| DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored 50 businesses and organizations with Energy Star Awards last night. The award winners include Lowes Companies Inc., Food Lion, Pardee Homes, USAA Real Estate, and 3M. See the EPA press release. Last week, DOE and the EPA presented Energy Star CHP Awards and Certificates of Recognition to six organizations for their exemplary combined heat and power (CHP) projects. Weyerhaeuser's containerboard mill in Albany, Oregon, earned the Energy Star CHP Award for its 93-megawatt CHP system fueled with biomass and natural gas. The system operates at 70 percent efficiency, requiring 17 percent less fuel than a typical mill, which generates its thermal energy needs onsite but draws its electricity from the power grid. In addition, the California Institute of Technology won an award for a 12.5-megawatt gas-fired CHP system that is more than 70 percent efficient. See the EPA press release and find details about the winners on the EPA Combined Heat and Power Partnership Web site. On Monday, the EPA recognized 13 Energy Star "Leaders": companies, school districts, and healthcare organizations that have measured the energy efficiency of all their buildings and achieved energy efficiency improvements of approximately 10 or 20 percent, or achieved overall top performance. The EPA also joined with more than 20 leading associations, states, and businesses to announce the Energy Star Challenge, which calls on owners of commercial and institutional buildings to improve the efficiency of their buildings by 10 percent or more. According to recent reports, nearly 2,000 commercial and institutional buildings in the United States have earned the Energy Star label, and nearly 10 percent of new homes built in 2004 earned the Energy Star label. Since 1995, more than 360,000 new U.S. homes have earned the Energy Star, saving homeowners an estimated $200 million in energy costs. Overall, 64 percent of U.S. households are now aware of the Energy Star, and nearly half of those households purchased an Energy Star product in the past year. See all the recent Energy Star press releases and reports on the Energy Star News Room Web page. The global wind power industry installed nearly 8,000 megawatts (MW) of new wind turbines in 2004, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). The 20 percent growth in global wind power capacity is actually somewhat lower than in 2002 and 2003, when the world wind capacity grew by 28 percent and 26 percent, respectively. According to GWEC, the slower growth is largely due to a slowdown in the United States, caused by last year's expiration of the production tax credit for wind power (the credit was renewed this year, but will expire again at year's end). With the U.S. slowdown, Europe continued to dominate the world wind power market, installing 5,774 MW that accounted for 72.4 percent of the growth in 2004. Total world wind capacity is now at 47,317 MW, with 16,629 MW in Germany, 8,263 MW in Spain, and 6,740 MW in the United States. See the GWEC press release. As many wind power developers in the United States rush to take advantage of the production tax credit, one project was recently completed: Catamount Energy's 91.5-MW Sweetwater 2 project, located west of Abilene, Texas, achieved commercial operation in February. Among the many projects underway is a 151-MW expansion of the 74.25-MW Blue Canyon Wind Farm near Lawton, Oklahoma. The Vestas Group is providing 84 1.8-MW wind turbines for the project, which Zilkha Renewable Energy expects to complete in December. Public Service Company of Oklahoma is buying all the wind power from the project. Another project aiming for a year-end completion is the 120-MW San Juan Mesa Wind Project, near Elida, New Mexico, about 65 miles northeast of Roswell. Xcel Energy recently agreed to buy all the power from the project, which is being developed by Padoma Wind Power. Xcel Energy also announced in late February that it will buy all the power from a 12-MW wind project near Velva in central North Dakota. Construction of that project is expected to begin this summer. See the press releases from Catamount Energy, Vestas, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Padoma Wind Power, and Xcel Energy. Taking the longer view, Washington State's Last Mile Electric Cooperative has submitted the permit application for a 200-MW wind plant in Klickitat County, just north of the Columbia River near Roosevelt. If the White Creek Project is approved, the cooperative plans to complete it by the end of 2006. And in New York, plans are underway for the 27-MW Adirondack Wind Energy Park, slated to be built about 80 miles north of Albany in 2007. See the press release and White Creek Project description from the Last Mile Electric Cooperative, and visit the Adirondack Wind Energy Park Web site. Southern California Edison (SCE) announced last week that it has signed long-term contracts with companies developing six new renewable energy projects. The contracts, which must also be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, include three new wind power plants (two at the Tehachapi Pass and one at the San Gorgonio Pass), two biomass power plants (one in the Imperial Valley, and one in the Western Sierra), and one geothermal power plant in western Nevada. According to SCE, the six projects would have an initial combined capacity of 141.5 megawatts, but could eventually be expanded to 427.5 megawatts. SCE expects the projects to be completed between 2006 and 2009. See the SCE press release. Acting New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey signed a bill last week that sets new energy efficiency standards for certain products sold within the state. The new law sets standards for ceiling fans and ceiling fan light kits; commercial clothes washers; commercial refrigerators and freezers; illuminated exit signs; very large air-cooled commercial air conditioning and heating equipment; low-voltage dry-type distribution transformers; set-top boxes; torchiere lighting fixtures; traffic signal modules; and unit heaters. The standards are drawn from a number of sources, including the new energy efficiency standards in California and the Energy Star requirements for certain products. See the acting governor's press release or go directly to the full text of the bill. Speaking of the California standards, the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced in early February that its requirement for appliance manufacturers to supply energy efficiency information on their products has withstood a lawsuit by several appliance manufacturers associations. The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the regulations and lifted a preliminary injunction that was issued in December 2002. See the CEC press release. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) noted in January that such state-level appliance efficiency standards could save consumers and businesses billions of dollars. Along with California, Connecticut and Maryland enacted new efficiency standards in 2004. See the ACEEE press release. When the Lexus RX 400h goes on sale on April 15th, it will be touted as the world's first luxury hybrid sports utility vehicle (SUV), but until recently, the question was: How much does a luxury hybrid SUV cost? Lexus answered that question on February 28th with its announcement of a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $48,535—a premium of $11,360 over the base price for the comparable non-hybrid model, the RX 330, which has an MSRP of $37,175 for its four-by-four version. Lexus notes that the RX 400h base price includes a wide array of premium standard features that, if included on the RX 330, would boost its base price by more than $6,000. Doing the math, the hybrid system and its accompanying stability control system contribute about $5,000 to the cost of the RX 400h. Lexus also announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has certified the fuel economy ratings for the RX 400h. According to Lexus, the RX 400h met its previously estimated mileage in the city—31 miles per gallon (mpg)—while slightly exceeding the Lexus estimates for highway driving, achieving 27 mpg. The combined city/highway mileage of 29 mpg is 1 mpg higher than Lexus had estimated. In comparison, the four-wheel-drive RX 330 achieves an estimated 18 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway, for a combined city/highway mileage of about 21 mpg. See the Lexus press release. Hybrid-electric vehicles are gaining ground with car buyers, according to "Consumer Reports," the magazine published by the Consumers Union, a nonprofit organization. The magazine's "Annual April Auto Issue" placed the Toyota Prius at the top of its owner satisfaction survey, with the Honda Civic Hybrid also scoring well. The magazine listed the Honda Accord Hybrid as the top pick for family sedans and the Toyota Prius as the top pick for green cars. See the Consumer Reports press releases on the owner satisfaction survey and the top picks. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) presented 11 winners with National Green Building Awards on Monday. The awards went to five projects that exemplified green building in a variety of buildings, including an Oregon house that can produce more energy than it consumes; energy-efficient production homes manufactured in Wisconsin; an energy-efficient multifamily building in Pennylvania; and a historic building renovation in Maryland that used insulated glass and innovative foam insulation. Other winners include the California Green Builder program, an effort to market green buildings in Florida, and green building advocates in Georgia and Massachusetts. One notable winner was DOE's Building America project, which was named the Green Advocate of the Year for a Group or Organization. See the NAHB announcement. DOE's Building America project is a private-public partnership that develops energy solutions for new and existing homes by helping the industry adopt systems engineering approaches to home design and construction. Private sector partners contribute construction materials and labor costs for Building America's research homes and communities. The Building America approach has been used in the design of 26,245 houses in 34 states. See the Building America Program Web site. |
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