Energy Conservation News articles from June 2000

Energy Conservation News archives from June 2000

OUTLOOK: Recent Gas Price Hikes Are Ominous Sign.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... As every reader knows, in the last several months oil prices have been on a clear up-trend. The effect of such increases, which have been particularly concentrated in retail gasoline markets, should eventually show up in the demand for more...

Barriers to Lower Prices.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... A DOE report, Making Connections: Case Studies of Barriers to Interconnection of Distributed Power, documents, for the first time, the marketplace barriers that prevent electric utility customers, developers, and vendors from creating projects...

GOVERNMENT: No Improvement in Vehicle Efficiency.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, 400 7th St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20590), the total fleet of light vehicles sold in the U.S. in the last model year had an average efficiency of 24.7 mpg. This figure has...

INTERNATIONAL: Canada Labels Fossil Emissions Toxic.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... According to the David Suzuki Foundation in Canada (Gerry Scott, Climate Change Campaign Director, David Suzuki Foundation, Suite 219, 2211 West 4th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V6K 4S2 Canada; Tel: 604/732-4228, Fax: 604/732-0752), environment...

Progress in Reducing Energy Intensity.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The energy intensity of the U.S. economy is falling dramatically. According to data from the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumed about 2% more energy in 1999 compared to 1996 while economic output grew about 13% during the...

ENERGY MANAGEMENT/FINANCING System May Help Reduce Brownouts.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... A new load management technology being produced by Sage Systems (1420 Harbor Bay Pkwy., Suite 160, Alameda, CA 94502), called Aladn, may offer capacity- constrained generators some breathing room in meeting summer peak demands that are growing...

Online Energy Auctions to Debut.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... The deregulation of the utility industry, now in 18 states, allows energy businesses to choose their own energy provider. While deregulation offers businesses the chance to save money, it also introduces an opportunity for them to lower their...

RESIDENTIAL: Location-Efficient Mortgage Unveiled in Chicago.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... According to Fannie Mae (3900 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20016-2892; Tel: 202/752-7000), the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages, city home buyers now have an important financial incentive to purchase a home with...

COMMERCIAL: Monitoring District Heating on the Net.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Birka Energi in Stockholm (Website: www.bit.se) has launched a new internet- based district heating metering system for all its customers in Stockholm. Later this year, all of Birka Energi's district heating customers in Stockholm, over 7,000...

Materials Advances Cut Energy Inputs.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Lumberyards everywhere could revolutionize their businesses with a microwave pretreatment system that reduces from about 2 months to 10 days the amount of time needed to dry hardwoods. The system could save the lumber industry a significant...

INDUSTRIAL: Advance in High Power Energy Storage.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... According to an account of research, Report No: AD-A371165, AFRL-MN-EG-TR-1999- 7078 by D. Finello, published by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, a new alkaline electrochemical capacitor and electrode...

Ivanhoe Licenses Syntroleum Process.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Syntroleum Corp. (Syntroleum Plaza, 1350 S. Boulder, Suite 1100, Tulsa, OK 74119-3295; Tel: 918/592-7900, Fax: 918/592-7979, Website: www.syntroleum.com) and Ivanhoe Energy, Inc. have signed a non-exclusive license agreement giving Ivanhoe...

TRANSPORTATION: More Efficient Materials Production.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... UniStates Technology Corp. (PO Box 53101, Medford, MA 02153; Tel: 781/396-7582, Fax: 781/393-5643) and the Tufts University college of engineering are installing a development facility for reflexive materials technology (RMT) in the...

Improved Battery Awarded Patent.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Power Technology, Inc. (1000 W. Bonanza Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89106; Tel: 702/382- 3385) has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,060,198 for a new electrochemical battery structure, an important milestone toward the company's goal of developing a...

UTILITIES/POWER GENERATION Miniature Fuel Cell Being Tested.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed a prototype of a miniature fuel cell with a volume of only five cubic millimeters, or the size of a pencil eraser. The new cell was produced using high-tech micro-fabrication...

Titanium Oxide PVs Show Efficiency Gains.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Korean scientists working at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI, 161 Kajong-dong, Yusong-Gu, TAEJON, 305-350, Korea, Website: www.etri.re.kr/) have developed a new generation of transparent and low-cost solar cells...

Windformer Cuts Costs to 4 Cents/kW.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... At the beginning of June, ABB (PO Box 8131, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland; Tel: +41-1-317-7334, Fax: +41-1-311-7958, Website: www.abb.com), the global technology company, unveiled a new wind power technology that makes wind farms competitive...

Efficiency Agreement for Clothes Washers.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... General Electric Appliances (Appliance Park, Louisville, KY 40225; Tel: 502/452- 4311, Fax: 502/452-0352, Website: www.geappliances.com) and other appliance manufacturers signed an historic energy efficiency and water savings agreement in...

HVAC: Heat Pumps for Hot Water.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Nyle International Corp.'s (72 Center St, Brewer, ME 04412-2604; Tel: 207/989- 4335) newly formed, 60% owned subsidiary, Nyle Special Products LLC (NSP), has entered into a contract with Northeast Utilities (174 Brush Hill Ave., West...

MOTORS: Cheng Improves Generators, Motors.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... On April 4, U.S. Patent 6,047,104 titled Electrical Generators and Motors in Which at Steady-State the Rotor and its Electromagnetic Field Rotates at Selectively Different Angular Speeds was issued to Cheng Power Systems (480 San Antonio Rd.,...

LIGHTING: Efficient Phosphor Subject of Litigation.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... OSRAM SYLVANIA (100 Endicott St., Danvers, MA 01923; Tel: 978/777-1900, Fax: 978/750-2152, Website: www.sylvania.com) has filed a patent infringement suit against Durel Corp. (Chandler, AZ) claiming that Durel is unlawfully using and selling a...

INDUSTRY NEWS: FuelCell Energy Wins Power Plant Demo.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Great Pasture Rd, Danbury, CT 06810-4306; Tel: 203/792- 1460) received a $16.5 million cost-shared contract from the Navy to demonstrate a 0.625 MW marine fuel cell power plant operating on diesel fuel, based on the...

Fuel Cell Generators Delivered to BPA.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... IdaTech (1221 W. Idaho St., Boise, ID 83702-5627; Tel: 208/388-2200, Fax: 208/388-6955, Website: www.idacorpinc.com) has delivered a batch of 10 of the 110 fuel cell system units that are slated for sale to Bonneville Power Administration...

Analysis of Usage Via the Web.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Silicon Energy (1250 Marina Village Pkwy., Suite 100, Alameda, CA 94501; Tel: 510/749-9400, Fax: 510/749-6990, Website: www.siliconenergy.com), a developer of energy e-business and enterprise energy management (EEM) solutions, is acquiring SRC...

HTS Wire Plant Slated for Devens, Massachusetts.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... American Superconductor Corp. (2 Technology Dr., Westborough, MA 01581-1727; Tel: 508/836-4200, Fax: 508/836-4248, Website: www.amsuper.com) has announced the site of a new facility dedicated solely to the manufacturing of high temperature...

Ingersoll-Rand to Serve Power Generation Business.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Ingersoll-Rand Co. (200 Chestnut Ridge Rd., Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07675; Tel: 201/573-0123, Fax: 201/573-3172, Website: www.ingersoll-rand.com) has established Ingersoll-Rand Energy Systems (Portsmouth, NH). The new business will include the...

H Power Decides to Go Public.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... H Power Corp. (1373 Broad St., Clifton, NJ 07013; Tel: 973/450-4400, Fax: 973/450-9850, Website: www.hpower.com), a developer of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems has filed a registration statement with the Securities and...

RESOURCES: Software Optimizes Renewables Savings.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... RETScreen, a free software program that allows a user to assess the financial viability of a renewable energy project in any location around the world, is rapidly gaining new adherents, according to information from Natural Resources Canada...

Fundamentals of Air Conditioning.(Review)
June 1, 2000... Fundamentals of Air Conditioning Systems, Second Edition by Billy C. Langley, Ed.D., CM, has just been published by the Fairmont Press. Now in its fully revised and updated second edition, this is a complete guide to the specification and...

UTC in New Fuel Cell Venture.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... International Fuel Cells, Inc. (IFC, 195 Governor's Hwy., PO Box 739, South Windsor, CT 06074; Tel: 860/727-2200, Fax: 860/727-2319), a unit of technology powerhouse United Technologies, Inc. will be supplying fuel cell powerplants for a new...

APPLIANCES: Power Supplies Slash Demand.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... Ericsson has recently started vending "third generation" high density DC/DC power modules providing 90% efficiency and very significant savings in end-use connected loads. To achieve this high efficiency, Ericsson uses proprietary drive and...

CALENDAR.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2000... July 3-6 2000, International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels, Stockholm, Sweden. Contact: Lars Vallander; Email: lars.vallander@stem.se . July 10-14, 2000, 4th Annual European Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Forum, Lucerne, Switzerland. Contact: Tel:...