Energy Newsbriefs
Articles for May 2, 2011
ENERGY NEWSBRIEFS is a weekly current awareness service provided by the WSU Extension Energy Program Library and written by Angela Santamaria, WSU Energy Library Manager, to assist users in tracking developments in the energy field. To view past issues or to subscribe to receive an email notification of the publication of a new issue, go to the Energy Newsbriefs home.
Please be aware that although every URL is checked for accuracy prior to the publication of Energy Newsbriefs, URLs are, for various reasons, subject to change. Further, servers sometimes fail to connect to working URLs.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY – BUILDINGS
EnergyPlus Energy Simulation Software is billed as "a whole building energy simulation program that engineers, architects, and researchers use to model energy and water use in buildings." This free software was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Sustainable Facilities Tool is a free software program from the U.S. General Services Administration. It offers assistance in planning sustainable projects for various types of buildings. The Sustainable Facilities Tool can be used for small projects or for larger remodels.
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
The following two articles were included in the March-April 2011 issue of Distributed Energy:
1. "Cost Control," by Paul Hull, is a four-web-page article that shows the connection between water and wastewater and energy use. Older facilities were built when energy was relatively cheap. Now, water/wastewater costs are elevated largely due to increases in energy charges. Under these new circumstances, energy management becomes an important tool for water and wastewater utilities to maintain affordable services. Three utilities' experiences with energy management programs are highlighted, and the approaches taken and technical tools used by providers of energy management services are discussed.
2. "Such Great Heights," by Ed Ritchie, is a four-web-page article discussing the financial advantages of energy management systems (EMS) in distributed energy situations. It shows the connection between a smart grid and getting the most out of EMS (and demand response, as well). It describes several of the many smart grid demonstration projects already, or about to be, underway.
RENEWABLES
Power and Frequency Control as it Relates to Wind-Powered Generation is a 94-page report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), written by John Undrill of John Undrill, LLC, and published December 2010; it was funded by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It is an investigation into what alterations to the controls in place would be necessitated by large increases in wind-generated power.
The following two reports were recently published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL):
1. Break-Even Cost for Residential Solar Water Heating in the United States: Key Drivers and Sensitivities, a 54-page document published in February 2011, was written by Hannah Cassard, Paul Denholm, and Sean Ong. It reports on the break-even cost of roof-top solar – when money saved as a result of solar-system supplied energy equal the dollars that would have otherwise been spent on grid-supplied energy for home heating. It discusses and graphs various components of break-even costs such as financial incentives, geographical insolation, and whether the PV system replaces an electrical or natural gas one.
2. A Performance and Economic Analysis of Distributed Power Electronics in Photovoltaic Systems, a 20-page report published in January 2011, was written by Chris Deline and Bill Marion, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and by Jennifer Granata and Sigifredo Gonzalez, Sandia National Laboratories. The authors discuss distributed power devices that reduce power losses in PV systems from module power-mismatches and from various levels of shading.
RESIDENTIAL EFFICIENCY STRATEGIES
EnergySavers.gov: Stay Cool, Save Money is a website, revised (and re-named) seasonally, from the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The site is now offering many tips for energy savings for the fall and winter.
TRANSPORTATION
Find Electric Vehicle Charging Stations on Google Maps is a web page that explains how to use the Google search screen to locate an EV station anywhere in the U.S. The example of a search term used is "ev station near Mountain View, CA." Try substituting any other city/town and state for other results. Google is working with data from NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) for this effort.
WIND
The following four articles appeared in the April 2011 issue of Wind Systems:
1. "Wind on the Waves," by Joel Whitman, CEO, Global Marine Energy, Inc., offers a discussion of the several specific challenges facing offshore wind development and their solutions. The author refers both to European experience and to A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Energy Industry in the United States, a 52-page-PDF, published February 2011 by the US DOE EERE (U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office).
2. "Transferring Offshore Technology," by Christos Kolliatsas, Renewable Technologies Professional, Mott MacDonald, discusses offshore wind in the context of lessons learned from the European experience.
3. "Aerospace Advances Improve Blade Durability," by Rani Richardson, CATIA PLM Composites Product Specialist, Dassault Systèmes, explains why best practices in blade manufacturing for the aerospace industry should be applied to blade manufacturing, generally.
4. "Wind Turbine Blade Repair," by David Cripps, Gurit Wind Energy, offers two case studies, one for each of two different applications, where ultraviolet light cures wet epoxy or polyester resin repairs in minutes instead of 24 hours.
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© 2011 Washington State University Extension Energy Program. This publication contains material written and produced for public distribution. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted, provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, and that each is referenced by title with credit to the Washington State University Extension Energy Program. Copying, reprinting or dissemination, electronic or otherwise, for any other use requires prior written permission from the Washington State University Extension Energy Program.