.

This year, U.S. sales of hybrids are continuing to climb, and Toyota
appears to be passing Honda by. American Honda sold a record 3,041 Civic
Hybrids in April and has sold 9,023 Civic Hybrids since the start of this
year, an increase of 10.9 percent over last year's sales. Meanwhile, Toyota
Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. sold 3,684 Priuses in April and 13,602 since the
start of this year, an increase of 78.1 percent over last year's sales. See
the press releases from
<http://pressroom.toyota.com/photo_library/display_release.html?id=20040503>
Toyota 
and <http://www.hondanews.com/CatID1000?mid=2004050352054&mime=asc>Honda.


Technologies to Boost the Fuel Efficiency of Cars and Planes

While General Motors Corporation (GM) and Ford Motor Company are entering
the hybrid vehicle market, they continue pursuing other technologies that
will also yield improvements in gasoline mileage. Notably, the two
companies announced in late April that they are investing $720 million to
build a six-speed, front-wheel-drive, automatic transmission. The new
six-speed transmission is expected to offer up to four percent better gas
mileage compared to today's four-speed transmissions, according to the
automakers. Starting in 2006, the new transmissions will be built at a GM
plant in Warren, Michigan, and at Ford plants in Sterling Heights,
Michigan, and Sharonville, Ohio. In November, Ford also announced a
$155-million investment in its Sharonville plant to build rear-drive
six-speed automatic transmissions there. See the
<http://www.media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.
gm.com/gmnews/viewmonthlyreleasedetail.do?domain=3&docid=3234>GM
press release.
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An artist's concept of Boeing's new 7E7 jetliner.
Credit: Boeing Company

Fuel efficiency improvements are also coming to jetliners, as Boeing
Company has launched its new energy-efficiency 7E7 Dreamliner passenger
jet. According to Boeing, the 7E7 uses 15 to 20 percent less fuel than
today's airplanes of comparable size. Boeing achieved the fuel savings
using lightweight, fuel-efficient engines; improved aerodynamics; smaller,
lighter wings; and more efficient on-board systems. Japan's ANA (All Nippon
Airlines) has ordered 50 of the new jets from Boeing. See the
<http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2004/q2/nr_040426g.html>Boeing press
release and <http://www.newairplane.com/USA/efficient_rollover.htm>7E7 Web
site.


University of Victoria Wins Hydrogen Fueling Design Contest

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced last week that the University of
Victoria from British Columbia, Canada, is the grand prize winner of the
first Hydrogen Fueling Station Design Contest. The University of
California, Davis came in a close second in the contest, which was
sponsored by DOE, the National Hydrogen Association (NHA), ChevronTexaco,
Natural Resources Canada, and Swagelok Company. Seventeen teams from
universities in the United States and Canada participated in the
competition, which challenged the teams to address the technical
specifications, environmental impact, safety issues, profitability, and
education and marketing for a hydrogen fueling station. See the NHA press
release 
(<http://www.hydrogenus.org/Press%20releases/NHA-Press-Release-042804.pdf>PD
F 
68 KB). <http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/alternate.html>Download
Acrobat Reader.

The NHA is requesting suggestions for next year's contest, which will be
called "H2U." See the <http://www.h2ucontest.org/>preliminary H2U Web site.

DOE also challenged high school students on Saturday to design and build
hydrogen-powered model cars. Using fuel cells and other components provided
by General Motors Corporation, and with technical assistance from DOE
engineers, 16 high school teams built model cars and competed in a speed
race and a hill-climbing competition. University High School of Morgantown,
West Virginia, took first place in the speed race and Chaska High School of
Chaska, Minnesota, conquered a 48-degree incline to become "King of the
Hill." The teams were drawn from finalists in the National Science Bowl, a
national competition among high school students to answer increasingly
difficult questions about science. This year, 64 teams visited Washington,
D.C., as finalists after winning regional competitions in which 1,800
schools participated. On Monday, Thomas Jefferson High School of
Alexandria, Virginia, took the first prize for the third consecutive year.
See the DOE press releases from
<http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=15780&BT_CODE=PR_PRESSREL
EASES&TT_CODE=PRESSRELEASE>May
1st and 
<http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=15782&BT_CODE=PR_PRESSREL
EASES&TT_CODE=PRESSRELEASE>May
3rd.


Canadian Company Starts Production of Ethanol from Cellulose

Ethanol fuel is now being produced from cellulose and sold for commercial
use by Iogen Corporation, the Canadian-based company announced in late
April. Ethanol is currently produced from starchy grains such as corn, but
cellulose ethanol is produced from more "woody" agricultural byproducts,
such as straw, corn cobs, and corn stalks, which are often discarded as
waste. Iogen is producing its cellulose ethanol at a demonstration plant,
but claims to be in the process of finalizing locations for a full-scale
commercial plant. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) hailed the
achievement as a "key breakthrough." See the press releases from
<http://www.iogen.ca/HTML2/news/04_21_2004.html>Iogen and
<http://www.bio.org/newsroom/newsitem.asp?id=2004_0422_01>BIO.

DOE is also supporting research and development in cellulose ethanol. In
late April, Novozymes A/S announced that it has cut the cost of the enzymes
needed for producing ethanol from cellulose by a factor of 20. The gains
were achieved in part by Novozymes' advances in enzyme technologies, and in
part by improved pre-treatment processes for corn wastes that were
developed by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The new
pre-treatment process allows the use of fewer enzymes per gallon of ethanol
produced. See the 
<http://www.novozymes.com/cgi-bin/bvisapi.dll/press/press.jsp?id=28895&lang=
en>Novozymes 
press release.

Meanwhile, the traditional ethanol fuel industry continues to grow. In
February and March, two new ethanol plants started production in Iowa one
near Hanlontown and one near Ashton. Annually, each plant will convert more
than 16 million bushels of corn into 45 million gallons of ethanol.
Construction began on another new plant near Emmetsburg, Iowa, in late
April, so the state currently has 12 operating ethanol plants and 5 under
construction. Nationwide, 75 ethanol plants are now operating and are able
to produce more than 3.2 billion gallons of ethanol per year. The thirteen
plants now under construction will add another 500 million gallons in
production capacity. With new plants coming on line, the industry breaks
its production records each month; in February, the industry produced a
record 212,000 barrels of ethanol each day. See the Renewable Fuels
Association press releases from
<http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pr040227.html>February 27th,
<http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pr040326.html>March 26th,
<http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pr040426.html>April 26th, and
<http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pr040427.html>April 27th.


New England Grid Operator Awards Energy Efficiency Contract

ISO New England Inc., the operator of the region's electrical grid, took an
unusual step in late April by contracting for energy efficiency services in
order to improve the reliability of its power grid in southwest
Connecticut. Under the new contract, Conservation Services Group (CSG) will
help reduce energy demand in southwest Connecticut by four megawatts over
the next four years, primarily by retrofitting buildings in the area with
energy-efficient lighting. The contract is a small part of an effort to
secure emergency energy resources for southwest Connecticut, including 125
megawatts of new generating capacity and up to 255 megawatts of
demand-response resources such as emergency generators and voluntary load
reductions. ISO New England predicts that it has adequate electrical
supplies for the region this summer, but continues to be concerned about
transmission constraints that threaten reliability in southwest
Connecticut. See the CSG press release
(<http://www.csgrp.com/images/pdf_press_releases/CSGCT.pdf>PDF 83 KB) and
the April 16th and April 26th press releases from
<http://www.iso-ne.com/iso_news/newnews.html>ISO New England.
<http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/alternate.html>Download Acrobat
Reader.

Utilities in the Pacific Northwest are also looking at demand reduction as
a possible alternative to building a new transmission line. DOE's
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) recently worked with a Washington
state utility, two paper companies, and the U.S. Navy to test an
Internet-based trading system for demand reduction. During the test, BPA
posted an hourly price per megawatt, allowing the participants to choose
whether to buy the power or to place bids for reducing their power demand,
using either emergency generation or load reductions. BPA hoped to achieve
10 to 20 megawatts of demand reduction during the test, and actually
averaged 22 megawatts of demand reduction. See the
<http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/BPAnews/2004/NewsRelease.cfm?ReleaseNo=492>BPA
press release.
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Site News




<http://www.treepower.org/>Treepower.org

Treepower.org is a public and industry research partnership in which the
Common Purpose Institute, the University of Florida, energy companies, and
others are studying ways to grow and harvest fast-growing trees as a
renewable energy fuel source for electric utilities in the southeastern
United States. The Web site details a Florida project that uses biomass
energy "bridge crops" for renewable energy and to restore native habitats
on damaged, mined lands. The site contains project- and state-specific
information as well as general biomass energy information and resources.
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Energy Connections




EPA: No Change in U.S. Fuel Economy in 2004

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week that the
average gas mileage of new cars, pickups, and sport utility vehicles (SUVs)
sold in the United States is 20.8 miles per gallon (MPG) for 2004,
essentially equal to last year's value of 20.7 MPG. According to EPA's
annual fuel economy trends report, U.S. fuel economy has held roughly
steady since 1997, varying only between 20.6 and 20.9 MPG. U.S. fuel
economy peaked at 22.1 MPG in the late 1980s, but since then the fuel
efficiency of cars, pickups, and SUVs has remain unchanged, while sales of
the less-fuel-efficient pickups and SUVs have increased. In 2004, the EPA
estimates that 48 percent of new light-duty vehicles sold in the United
States will be either pickups or SUVs. See the EPA press release and the
full report on the <http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fetrends.htm>EPA Web site.
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This newsletter is funded by DOE's <http://www.eere.energy.gov/>Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and is also available on the
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/>EERE news page. You can
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/about.cfm>subscribe to the EERE Network
News using our simple online form, and you can also
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/changes.cfm>update your email address or
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/unsubscribe.cfm>unsubscribe online.

If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please
<mailto:[email protected]>contact the editor, Kevin Eber, at
[email protected]
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