Energy Newsbriefs
Articles for October 31, 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.
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BIOMASS
Three articles on issues related to co-firing biomass with fossil fuels were published in the September 2011 issue of Biomass Power & Thermal. The first two were written by Anna Austin, the third by Lisa Gibson; both are associate editors at that same journal:
1. "Glorified, Torrefied & Cofired" is about the true costs, advantages, and challenges of cofiring torrefied biomass with coal. It compares the new and small-scale industry in the U.S. with the mature and large-scale industry in Europe. With continued investment in cofiring in the U.S., the technology may prove to be more desirable and less expensive than coal with the added benefit of its being a reliable baseload in the face of intermittent renewables.
2. "Biomass and Coal: A Powerful Combination" describes cofiring with biomass that is not torrefied, not bone-dry, and very bulky. Large, covered holding areas are needed for it even for the briefest storage. The cofiring plants featured in this article are at Minnesota Power's several sites, Wyandotte Municipal Services in Michigan, and the University of Greenwich in the U.K.
3. "Conquering Co-Combustion" is a discussion of cofiring issues as they occur in the boiler. Biomass size and fuel blending as it affects the boiler must be understood. The power plant at the University of Missouri in Columbia is being converted from biomass/coal to 100% biomass.
COMBINED HEAT and POWER (CHP)
"Upgrading with CHP," by Don Talend, was published in the September 2011 issue of Distributed Energy. This includes five case studies: the Philadelphia Four Seasons Hotel, the Sterling YMCA in Beverly, Massachusetts, two projects (an MTN Group building and ABSA Bank's Tower West complex) in South Africa, and the Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District's cogeneration plant in Carson City, Nevada.
ENERGY STORAGE
"Spanish Power Tower Supplies 24 Hours of Electricity," by Sonal Patel, Senior Writer, Power, was published in the September 2011 issue of that journal. For renewables, energy storage is becoming an ever larger issue. Solar towers are described and discussed. Some of them use water, some molten salt, to create the storage environment; other towers have no storage. The technology for the featured tower is SENER's two-tank molten salt storage system which is employed at a new 19.9-MW concentrated solar power (CSP) tower in Seville. Technologies based on water as the working fluid may store energy for about an hour, but the molten salt technology at Seville's Gemasolar tower has a 24-hour storage capacity.
INDUSTRIAL
"Study of Selective Etching of Carbides in Steel" is a two part article by George Vander Voort, Consultant, Struers Inc.; the parts were web-posted on the Industrial Heating website on August 15 and September 1, 2011, respectively:
Part 1 introduces research completed in the area of industrial metal etching. Specifically, there was a need to determine how effective particular reagents are in identifying and/or attacking particular carbides. The study results were to be compared with assertions made in past publications on the topic.
Part 2 describes how much the study results differed from the literature. It, also, includes one table identifying the etchants used and a second table showing the results.
HOTELS
"Chain Hotels Lead the Way in Going Green," by Eric Sorensen, Science Writer, Washington State University (WSU), is an October 25, 2011, press release from WSU that reports on a recent, 14-page study by WSU researchers. Since the 1990s, hotel chains in the U.S. have been developing their own green practices and, at the same time, educating their guests about that development and inviting guests to participate in the effort. The hotels have made a number of changes. They include both purchases of efficient products by the chains, altering housekeeping practices, and building new hotels to high efficiency standards. Additionally, they have been asking their hotel guests to consider using towels and bed sheets for more than one day to reduce laundry loads. Independent hotels have not, generally, been very active in any greening effort. In the meantime, the chains, having exhausted the "low-hanging fruit" (no- or low-cost energy and water savings), are facing the next challenging level of efficiencies where major investments would need to be made.
KITCHENS – RESOURCES EFFICIENCIES
"Kitchen Appliance Upgrades Improve Water Efficiency at DOD Exchange Facilities" is a four-page Best Management Practice Case Study of Commercial Kitchen Equipment from the Federal Energy Management Program of the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office and published September 2011. An overall sustainability plan is driving resource efficiencies at the more than 3,000 Department of Defense (DOD) facilities operated by the DOD Exchange – a retailer of goods and services for the military. Water and energy savings are reported at the commercial kitchens at these facilities. Illustrations and text show the four types of high-efficiency, commercial-kitchen equipment that was installed either in retrofitted or new kitchens. The equipment described includes pre-rinse spray valves, commercial dishwashers, food steamers, and ice machines. Following those in-depth descriptions, other energy/water savers employed in and outside the kitchens are named, though not described. The technologies employed at the Exchange facility kitchens, and outside them, are readily available and applicable to schools, academia, and government facilities.
RESIDENTIAL EFFICIENCY STRATEGIES
"Broad-Based LUMEN Coalition Unveils New Website to 'Enlighten' Consumers about Energy-Efficient Lighting" is an article in the October 24, 2011, issue of eiXtra from the Lighting Understanding for a More Efficient Nation (LUMEN).
"Saving Money by Saving Energy" is a September 2011, two-page fact sheet from the Weatherization Assistance Program of the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office. It describes how the program works to save energy dollars with energy-efficiency upgrades in the homes of low-income Americans. It explains who is eligible and links to a website for more information. The reader may find that Apply for Weatherization Assistance is a particularly valuable Web page.
SOLAR - POLICY
"Matt Dishman Solar Project in Northeast Portland, Expected to Save Taxpayers Thousands, to Be Unveiled Thursday" is a brief article written by Larry Bingham and published in the October 25, 2011, issue of The Oregonian. A community center's new rooftop solar array, funded by a federal (Recovery Act) grant to the state, is expected to net a savings of $200,000 over its life.
ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL
A two-part article by Dan Sullivan, Managing Editor, BioCycle, was carried in the July and September 2011 issues of that trade journal:
Part I is "Zero Waste on San Francisco’s Horizon." It describes the city's notable and highly-successful efforts to develop resources from waste. The city has reached the point where 77% of its waste is diverted, from both landfills and incinerators, for reuse. The goal is to avoid, ultimately, all landfilling and all burning.
Part II is "Food Waste Critical to San Francisco's High Diversion." This features the food-waste diversion program, which is an important part of San Francisco's overall Zero Waste program.
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