Energy Conservation News articles from September 1998

Energy Conservation News archives from September 1998

OUTLOOK: Funding Future Looks Negative.
September 19, 1998... As ECN went to press, according to Ken Bossong (SUN DAY Campaign, 315 Circle Ave., No. 2, Takoma Park, MD 20912; Tel: 301/270-2258, Fax: 301/891-2866), the conference bill version of the fiscal year 1999 energy and water appropriations bills...

ACEEE: Kyoto Goal Is Achievable.
September 19, 1998... According to "Approaching the Kyoto Targets: Five Key Strategies for the U.S.", just published by the American Council for an Energy- Efficient Economy (ACEEE, 1001 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 801, Washington, D.C. 20036; Tel: 202/429-8873), the...

Tax Code Changes Sought.
September 19, 1998... Bob Matsui, U.S. representative (D-CA), has just introduced tax legislation (full text of bill is at http://www.netaxs.com/~dhahn/hr4538.pdf) designed to stimulate the commercialization and sale of new state-of-the-art energy efficiency...

GOVERNMENT: Grant Earmarked for Production Improvements.
September 19, 1998... Solarex (630 Solarex Ct., Frederick, MD 21703-8698; Tel: 301/698-4200), the largest U.S. owned manufacturer of solar electric cells and modules, has received a subcontract grant to advance its polycrystalline photovoltaic manufacturing process....

INTERNATIONAL: MITI to Subsidize Efficiency Initiatives.
September 19, 1998... Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) intends to subsidize energy-efficiency initiatives in the housing, auto, and appliance industries, ministry sources said Monday, hoping to stimulate two trillion yen in increased...

ERC Forms Venture in China.
September 19, 1998... Energy Research Corp. (ERC, 3 Great Pasture Rd., Danbury, CT 06813; Tel: 203/792-1460) has formed a joint venture with Xiamen Hi-Tech Innovation Centre in Xiamen, China to develop and commercialize various advanced electrochemical technologies....

Wireless Metering for Large Accounts.
September 19, 1998... TransData (885 E Collins Blvd., No. 105, Richardson, TX 75081-2270; Tel: 972/470-9993) announces that its MARK-V AMR DATA-PRO(SM) platform is the first electricity meter to integrate national, two-way wireless automatic meter reading (AMR)...

RESIDENTIAL: Water Heater Problem Reported.
September 19, 1998... EPRI water heating information office personnel have been receiving increasing reports of problems with both fossil-fired and electric water heaters that have been traced to cold-water dip tubes that crack, break off, or otherwise disintegrate,...

ENERGY MANAGEMENT/FINANCING Controls Market Now Estimated at $1.5 Billion.
September 19, 1998... According to "North American Non-Residential Building Controls Markets," just published by Frost and Sullivan (Mountain View, CA), total controls market revenues reached $1.5 billion in 1997. The three major segments in this study are building...

Material Key to Efficient Windows.
September 19, 1998... According to a paper entitled, "Photochemical and Photoelectrochemical Behavior of a Novel TiO2/Ni(OH)2 Electrode" published in a recent issue of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society [145(7), 2380-2385], scientists at Lawrence Berkeley...

Sub-Optimal Codes Costing Homebuyers.
September 19, 1998... According to a new report from the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE, 1200 18th St. NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20036; Tel: 202/857-0666, Fax: 202/331-9588, Email: info@ase.org.), homebuyers in most states could save $81 million a year and prevent...

INDUSTRIAL: Combustion Technology for Smaller Plants.
September 19, 1998... Syntroleum Corp. (Tulsa, OK), Marathon Oil Co., and AGC Manufacturing Services, Inc. have completed a series of tests demonstrating a technology for combusting low Btu gas in a gas turbine. The technology, originally developed by Marathon...

Largest AMDT Transformer Installed.
September 19, 1998... According to Pauwels International (Waterford, Ireland) and AlliedSignal, Inc. (101 Columbia Rd., Morristown, NJ 07962-1057; Tel: 973/455-2000), Pauwels has introduced Europe's largest electrical transformer based on AlliedSignal's METGLAS(R)...

Transformer Research Receives Boost.
September 19, 1998... A superconductivity partnership initiative entered into by the DOE and Waukesha Electric Systems (400 S. Prairie Ave., Waukesha, WI 53186-5940; Tel: 414/547-0121) is a mega boost toward next-generation transformers that are vastly more...

TRANSPORTATION: BAT Achieves 80 MPG in Testing at 55 MPH.
September 19, 1998... Preliminary results indicate BAT International's SuperCar was able to achieve a fuel economy of 80 mpg at an average speed of 55 mph on a California freeway on Sunday, August 23rd. The 63 mile round trip run was repeated twice on a normal...

Neural Net Chip Has Role to Play in Vehicles.
September 19, 1998... NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, and the Ford Motor Co. (The American Rd., Dearborn, MI 48121-1899; Tel: 313/322- 3000) have signed a licensing agreement for use of an advanced neural network technology to diagnose...

Shell Jumps into Fuel Cell R&D.
September 19, 1998... Shell International Oil Products BV (30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, 2596 HR, The Hague, The Netherlands; Tel: +31-70-377-3395) and DBB Fuel Cell Engines GmbH, a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz (Epplestrasse 225, 70546 Stuttgart, Germany; Tel:...

UTILITIES/POWER GENERATION Burn Tires, Save Money.
September 19, 1998... Creative Recycling Technologies, Inc. (Cherry Hill, NJ) announced that the R&D phase of its tire recycling technology is finished and a fully operational prototype has been completed. Test results show significant energy savings from...

H Power in Methanol Fuel Cell Initiative.
September 19, 1998... H Power Corp. (60 Montgomery St., Belleville, NJ 07109-5322; Tel: 973/450-4400) has received a contract from the Army Research Office, with funding provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to develop fuel cells powered...

APPLIANCES Where's the Growth From?
September 19, 1998... According to a recently released DOE-funded study conducted by researchers in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, if current trends continue almost all growth in residential...

Whirlpool Unveils Big Energy Saver.
September 19, 1998... The new Whirlpool (2000 N. M-63, Benton Harbor, MI 49022-2692; Tel: 616/923-5000) Resource Saver wash system has just been designated an Energy Star appliance by the EPA. The clothes washer utilizes a new spray rinse technology that saves up to...

Tiny Transistors Mean Big Savings.
September 19, 1998... The late August announcement by Texas Instruments (TI, 8505 Forest Ln., Dallas, TX 75243; Tel: 972/995-2011) that TI researchers have developed semiconductor manufacturing technology based on the smallest announced transistors in the industry...

Siemens Patents `Powersave` Technology.
September 19, 1998... Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG's (Wittelsbacherplatz 2, D- 80333 Munich, Germany; Tel: +49-89-2-34-328-12) "Powersave" technology has been granted a U.S. patent. Powersave technology reduces the power consumed by computer monitors when...

Toronto Eyes Deep Lake Water Cooling.
September 19, 1998... Toronto District Heating Corp., a nonprofit utility, plans to use frigid water from the depths of Lake Ontario to naturally chill the water that currently cools buildings in the downtown district. Replacing fossil-fueled electric air...

Use Anything But Duct Tape.
September 19, 1998... According to Max Sherman and Ian Walker of the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, for three months they tested a variety of duct sealing materials--many kinds of duct tape, clear plastic tape, foil-backed tape, mastic, and injected...

MOTORS: Control Circuit Optimizes Operation.
September 19, 1998... U.S. Patent 5,801,508 was issued on September 1, 1998 to Kazuyoshi Obayashi for his invention of a control apparatus for a polyphase ac motor. This new inverter circuit includes a plurality of sets each having a series combination of two...

LIGHTING: Compact Fluorescent Torchieres Arrive.
September 19, 1998... Popular, but highly inefficient, halogen-lamped torchieres account for 10% of the light fixtures sold in the U.S. Now there's an energy efficient alternative--compact fluorescent lamp torchieres from at least six manufacturers are coming to...

More Light with Less Power.
September 19, 1998... Micro Linear Corp. (2092 Concourse Dr., San Jose, California, 95131; Tel: 408/433-5200) has revealed the existence of a patent-pending chip that contains the control circuitry for the electronic ballasts used in compact fluorescent lamps (CFL)....

INDUSTRY NEWS: EUA Cogenex and SAIC Team to Save Energy.
September 19, 1998... EUA Cogenex Corp. (Lowell, MA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eastern Utilities Associates (1 Liberty Sq., Boston, MA 02109; Tel: 617/357- 9590), has teamed with Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC, 10260 Campus Point Dr., San Diego,...

GE and Plug Power Market Fuel Cells.
September 19, 1998... GE Power Systems (1 River Rd., Schenectady, NY 12345; Tel: 518/385- 2211) and Plug Power have signed a memorandum of understanding to form "GE Fuel Cell Systems," a joint venture that will sell, install, and service Plug Power-designed and...

Trigen Installing 15 MW CHP Project.
September 19, 1998... Trigen Energy Corp. (1 Water St., White Plains, NY 10601; Tel: 914/286- 6600) has ordered equipment and begun construction of a 15 MW combined heat and power (CHP) plant to provide 95% of the steam needs of Trigen's St. Louis 135 steam system...

CALENDAR.
September 19, 1998... October 4-8, 1998, BioEnergy '98, Madison, WI. Contact: Fred Kuzel, Great Lakes Regional Biomass Energy Program; Tel: 312/407-0177, Email: fkuzel@cglg.org. October 6-8, 1998, International Conference and Exhibition on EEBW (Energy...

HVAC: Heating Your House with Drinking Water.
September 19, 1998... The breakthrough technology for unlocking the recognized environmental and economic benefits of geothermal energy may be represented in patents announced this month by Hardin Geotechnologies LLC (PO Box 53770, Indianapolis, IN 46253-0770; Tel:...