Energy efficiency and renewable energy were the major focus of energy ministers and other government leaders from throughout the Americas last week, as they converged on Lima, Peru, for the Americas Energy and Climate Symposium. At the symposium, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a Low Carbon Communities Program, which will assist countries in developing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that will reduce the carbon footprint of their urban communities. Through the initiative, DOE will partner with participating countries to develop building energy standards and to adopt modern urban planning strategies, including transit-oriented development. DOE will provide technical assistance and limited funding to help achieve those goals. Energy leaders also announced the development of a Regional Energy Efficiency Center, supported by Peru, and a Regional Wind Center, supported by Mexico.
The symposium was the first major energy event after the Summit of the Americas in April, where President Barack Obama announced the formation of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA). The president invited all Western Hemisphere countries to be part of a united effort under the ECPA, and since then, the regional response has been overwhelmingly positive across all five elements of the ECPA: energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner fossil fuels, critical infrastructure, and energy development to help alleviate poverty. The Americas Energy and Climate Symposium took place on June 15 and 16 and was hosted by the Government of Peru. See the symposium announcement from the Institute of the Americas and the DOE press release.
DOE also announced on Tuesday that Energy Secretary Chu has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Minister Marcelo Tokman of the Chilean National Energy Commission to further collaboration between the two nations. The memorandum establishes an institutional framework between Chile and the United States, allowing DOE to provide its technical expertise in support of a new Renewable Energy Center in Chile. The new center will work to identify developments and best practices in renewable energy technologies from around the world, disseminating its findings within Chile and throughout the region. The two countries will also collaborate on other high-priority energy issues, including energy efficiency technologies and the establishment of two pilot solar power projects in northern Chile. See the DOE press release.
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced plans to provide $256 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support energy efficiency improvements in major industrial sectors across the American economy. The funding is targeted at reducing the energy consumption of America’s manufacturing and information technology (IT) industries, while creating jobs and stimulating economic growth. These programs will help create manufacturing jobs quickly, along with jobs for technicians and experts who will be needed in the long-term to maintain and operate the new equipment.
“Supporting the development of the latest industrial technologies plays an important role in helping U.S. industry to lead the world in energy efficiency and productivity,” said Secretary Chu. “Working together with American manufacturing and IT industries, we will be able to create new jobs, reduce industrial energy use and limit damaging greenhouse gas emissions.”
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DOE announced on Tuesday that it plans to provide Massachusetts with $25 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate the development of the state’s Wind Technology Testing Center. Conveniently located in Boston Harbor, the new center will be the first commercial facility in the nation for large wind turbine blades. It will allow for the testing of blades longer than 50 meters to help reduce cost, improve technical advancements, and speed deployment of the next generation of wind turbines. DOE selected Massachusetts for the facility in June 2007, pledging $2 million to support the project. The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust also committed $13.2 million in grants and loans to develop the facility, and the state is now concluding the final design for the testing center. With the injection of Recovery Act funds, construction can begin in September and will be complete by the end of next year, creating hundreds of new jobs in the area. See the DOE press release.
DOE also announced last week that it will invest up to $8.5 million in 53 new wind energy projects in 24 states, plus the District of Columbia. Funded with fiscal year 2009 appropriations, the projects will support the goals outlined in DOE’s 20% Wind Energy by 2030 report, which found that the United States has enough wind resources to generate 20% of the country’s electrical needs. The report also identified several challenges to this goal, including the need for investment in a national transmission system; larger electric load balance areas and better regional planning; reduction in wind turbine capital costs; improvement of turbine performance; resolution of siting and environmental issues; and workforce development.
The awards include four topic areas: market acceptance, environmental impact, workforce development, and distributed wind technology. Awards for two other topic areas—supporting wind turbine research and testing and transmission analysis; planning and assessments—will be announced at a later date. The awards went to colleges and universities, organizations, companies, and state governments in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, as well as Washington, D.C. See the DOE press release for a list of all of the awardees.
President Barack Obama unveiled last week a $26.4 billion budget request for DOE for fiscal year (FY) 2010, including $2.3 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The budget aims to substantially expand the use of renewable energy sources while improving energy transmission infrastructure. It also makes significant investments in hybrids and plug-in hybrids, in smart grid technologies, and in scientific research and innovation. The budget request for EERE represents a 6.4% increase above the appropriations for FY 2009, not counting funds provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The president’s budget includes significant increases for a number of EERE programs, including an 82.9% increase for solar energy, a 36.4% increase for wind energy, a 22% increase for vehicle technologies, a 69.8% increase for building technologies, and a 46.7% increase for the Federal Energy Management Program. The budget also requests a near doubling in funding for program direction, in part to support “unprecedented project management and oversight” associated with the Recovery Act. The budget also includes a more than five-fold increase in funding for program support (to $101.8 million), primarily to support analysis and commercialization efforts. The President’s budget generally represents a starting point for the Congressional appropriation process. See the DOE press release and text pages 24-31 (PDF pages 30-37) of the DOE Budget Highlights (PDF 1.0 MB) on the DOE budget and performance Web page.
The proposed DOE budget also includes $280 million to fund eight multi-disciplinary Energy Innovation Hubs, each of which is focused on a particular energy challenge. The hubs are meant to advance highly promising areas of energy science and technology from their early stages of research to the point that the risk level will be low enough for industry to commercialize the technologies. Two of the eight hubs are included in the EERE budget and will focus on integrating smart materials, designs, and systems into buildings to better conserve energy and on designing and discovering new concepts and materials needed to convert solar energy into electricity. Another two hubs, included in the DOE Office of Science budget, will tackle the challenges of devising advanced methods of energy storage and creating fuels directly from sunlight without the use of plants or microbes. Yet another hub will develop “smart” materials that will allow the electrical grid to adapt and respond to changing conditions, while the remaining three hubs will address challenges related to nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage.
