Articles for August 17, 2009
ENERGY NEWSBRIEFS is a weekly current awareness service provided by the
Washington State University 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
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to Energy Newsbriefs archives at
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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.
BIOMASS
"Seattle
Steam Makes the Switch to Biomass" was authored by Sara Stroud, Bay Area
Correspondent, Sustainable Industries. Seattle Steam provides district heating to 200
customers in downtown Seattle and one other neighborhood. While district
heating is, in and of itself, an efficient technology, Seattle Steam has
decided to go an important step further. It currently uses non-renewable, but
cost-efficient, natural gas to fuel the system. It plans to switch half of its
fuel source to biomass (mainly waste wood in and near the city) with a new
boiler that will accommodate the new fuel. See this article in Sustainable
Industries, August 2009, at http://www.sustainableindustries.com/breakingnews/51225072.html.
BUILDINGS
"The Brains of the
Operation," by Julie Denardis, LEED AP, explains the workings of BAS
(building automated systems) in the context of HSBC's North American
headquarters building, near Chicago. The design of the BAS at HSBC is
described as to how it monitors the heating and cooling, the lighting, and the
plumbing systems now that the building is operational. See this case study,
which includes the side bar, "Building Elements Reduce Energy Expenditure,"
in Engineered
Systems, July 2009, at http://www.greenintelligentbuildings.com/CDA/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000618194.
"The
Missing Link," was written by Charles Redell, Associate Editor, Sustainable
Industries. This is a discussion of the discrepancy between the expected vs.
the actual performance of buildings having received basic certification through
the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) program. See this article in Sustainable Industries, August
2009, at http://www.sustainableindustries.com/greenbuilding/51789932.html?viewAll=y.
DATA CENTERS
Opportunities for
Combined Heat and Power in Data Centers is a March 2009, 64-page document prepared, under contract, for the Oak
Ridge National Laboratory. Data centers are described in terms of the two
basic types under NAICS, the server farms of internet providers and the centers
providing data processing services. Data centers are also broken down into
seven narrower categories. The authors consider size, geography, and other
important aspects of data centers that help determine their energy needs and
options. They also take into consideration the evolution of data centers,
which will continue to use even more efficient equipment as they increase in
power intensity. Combined heat and power (CHP) options are described with
frank discussion of the market drivers and market barriers to acceptance of
CHP. Data centers currently using CHP are shown as primarily those that are
housed together with the rest of their company's businesses; they are not very
large, stand-alone data facilities. To see the full report, go to http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow/pdfs/chp_data_centers.pdf.
GREENING ACADEMIA
"Colleges
Become Greener Thanks to Savvy Students," by Sarah Terry-Cobo, reports on
the Princeton Review's second annual rating of Green Colleges. Two institutions
from the Northwest made the Princeton Review's Green Honor Roll of 15
and both of them are from Washington State: The Evergreen State College and the
University of Washington. There is a list of the 15 academic institutions on
the Green Honor Roll at the end of the article. See this article carried by Reuters
(content from GreenBiz.com), July 29, 2009, at http://www.reuters.com/article/gwmBuildings/idUS9813894820090729.
POLICY
Unlocking Energy
Efficiency in the U.S. Economy is a
July 2009, 165-page, research report from McKinsey Global Energy and Materials,
written by Hannah Choi Grenade, et al., all of McKinsey & Company.
(McKinsey produced the report in collaboration with 13 government, corporate,
and environmental groups, but McKinsey claims sole responsibility for its
contents. McKinsey also states that the report is not meant to be a policy
statement, but to serve as information for policy makers to consider.)
McKinsey's research indicates the U.S. could reduce its energy consumption by
close to a quarter, or save just over a trillion dollars in energy costs, by 2020
by investing just $152 billion on energy efficiencies in the industrial,
residential, and commercial sectors. The report discusses the barriers that
stand in the way: structural constraints, behavioral challenges, and the lack
of readily available efficiencies. The report also suggests ways to overcome
those barriers. To see the report, go to http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/electricpowernaturalgas/US_energy_efficiency/
and, from the right-hand frame, select either the Executive Summary or the
Full Report (which includes the Executive Summary).
PUBLIC POWER UTILITIES
Two
articles, in the July-August 2009 issue of Public Power Magazine,
address the connection between energy efficiency and earnings in the public
power sector and how that connection is different for investor-owned utilities
(IOUs):
- "Reconciling
Energy Efficiency Programs and Revenue Adequacy" was written by Diane
Moody, Statistical Analysis, American Public Power Association. This
article compares and highlights decoupling, a method of maintaining
profits often espoused by IOUs. Decoupling is, writes the author,
unnecessary for publicly-owned utilities. View this article at http://www.appanet.org/newsletters/ppmagazinedetail.cfm?ItemNumber=24990&sn.ItemNumber=2108.
- "When More Is Less,"
by Alice Clamp, discusses the variety of possible policies and suggested
rate structures that could assist utilities in coping with reduced energy
demand. See this article at http://www.appanet.org/newsletters/ppmagazinedetail.cfm?ItemNumber=24991&sn.ItemNumber=2108.
WASTE-TO-ENERGY
"Onion Producer Uses Waste for Energy," by
Lisa Gibson, is a short article explaining the financing for a $9.5 million anaerobic
digestion project. Through anaerobic digestion, waste onion juice is converted
to biogas that is used by two fuel cells to produce all the power needed for
the company's operations. See this article in Biomass, July 29, 2009,
at http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2925.
WORKFORCE and GREEN
CONSTRUCTION
"Students Build for
Energy Efficient Future" is a case study of the construction of a
low-energy, affordable home by the Portland YouthBuilders (PYB) that was
supported by the Energy Trust of Oregon's Technical School Outreach initiative
and three other organizations. The Energy Star home took nine months for
students, under the supervision of PYB instructors, to build. PYB is both an
accredited high school in Portland, Oregon, and a non-profit that is part of a
nation-wide YouthBuilders organization - see http://www.pybpdx.org/
for more information about PYB. To view the case study, look at the first
paragraph in the June issue of Synergy at http://www.energytrust.org/synergy/0906/index.html
and select the linked, "Read more about the Portland YouthBuilders
ENERGY STAR home," at the end of the paragraph to view the two-page fact
sheet.
Past issues of Energy Newsbriefs are available at
http://www.energy.wsu.edu/library/newsbriefs.cfm.
Generally, subscription information for the journals cited above can be
found at the home page of their web sites.
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