Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies Update

By voice vote yesterday, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill with a number of new provisions designed to enhance rural development through agricultural-based new energy technologies.  According to the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC), the Senate bill, drafted by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), provides a “significant opportunity to advance clean renewables and energy efficiency development in the Midwest and nationally.”  ELPC goes on to note that “clean energy ‘cash crops’ can provide a new income stream to help support small and medium-sized family farmers and ranchers, enhance rural economic development, and improve environmental quality for all by avoiding pollution.  This is sustainable development in action.”

 

ELPC notes that the clean energy section includes new funded programs to support rural wind power, biomass energy, hydrogen fuel cell, and energy efficiency development and implementation.  There is funding for new renewable energy project development, including both small-scale on-farm and utility-scale wind power systems, and for energy efficiency audits and improvements on farms and ranches.  One innovative provision includes funding for feasibility studies and business plans to better enable farmers and ranchers to take an equity ownership stake in clean energy projects through cooperatives and participation in limited liability corporations.

 

For more information on this legislation, visit ELPC.

Xcel Energy announced on 16 October that it has added the output from a second wind project to supply power for its WindSource green pricing program. The new project, rated at 30 MW, is located in northeastern Colorado near Peetz, and is the second supply addition for the WindSource program this year. In August, Xcel added 10 MW to its existing Ponnequin wind facility in northern Colorado, which has provided power for the program since its inception. With the new additions, Xcel now offers nearly 60 MW of wind power for purchase by its 1.6 million Colorado-based customers. More than 17,000 customers now participate in WindSource, including more than 400 businesses and four wholesale customers.

 

[from Xcel Energy press release, as quoted in Green Power Marketing Monthly Update of October 2001

Giving consumers a greater choice of how their electricity is generated could boost solar, wind and other "green power" sources 40 percent by the end of the decade, according to a new study by two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories.

 

Achieving such a result, however, would require an orderly transition to competitive power markets and a significant expansion of the green pricing programs currently offered by regulated utilities, said energy analysts Ryan Wiser and Blair Swezey, who conducted the study at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).  The findings are based on detailed modeling of green power demand, drawing on the experience of green power markets to date and consumer response to other "green" products.

 

The authors note that realizing the full potential of green power markets will require, among other things, a combination of better information and consumer education about electricity supply choices and the development of market rules and public policies that support customer choice.

 

The full report, "Forecasting the Growth of Green Power Markets in the United States," is available in PDF format from http://www.eren.doe.gov/greenpower/pdf/30101.pdf.

 

[from NREL press release of 31 October 2001] 

The Alexandria Research Institute (part of Virginia Tech) held a conference called "A Workshop on Mitigating the Vulnerability of Critical Infrastructures to Catastrophic Failures" on 10 and 11 September.  This event brought together about forty experts in critical infrastructures and disaster risk management from North America, Europe, and Asia.  In particular, major failures in electric power systems, telecommunications networks, and computer networks were discussed and analyzed.

 

Many of the conference presentations contain a wealth of data on the state of our country's transmission infrastructure and other important electric power infrastructure elements.  The event's URL is http://www.ari.vt.edu/workshop, while the presentations, papers and other conference materials can be viewed at http://www.ari.vt.edu/workshop/updates.htm.

 

The conference was held under the joint sponsorship of the International Institute for Critical National Infrastructures (CRIS), the World Institute for Disaster Risk Management (DRM), the International Institute for Information Technology (IIIT), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The U.S. Commercial Service has launched a new e-marketplace product that puts the vast resources of the U.S. Department of Commerce at the disposal of American exporters in an online format.  Designed to save businesses time and money, BuyUSA.com takes advantage of Commerce’s network of offices and international business know-how around the world and in the U.S.

 

The BuyUSA “click and mortar service” offers online access to Commercial Service trade specialists around the world who can assist buyers and sellers with issues such as regulatory compliance, credit screening, and marketing. U.S. Businesses can subscribe to the marketplace, with pricing from $300 per year.  The service offers speed to market, cost effectiveness, security and sales promotion opportunities.

 

More information on BuyUSA is available at www.BuyUSA.com.

 

[from Department of Commerce press release cited in e-mail by Trevor Gunn of the department’s Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States (BISNIS).

U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide increased 3.1 percent in 2000 -- well above the average growth rate of 1.6 percent for last decade, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). Energy production and use is responsible for 98 percent of the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, which in turn make up 80 percent of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The report, released last week, showed the increase to be distributed among electric power production and energy used for residences and for transportation. However, despite a 4.1 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), there was no growth in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from industry. See the EIA press release, with a link to the full report, at http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/press/press184.html.

 

The EIA report was released just as international negotiators finally agreed on a set of rules for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. The Protocol establishes limits on greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized countries, but the United States has announced that it will not ratify the agreement. With the establishment of rules for implementing the Protocol, it remains to be seen if enough other countries will ratify it. The Protocol will take effect only when ratified by at least 55 countries accounting for at least 55 percent of developed country emissions of carbon dioxide in 1990.

 

The final rules include many of the concessions that the United States had requested in previous years. Specifically, the rules allow countries to trade their carbon emission credits, allow industrialized countries to take credit for clean development projects in developing countries, and allow credits for carbon-absorbing "sinks" such as forestry projects and land management efforts. See the summary on the Pew Center on Global Climate Change Web site at http://www.pewclimate.org/cop7/update_110901.cfm.

 

Although the United States does not intend to ratify the Protocol, U.S. representatives did attend the latest meeting (called the Seventh Session of the Conference of Parties, or COP-7).  Paula J. Dobriansky, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, reaffirmed in a speech at COP-7 that "the Bush Administration will continue to play a   leadership role in addressing the long-term challenge of climate change both at home and around the world."  See the speech on the U.S. Department of State Web site at http://www.state.gov/g/oes/climate/index.cfm?docid=5969.

 

[from EREN Network News of 14 November 2001]

A panel of energy experts will present the latest in energy efficiency as it pertains to new and old or new homes at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on 26 November at 7:00 p.m.

 

Congressman Mark Udall (invited) will discuss how individual actions of making your home energy efficient affect our nation's energy security.  Doug Swartz of Fort Collins Utilities will present the surprising results of a recent housing performance study that looked at energy efficiency and related aspects of comfort, health, safety and building durability.  Rich Moore of Sunpower, Inc. will showcase the best ways to make energy improvements to older homes.  Rob DeKeiffer of Boulder Design Alliance will talk about recent breakthroughs in new home design and construction.  Steve Andrews of E-Star Colorado will present background information on the residential energy sector plus "The Art of the Possible" - a case study of his experience in bringing an extremely inefficient house up to high-tech standards.

 

Sponsored by the Museum of Nature & Science, coalition member E-Star Colorado and HEAT (Home Energy Assistance Team- A coalition of energy companies and organizations including Xcel Energy, Colorado Energy Assistance Foundation, E-Star Colorado, Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation, Oakwood Homes, and Home Depot).  Admission to this event is $5 for non-museum members, and $3 for members.  Seats can be reserved by calling 303-322-7009.

 

For more information, call Maria Finley at 303-825-8750.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fuels Development and the Western Regional Biomass Energy Program will sponsor a second ethanol workshop in Colorado Thursday, December 6, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Irrigation Research Foundation facility in Yuma.

 

Expanding ethanol production is of interest in many parts of the country. Low commodity prices and concerns about energy supplies have helped to fuel this renewed interest.  This “Ethanol 101” Workshop is structured as an informational meeting to provide thoughtful guidance to those seeking answers to the feasibility of ethanol production in Colorado.

 

Presenters from the public and private sectors will answer a number of questions, including:

Public officials, economic development agencies, financiers and the general public are all invited to attend. There is no registration fee, but organizers would appreciate an RSVP to 970-848-3043 for a lunch headcount.  Additional workshop information can be found at www.bbiethanol.com.

The University of Denver will offer an inter-term course entitled “Energy Risks and Opportunities for Business,” for which the curriculum design was coordinated by the Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC).

 

CESC notes that “much of America’s energy supply depends upon large nuclear plants, oil tankers making their way from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and a complex infrastructure of pipelines and transmission lines. A growing number of businesses have been making efforts to manage other energy risks such as price volatility, electric reliability, climate change and fossil fuel depletion. The opportunities for investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and conventional technologies, will be presented.  The participants in this new course, which is open to local business leaders and DU students, will learn to consider risks and opportunities as they develop a businesslike approach to energy management.”

 

This course will be held at the University of Denver Campus, 2199 South University Boulevard, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on December 6th, 7th, and 8th.  For more information, please contact the Colorado Energy Science Center at 303-216-2026.

Members of the University of Colorado Solar Decathlon team are sponsoring a reception at the Environmental Design Building in Boulder on Wednesday, 12 December to unveil the design of their solar-powered house, which will be competing on the National Mall in Washington D.C.  The Solar Decathlon is a national event sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and coalition member BP Solar.  This weeklong event will take place during October 2002 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  The Solar Decathlon is a competition between university teams to create an energy efficient, completely solar- powered house that must meet the power needs of an electric car and a home based business in addition to traditional residential loads such as refrigeration, lighting, cooking, laundry, and bathing.

 

Organizers point out that the December 12th reception will provide an excellent opportunity "for the public and supporters to meet the team, become involved in an important community and renewable energy project, and exchange ideas with others in the field.  Members from the media will be invited to attend."  The time and agenda for this event will be posted on the University of Colorado's Solar Decathlon website as soon as they are available.

This newsletter is circulated to members of the Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies and other interested parties.  Please let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the distribution list.  Additional member-only updates are provided to coalition members as events warrant.  If your business or non-profit organization is interested in coalition membership, I would be happy to provide information upon request.

 

The Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies is preparing to launch a web site in the near future and looks forward to providing links to other appropriate web sites.

 

Please continue to keep in touch on any matters related to energy issues and let me know if I can provide any help or information to you.

 

Craig Cox

Executive Director

Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies

303-679-9331

coxcraig@att.net

 

The Colorado Coalition for New Energy Technologies brings together businesses and non-profit groups to encourage environmentally responsible economic growth through the efficient use of Colorado’s abundant and clean sources of energy.