Energy Conservation News articles from November 1998

Energy Conservation News archives from November 1998

GOVERNMENT: So Much for Climate Change ...
November 19, 1998... Taxpayers could save $1 billion annually if the federal government adhered to the Energy Policy Act and executive orders that require agencies to reduce energy waste through improved energy productivity, reports the Alliance to Save Energy...

INTERNATIONAL: Japan Researchers Push Diesel Envelope.
November 19, 1998... Diesel engines are inherently more energy efficient than other IC engines. However, a long-standing nemesis of diesel has been their notorious fine particulate emissions. Now, Japanese scientists report development of a new fuel treatment that...

U.K. Mulling Energy Tax.
November 19, 1998... As post-Kyoto strategizing continues, the U.S. is likely to hear much more about energy taxes as a means to force adoption of energy efficient technologies. This month's announcement comes from the U.K. where it's reported that the government...

ENERGY MANAGEMENT/FINANCING Financing for Residential Fuel Cells Available.
November 19, 1998... According to Randolph Cooper (Breakthrough Technologies Institute, 1625 K St. NW, No. 790, Washington, D.C. 20006; Tel: 304/285-4160), for the first time ever, purchasers of residential-size fuel cell power plants and other small units may be...

RESIDENTIAL: Strategies for Windows and Glazed Surfaces.
November 19, 1998... The Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory has released a new report entitled, Energy Conservation Strategies for Windows and Glazed Surfaces (Report No. AD-A350691, CERL-TR-98/74). According to the report, technological advances in...

Life-Cycle Costs of Homes Studied.
November 19, 1998... As concern over the environmental impacts of residential house construction grows, many researchers are beginning to use very detailed life cycle assessment as a means to quantify natural resource consumption, and emissions of global...

INDUSTRIAL: Cites for Praxair Steel Technology.
November 19, 1998... Praxair's (39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, CT 06810-5113; Tel: 203/837- 2000) coherent jet technology used in steel-making is signing up new customers. The patented Praxair technology is a new method for injecting gas into molten metal baths....

More NYSERDA Grants Available.
November 19, 1998... The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) invites New York companies to submit short proposals for projects that promote energy-efficient pollution prevention under its program opportunity notice (PON) 426-98. The...

Wringing Savings Out of Aluminum.
November 19, 1998... DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) has awarded five new R&D projects that will help improve the energy efficiency and competitiveness of the aluminum industry. The projects were selected from among 12 proposals received in open...

New Collaborative Advances Microturbines.
November 19, 1998... EPRI is preparing to field test small microturbine systems for commercial markets. The tests will evaluate approximately 25 "beta series" prototypes to assess their technical and economic potential for serving typical commercial markets with...

Ford Uses Cogen to Slash Costs.
November 19, 1998... Ford (The American Rd., Dearborn, MI 48121-1899; Tel: 313/322-3000) and Rouge Steel (3001 Miller Rd., Dearborn, MI 48121-1699; Tel: 313/317- 8900) have signed a letter of intent with CMS Energy Corp. (Fairlane Plaza South, Suite 1100, 330 Town...

TRANSPORTATION: "Green" Engine Moving Toward Commercialization.
November 19, 1998... Medis El, Ltd. (5 Kiryat Mada, Har Hoahotzvim, PO Box 45031, Jerusalem 91450, Israel; Tel: +972-2-587-0452) has entered into two option agreements giving it the right to acquire a majority position in companies owning patents and related...

Truck Fleet Saves with Synthetics.
November 19, 1998... In March, Pride Pipeline, Inc. (1209 N. Fourth St., Abilene, TX 79601; Tel: 915/674-8000), an independent crude oil transportation company, entered into a service agreement with Worldwide PetroMoly, Inc. (1300 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1985,...

UTILITIES/POWER GENERATION Combustor Lowers Generating Cost.
November 19, 1998... Ultimate Power Engineering Group (UPEG, PO Box 1461, Lombard, IL 60148) was awarded a patent (U.S. Number 5,819,540) for an invention known as the "Rich-Quench-Lean Combustor for use with a Fuel Having a High Vanadium Content and Jet Engine or...

Detroit Proving Ground for Energy Saving Cable.
November 19, 1998... According to the details of a just announced DOE contract award, the world's first high temperature superconductor (HTS) power cable to deliver electricity in a utility network will be installed in the Detroit Edison (DTE Energy Co., 2000...

APPLIANCES: Russian Patent Claims Highly Efficient Heat Pump.
November 19, 1998... According to a dispatch from the IEA Heat Pump Center (Novem bv, PO Box 17, 6130 AA Sittard, the Netherlands; Tel: +31-46-420-2236), a patent registered by the Russian Federation Committee for Patents and Trademarks describes a design for a...

Route to Low Energy Displays.
November 19, 1998... Carbon nanotubes in television and computer displays could reduce the need for the electron gun and allow screens to become almost flat. In addition to saving energy, such displays would be less expensive to produce. A team of scientists from...

Leap in Chip Power Density Slashes Input.
November 19, 1998... A Rutgers University associate professor has developed a prototype silicon-carbide chip with application to electric vehicles (EVs) that "promises to increase power density by at least 100 times compared to a similarly sized silicon chip,"...

Lucent Licenses Flash Memory Chip.
November 19, 1998... Lucent Technologies (600 Mountain Ave., Murray Hill, NJ 07974; Tel: 908/582-8500) has granted Winbond Electronics Corp. (No. 4, Creation Rd. III, Science-Based Industrial Park Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C.; Tel: 886-3-5770066, Website:...

HVAC: Hydronic Boiler Is Evaluated.
November 19, 1998... The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) has just finished an evaluation of a modulating/condensing fuel-fired water heater or hydronic boiler. This technology can avoid losses associated, in conventional units, with cycling at less than...

Gas Chiller: a Cool Innovation.
November 19, 1998... Field testing of an advanced natural gas-fired chiller with 30% to 40% greater efficiency is set to commence at the Government Center in Clark County, Nevada. The project is a collaborative involving the DOE, ORNL, Clark County and the Nevada...

Waste Not, Want Not.
November 19, 1998... A novel heat exchanger installation in Zurich, Switzerland heats 800 houses using heat recovered from sewage water, thus saving almost half a million liters of fuel oil annually. The simple installation consists of a 200 meter long heat...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Trigen Gains Big Award.
November 19, 1998... Trigen Energy Corp. (1 Water St., White Plains, NY 10601; Tel: 914/286- 6600) has been selected by the Air Force, Region 2, as the sole and exclusive winner of a $200 million energy savings performance contract. Trigen will design and build...

Catalytic Process Produces Fuel.
November 19, 1998... Researchers have developed a new catalytic process to turn a common industrial chemical into an essential ingredient used in energy efficient alternative fuels. The technique could be the first to make the process economically attractive to...

Energy Partners Offers Fuel Cell Options.
November 19, 1998... Energy Partners, L.C. (1501 Northpoint Pkwy., West Palm Beach, FL 33407-1963; Tel: 561/688-0500) has begun offering its NG2000 advanced proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stacks to the fuel cell R&D market. The first 20 kW stack was...

New Catalyst Improves Fuel Cells.
November 19, 1998... Asahi Chemical Industry Co. (1-2 Yurakucho 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8440, Japan; Tel: +81-3-3507-2060) and the Noguchi Institute have developed a catalyst that eliminates carbon monoxide (CO) contaminants from the hydrogen gas supplied...

Stretching Our Fuel Supplies.
November 19, 1998... According to information presented at the just-concluded Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International Fall Fuels and Lubricants meeting, Chrysler Corp. (1000 Chrysler Dr., Auburn Hills, MI 48326- 2766; Tel: 248/576-5741) and Syntroleum...

Cost Breakthrough in Cell Electrodes.
November 19, 1998... Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory say they have developed fuel-cell electrodes that are thinner and cheaper to produce than conventional electrodes. The new carbon-composite electrodes--only two millimeters thick--are only...

RESOURCES: CD-ROM Illustrates GAX.
November 19, 1998... A CD-ROM just released by the DOE explains how heat pumps using generator absorber heat exchange (GAX) technology with ammonia and water can heat and cool homes and businesses 50% more efficiently than today's gas furnace technology, without...

CALENDAR.
November 19, 1998... December 7-11, 1998, Cogeneration Technology, Houston, TX. Contact: University of Wisconsin, the College of Engineering, 432 North Lake St., Madison, WI 53706; Tel: 608/263-3371; Fax: 800/442-4214. December 7-11, 1998, The 7th...