Energy Conservation News articles from October 2001

Energy Conservation News archives from October 2001

OUTLOOK: Negative Outlook for Fuel Economy.
October 1, 2001... The average fuel economy of 2001 model year vehicles was 20.4 miles per gallon (mpg), a 21-yr. low, according to the newly released EPA Fuel Economy Trends Report: 1975-2001. The lowest fuel economy since 1980 can be attributed to the increase...

INTERNATIONAL: IEA Commends Belgian Initiatives.
October 1, 2001... The International Energy Agency (9, rue de la Federation, 75739 Paris Cedex 15, France) has released a review of Belgium's energy policies, which indicates that energy-related greenhouse gas emissions grew in the 1990s and is currently...

GOVERNMENT: Auction Increases California's Green Power.
October 1, 2001... Nine more new renewable power plants for California's electricity market-with a combined production capacity of 300 megawatts (MW)- emerged as the successful bidders in a financial incentives auction conducted by the California Energy...

Renewables in MA Moving Forward.
October 1, 2001... The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust (75 North Dr., Westborough, MA 01581; Tel: 508/870-0312, Fax: 508/898-2275; Email: mtc@mtpc.org) has approved up to $850,000 in funding for nine projects designed to increase consumer demand for...

More DOE Funds for Superconductivity.
October 1, 2001... In late September, DOE announced the selection of seven teams to receive approximately $57 million to support research advancing the introduction of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) into the American marketplace. The U.S. Department of...

COMMERCIAL: Saving Money with Distributed Power.
October 1, 2001... According to a new Primen (1001 Fourier Dr., Suite 200, Madison, WI 53717; Tel: 877/976-4681, Fax: 608/829-2437; Website: www.primen.com) study, Distributed Energy at the Tipping Point: Customers' Growing Receptivity to Grid-Alternative DE, a...

Motor Controls Used in Big Airport.
October 1, 2001... Sea-Tac International Airport, serving the Seattle-Tacoma market, has retrofitted a product called EcoStart made by KONE, Inc. (One KONE Court, Moline, IL 61265; Tel: 800/956-5663) on all 60 of the airport's escalators. KONE is one of the...

TRANSPORTATION: Ford Developing Hybrid Truck Engine.
October 1, 2001... Many automakers have been developing so-called hybrid cars and trucks that marry a gasoline engine with an electric motor and battery pack. The electric motor acts as both a booster and an energy recovery device, increasing fuel economy by...

UTILITIES/POWER GENERATION Shell Announces Geothermal Project.
October 1, 2001... Geothermal energy is currently exploited in many countries: the United States, Mexico, Central America, Japan, China, Indonesia, Philippines, New Zealand, Kenya, Italy, Iceland, Germany, and Austria. It is produced from naturally occurring hot...

Condenser Performance Monitoring Saves $$.
October 1, 2001... Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA, 21 W. Church St., Jacksonville, FL 32202; Tel: 904/665-6000, Fax: 904/665-7008) is the eighth largest municipal utility in the United States with more than 355,000 customers. With a net generating...

Dry Scrubber Overcomes Challenges.
October 1, 2001... Burning any fossil fuels-coal, oil, natural gas-produces oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulfur that must be removed from the emission streams. Even using today's most advanced scrubbing technologies requires a two-stage process. First, a flue...

New Promise for Coal's Future.
October 1, 2001... A possible approach to using coal resources involves the deployment of more efficient energy producing plants that rely on cleaner, more efficient coal gasification technology. The DOE Office of Fossil Energy through the National Energy...

APPLIANCES: Expand Standards to More Products.
October 1, 2001... There is great potential for energy savings if efficiency standards were implemented for additional products. These new standards would save businesses and consumers $75 billion through the year 2020, according to the American Council for an...

Finding Ways to Recover Waste Heat.
October 1, 2001... A new composite described in the October 11th issue of Nature can pump heat rapidly to warm or cool miniaturized devices. It could help to cool computer chips and may provide a kind of mini Bunsen burner for scaled-down industrial chemical...

HVAC: ARTI Releases Three 21-CR Final Reports.
October 1, 2001... The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute (ARTI, 4301 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 425, Arlington, VA; Tel: 703/524-8800; Website: www.arti-21cr.org) has released three final reports from its HVAC&R Research for the 21st Century...

MOTORS: First European Supercon Motor.
October 1, 2001... Siemens (153 E. 53rd. St., New York, NY 10022-4611; Tel: 212/258- 4000, Fax: 212/767-0580) is the first in Europe to operate a motor with windings made of high-temperature, superconducting materials. Power output is more than double that of...

Tools for Motor Planning.
October 1, 2001... The Motor Decisions Matter website (www.motorsmatter.org) has been expanded and now includes an in-depth motor planning kit. This kit contains information, statistics, helpful links, and tools specially designed to assist companies in...

LIGHTING: Research Center Gets Big Grant.
October 1, 2001... The EPA has awarded a grant of $735,000 to the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (110 8th St., Troy, NY 12180-3522; Tel: 518/276-6000) to develop and promote the widespread acceptance of more efficient lighting...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Two Receive D-SMES Order from TVA.
October 1, 2001... American Superconductor Corp. (2 Technology Dr., Westborough, MA 01581-1727; Tel: 508/836-4200, Fax: 508/836-4248) and GE Industrial Systems (41 Woodford Ave., Plainville, CT 06062; Tel: 860/747-7111, Fax: 860/747-7393) have received an order...

Montenay Power Wins Waste Award.
October 1, 2001... Since 1986, Montenay Power Corp. (Vivendi, 36-38, Ave. Klber, 75116 Paris Cedex 08, France; Tel: +33-1 71 75 00 00, Fax: +33-1 71 71 15 45) has operated the Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility, the largest and most comprehensive...

Microturbine Demand Falling Sharply.
October 1, 2001... Capstone Turbine Corp. (21211 Nordhoff St., Chatsworth, CA 91311; Tel: 818/734-5300, Fax: 818/734-5320), a producer of low-emission microturbine systems, announced that for the third quarter the company shipped 80 units (62 30-kW systems and 18...

New Green Methanol Process.
October 1, 2001... According to Technology Convergence, Inc. (TCI), they have developed a patented process for making methanol that will permit smaller, economic, more environmentally friendly production facilities to be built domestically, close to major...

Plug Power's New York Demo.
October 1, 2001... According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), 20 Plug Power, Inc. (968 Albany-Shaker Rd., Latham, NY 12110; Tel: 518/782-7700, Fax: 518/782-9060) fuel cell systems are currently providing electricity to a...

RESOURCES: Estimating Savings from Energy Policies.
October 1, 2001... A new study released by the American Council for an Energy- Efficient Economy (ACEEE, 1001 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 801, Washington, DC 20036; Tel: 202/429-8873) claims the United States could reduce its projected energy use by more than 25%...

Costs of Space Solar Power.
October 1, 2001... During the late 1970s and early 1980s, NASA (300 E St., SW, Washington, DC) studied the possibility of employing satellites to generate electricity from solar energy for use on Earth and in space. As more advanced technologies increased the...

CALENDAR.
October 1, 2001... November 7, 2001. Building Retrofit for Energy Efficiency, Albuquerque, NM. Contact: ASHRAE Customer Service; Tel: 800/527- 4723, Fax: 404/321-5478; Website: www.ashrae.org/EDUC/pdsinfo.htm November 7-9, 2001. Cogeneration in the New Energy...