Energy Department Offers $50 Million to Advance PEV Technologies
The Energy Department on March 8 announced more
than $50 million in funding for new projects that will accelerate the
development of advanced plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) technologies to
improve vehicle fuel economy and performance. This new funding supports
the Energy Department's EV Everywhere Grand Challenge, which
aims to make PEVs as affordable to own and operate as today's
gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 10 years and will help to
advance the technology goals outlined in the EV Everywhere Grand
Challenge.
The Department will select new research projects
that focus on lowering the cost and increasing the efficiency of PEV
components and develop models and tools to predict these vehicles'
performance and help improve fuel economy. The Department will fund
projects that cover 12 areas of interest across five major areas of
research and development, including: advanced light-weight and
propulsion materials; battery development; power electronics; heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning systems; and fuels and lubricants.
Through the Advanced Vehicle Power Technology
Alliance between the Department of Energy and the U.S. Army, the Army is
contributing $3.5 million in co-funding in several areas where there
are joint development opportunities. The Energy Department will accept
applications from industry, national laboratories, and university-led
teams to address these challenges and enable technologies that will
drive innovation in vehicle design. See the Energy Department Progress Alert, the Vehicle Technologies Office website, and the funding announcement.
DOE Announces Winners of Student Energy-Efficiency Building Competition
The Energy Department on March 8 announced the
winners of the second annual Better Buildings Case Competition, which
challenges university teams to develop and present real-world solutions
to cut energy waste and improve the efficiency of commercial buildings.
The winners included the Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, University of California-Santa Barbara,
University of Chicago, and Yale University. The Better Buildings Case
Competition supports President Obama's goal of cutting energy waste from
homes and businesses in half over the next two decades.
This year, 14 university teams analyzed case
studies focusing on a range of challenges faced by private-sector
organizations and state and local governments that are looking to
improve the energy efficiency of their operations. The case studies
consisted of real scenarios, background information, and data provided
by organizations that included partners in the Better Buildings
Challenge program—a broad public-private partnership working to make
U.S. commercial and industrial buildings 20% more efficient by 2020.
Student teams competed to find the best
solutions to energy efficiency challenges presented in real-world case
studies for the City of Fort Worth, Texas; the Energy Efficient
Buildings Hub; the U.S. General Services Administration; and the
"Everything Store," representative of several retail stores including
Kohl's, Staples, and Target. These teams presented their ideas and
written proposals to a panel of commercial real estate and energy
experts at the White House. See the Energy Department Progress Alert and the Better Buildings case studies website.
Energy Department Partnerships Speed Advanced Vehicle Technologies
The Energy Department on March 5 announced that
16 major U.S. employers and two stakeholder groups have joined the
Department's Workplace Charging Challenge to give more workers access to
new transportation options. Also, another three U.S. corporations have
joined the National Clean Fleets Partnership.
As part of the Energy Department's EV Everywhere Grand Challenge,
the Department announced that the new partner employers have joined the
Workforce Charging Challenge, which aims to expand the availability of
workplace vehicle charging for U.S. workers—increasing the convenience
of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The new partners include AVL,
Bentley Systems, Biogen Idec, Bloomberg LP, The Coca-Cola Company, the
City of Sacramento, Dell, Facebook, The Hartford, The Hertz Corporation,
National Grid, New York Power Authority, NRG Energy, OSRAM SYLVANIA,
Raytheon Company, and Southern California Edison. Each partner
organization commits to assessing workforce PEV charging demands and
then developing and implementing a plan to install workplace charging
infrastructure for at least one major worksite location. In addition,
the California Center for Sustainable Energy and the Green Parking
Council have signed the Ambassador Pledge to develop and execute plans
to support and promote the workplace charging initiative.
Further, the Energy Department announced that
three new corporate partners—AMP Americas, Kwik Trip, and Waste
Management—are joining the National Clean Fleets Partnership, a broad
public-private partnership that assists the nation's largest fleet
operators in reducing the amount of gasoline and diesel they use
nationwide. The new Clean Fleets Partners join with 18 other major
national companies that are improving the fuel economy of their
commercial fleets, integrating alternative fuels like natural gas and
electricity into their daily operations, and reducing their overall fuel
use. The National Clean Fleets Partnership is part of the Energy
Department's Clean Cities Initiative. See the Energy Department press release, the EV Everywhere website, and the Clean Cities website.
FEMP Issues Guide for Large Renewable Energy Projects at Federal Facilities
The Energy Department's Federal Energy
Management Program (FEMP) on March 11 issued a new resource that
provides best practices and other helpful guidance for federal agencies
developing large-scale renewable energy projects. The Large-Scale Renewable Energy Guide: Developing Renewable Energy Projects Larger than 10 MWs at Federal Facilities
provides a comprehensive framework, including active project management
strategies, common terms, and principles that promote partnerships
among the federal government, private developers, and financiers.
Improving coordination on large-scale renewable energy projects will
help ensure successful projects while diversifying the U.S. energy
supply, creating jobs, and advancing national goals for energy security.
Renewable energy at federal facilities
represents a large clean energy resource for the United States. Federal
energy policies, requirements, and goals require the development of
nearly 3 gigawatts of renewable power projects over the next decade.
Federal project managers who use the guide to
design and develop their projects will learn best practices for
private-sector financing across a variety of funding options and
competitive acquisition processes. The guide will also help commercial
developers better understand federal energy planning and acquisition
processes. The guide was developed by FEMP and the Department's National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, with contribution and assistance provided
by the U.S. Army Energy Initiatives Task Force. See the Energy
Department's Progress Alert, the complete FEMP report  , and the FEMP website. |
Energy Department and USDA Partner to Support Energy Efficiency in Rural Communities
By Dr. Kathleen Hogan, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency, and Todd Campbell, alternative energy advisor, USDA
Each year, urban households in the United States
combined use more than three times the total energy that rural
households use. Yet, the Energy Information Administration estimates
that rural families spend about $400 more per year in energy bills
compared to the typical urban household. Unlocking new opportunities to
save energy will help rural Americans save money while improving our
energy security, creating jobs, and protecting our air and water.
We have seen this work firsthand at USDA Rural
Development. Through our Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), we
have partnered with agriculture producers and rural small businesses to
construct 6,605 renewable energy systems and energy efficiency
improvement projects since 2009, providing $213 million in grants and
$178 million in loan guarantees. When complete, these projects will be
responsible for generating or saving 7.32 billion kWh annually, enough
energy to power 680,000 households each year. At the Energy Department,
the Weatherization Assistance Program is helping low-income rural
households save on their utility bills through a broad range of home
efficiency upgrades—from installing insulation to replacing leaking
windows to repairing heating and cooling systems. Since the program’s
inception in 1976, we’ve helped low-income families permanently reduce
their energy bills to the tune of hundreds of dollars per year. This is a
good start, but there is much more work that can be done. For the
complete story, see the Energy Blog.
Croatian Center of Renewable Energy Sources (CCRES)
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