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Energy Newsbriefs

Articles for September 3, 2012

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.


BIOENERGY

"Energy Consumption: Acid Esterification vs. Glycerolysis: Which Really Consumes More Energy?" was written by Kirk Cobb, Senior Process Design Engineer, Superior Process Technologies Inc.; it was published in the July/August 2012 installment of Biodiesel Magazine. It takes issue with "A Critical Component," which was authored by Erin Voegele, Associate Editor, Biodiesel Magazine and which appeared in the January/February 2012 issue of the same journal. The Voegele article author, relying on identified practitioners in the field of biodiesel production, uses a table from JatroDiesel that includes the information questioned by Cobb. The Cobb article asserts that while acid esterification uses little energy initially, this advantage is cancelled out by the resulting creation of acidic methanol that requires a great deal of energy to neutralize.

BUILDINGS

The following six, case studies were included in the July+August issue of GreenSource:

  1. "Biomass Power Plant," by Mary Pepchinski, is a case study of a plant in Southern Germany that meets high-performance goals in two aesthetically-interesting buildings designed by a well-known Milanese architectural firm. To ensure profitability, the German government has a policy of encouraging renewables development by guaranteeing energy producers of renewables a specified compensation for a specified period of years.

  2. "Denver Central Platte Campus," by Asad Syrkett, shows some of the major features of this LEED-Gold municipal campus. One feature for the vehicle maintenance shop includes the use of radiant floor heating and the heat recovery of exhaust air, both of which help mitigate ventilation problems and reduce energy use.

  3. "Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market," by Alanna Malone, is a two-Web-page case study showing the features that add up to a very sustainable structure for a market that has been conducting business since 1740 without a break, making it the oldest of its kind in North America. The features include energy generated from building-integrated wind, PV panels, and geothermal. Additionally, the market has a green roof, and its operable windows are double glazed and argon filled. Energy recovery ventilation is employed to heat the incoming air in the winter.

  4. "Pixel," by Russell Fortmeyer, describes the Melbourne, Australia, office building that has a playful exterior and has, to date, received the highest number of LEED points toward platinum certification than any other, and the highest possible Green Star ratings. Interestingly, while the LEED system measures energy by its cost, Australia's Green Star system measures energy by its carbon content. It is pointed out in the article that, as a result, natural gas would achieve more points toward Green Star certification than electricity if the electricity were coal-based.

  5. "San Francisco International Airport Terminal 2," by William Hanley, describes a rebuilt terminal that was designed with a sense of place, ease of use, and a number of energy-savings features that include daylighting, electricity controls, displacement ventilation, and roof PV.

  6. "SDB1 Office Building," by Nadav Malin, is a two-Web-page case study of an office building in the challenging climate of Hyderabad in Southern India, where the weather is like "Houston half the year and Phoenix the other half." An attempt to use in-slab radiant cooling met with a great deal of resistance because, in India, it was only used in outdoor palaces. It was thought to be inadequate to handle the high humidity of Hyderabad summers in an enclosed building. A decision was made to split the building into two parts for the purpose of comparing radiant cooling to the more traditional VAV (variable air volume) approach. The best of both types of systems were installed so the comparison would be fair and of value. In all areas, radiant cooling won hands down as verified by an independent third party. The initial cost of the two systems was about the same – the project's consulting engineer, who is from San Francisco, believes the high initial cost of radiant cooling in the United States is unreasonable.

INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES

"Going Big: Building the Largest Ever Energy Efficiency Project" was written by Joel Scruggs, Public Affairs Specialist, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA); it was posted August 16, 2012, on the U.S. Department of Energy website, Energy.Gov. A pulp and paper mill (NORPAC) in Longview, Washington is to become so energy efficient that it will save 12 megawatts of electricity a year. Funded by BPA and the local Cowlitz County Public Utility District, the project includes two phases. Phase one, which employs new equipment for treating wood chips prior to refining, has been completed. Phase two, which is to use new screening equipment in the refining process, is underway.

WIND

The following two articles appeared in the July 2012 issue of Wind Systems:

  1. "All Wires and Cables Are Not Created Equal," by Sherri Mabry, cautions against the practice of some wind developers who buy cheaper products that fail early and often, leading to a much lower ROI (return on investment) than would be the case for their higher-quality counterparts.

  2. "Individual Pitch Control and Its Impact," by Sherif El-Henaoui, Ph.D., addresses the technical difficulties to be overcome when designing for larger turbines with longer blades and higher towers. Pitch control systems are essential to their success.

WORKFORCE

Wind Energy Education and Training Programs is a Web page of Wind Powering America, a program at DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. It shows the sites of training programs around the country. In Washington State, there are four that are operational and one in the planning stage; in Oregon, all five of its programs are operational; Idaho and Montana each have three programs in operation; California has eleven operating programs.

Past issues of Energy Newsbriefs are available here.

Generally, subscription information for the journals cited above can be found at the home page of their web sites.

© 2012 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.