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Weekly Energy Newsbriefs

Articles for September 28, 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 to receive an email notification of the publication of a new issue, go to Energy Newsbriefs archives at http://www.energy.wsu.edu/library/newsbriefs.cfm.


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.



APPLIANCES

The following two articles appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Appliance and are related to one another; the second provides technical information pertinent to the first:

  1. "Where's the E in Cooking?" (43rd Annual Report on Cooking Appliances) was written by Lisa Bonnema, Contributing Editor, Appliance. The article explains what appliance engineers are doing, in the absence of Energy Star standards, to design cost-effective efficiencies into commercial cooking appliances. See this article at http://www.appliancemagazine.com/editorial.php?article=2261&zone=1&first=1.


  2. "Improving Range-Top Efficiency with Specialized Vessels" was coauthored by Greg Sorensen and David Zabrowski, both of Fisher-Nickel Inc. Two prototype stockpots are each tested on three commercial gas ranges. While both designs increase the energy efficiency of the ranges, one is markedly superior in heat transfer, thereby proving to be the more energy efficient. See this article at http://www.appliancemagazine.com/editorial.php?article=2257&zone=114&first=1.



BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION (BPA) ACTIVITIES

The September 2009 issue of the BPA's Journal reports briefly on BPA's current involvement in the smart grid, wind forecasting, power transmission, and demand response. To see these short articles, go to http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/pubs/Journal/09jl/jl0909x.pdf and scroll to each article title:

  1. "BPA Partners in Smart Grid Proposal" tells of a Smart Grid Demonstration Project proposal submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy.


  2. "Meters to Help Forecast Wind" reports on the installation of the first anemometer, part of a larger project, near the Columbia River Gorge.


  3. "Silverstein Heads Transmission" shows the phenomenal amount of transmission growth to occur just in the U.S. Northwest.


  4. "Demand Response Shows Promise" tells of a pilot project on demand response technologies.



FINANCING GREEN ENERGY

"The Green Energy Play," by Haeryung Shin, Attorney, describes two examples of financing that reduce risk for investors in green energy or in energy efficiency projects. During this recession, federal stimulus monies, alone, may not always be enough to spur investments. As a result, some have developed interesting ways to get investments started, which, in turn, may help improve the economy. See this article in the Puget Sound Business Journal, September 18, 2009, at http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/09/21/focus7.html?b=1253505600%5e2120361&ana=e_vert.


MILITARY

"Navy Cogeneration Plant Provides Clean Energy, Saves Costs, and Supports Mission Readiness" is a case study of a U.S. Navy cogen installation at a facility in Japan. It describes a cogeneration plant installed under the auspices of an Energy Savings Performance Contract. See this case study in FEMP; Summer 2009; at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/fempfocus_summer_2009.pdf, scroll down to page seven.


POLICY

"Federal Sustainability Moving Forward," by staff, summarizes a report that reviews the progress of the organized effort to increase sustainability in the entire federal sector. To see the actual 14-PDF-page report, Interagency Sustainability Working Group: Past Accomplishments, Current Priorities, and New Opportunities, go to http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/iswg_transition_2009.pdf. To see the article summarizing the report in the Summer 2009 issue of FEMP, go to page one of the issue at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/fempfocus_summer_2009.pdf.


POWER STORAGE

Electric Power Storage is a September 8, 2009, 35-page report written by Stan Mark Kaplan, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy, Congressional Research Service. The author covers the various issues that bear on electric power storage (EPS), an important, but new and costly technology for the integration of renewable energy into the nation's power supply. See this report at http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40797_20090908.pdf.


THERMAL TECHNOLOGIES

The following three articles appeared in the September 2009 issue of Industrial Heating:

  1. "Developments in Vacuum-Pumping Technologies for Vacuum Metallurgical Processes" was co-authored by Dick Amos, product manager, Industrial Vacuum Systems, Grand Island, N.Y., and Dave Sobiegray, applications manager, Vacuum Business, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, UK. Vacuum-pump heat treating is an energy efficient process. This article reviews developments in this process over the years, with attention to energy efficiencies. Various types of vacuum pumps: oil diffusion, turbo-molecular, oil-sealed, and dry mechanical are discussed. See this article at http://www.industrialheating.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000655818 .


  2. "Refractory Metals in Engineered Components and Furnaces" was written by Mike Ferullo, Plansee, USA, LLC, and Bernd Kleinpass, Plansee, Reutte, Austria. The authors discuss a low-mass, reduced cycle time, hot-zone design that offers increased energy efficiencies and other advantages. The sidebar, "Molybdenum Cylinder for World's Largest HIP Unit," is included. See this article at http://www.industrialheating.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000656235.


  3. "Single-Chamber HPGQ Vacuum Furnace with Quenching Efficiency Comparable to Oil" was jointly authored by M. Bazel, M. Korecki, J. Olejnik, and Z. Szczerba, all of SECO/WARWICK, Swiebodzin, POLAND. Advantages of the high-pressure gas-quenching (HPGQ) furnace discussed in this article include superior reliability and lower initial cost. See this article at http://www.industrialheating.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000655975.

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.

© 2009 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.