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EREN NETWORK NEWS -- January 30, 2002
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN).
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/>
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Featuring:
*News and Events
          Interior Department Budget to Boost Geothermal Energy
          Large Wind Power Plant Under Evaluation for Nantucket Sound
          Acquisitions a Growing Trend in Solar and Wind Power
          Hawaii Resort Dedicates 250-Kilowatt Solar Power System
          New Zero-Emission Vehicle Rules On Hold in California
          DOE Awards $8 Million for Weatherization in Texas, Oklahoma

*Energy Facts and Tips
          2001 Ranked as Second Warmest Year on Record

*About this Newsletter


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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Interior Department Budget to Boost Geothermal Energy

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced in mid-
January that the Interior Department's proposed budget for
next year will include funds to encourage geothermal energy
development on public lands. The President's budget
proposal for fiscal year 2003 will include $350,000 for the
Bureau of Land Management to improve access for
geothermal energy leasing in California, Nevada, Utah,
Oregon, and New Mexico. The budget will also include
$500,000 for the U.S. Geological Survey to produce
improved and updated information on geothermal resources.
See the Department of Interior press release at:
<http://www.doi.gov/news/020118a.html>.

Secretary Norton's announcement came as a follow-up to
the "National Conference on Opportunities to Expand
Renewable Energy on Public Lands," co-hosted by DOE and
the Interior Department in November of last year. See the
December 5th edition of the EREN Network News at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/newsletter/archives/2001/dec05_01.html>.

Further details of President Bush's budget proposal were
anticipated in last night's State of the Union Address, but the
text of the speech was not available at press time. The
President is also expected to release his full budget proposal
next week. Watch for further news of the President's budget
in future editions of the EREN Network News.


Large Wind Power Plant Under Evaluation for Nantucket Sound

Cape Wind Associates, LLC is currently proposing to build a
420-megawatt wind power plant in the waters offshore of
Massachusetts. If built, the facility will be the first offshore
wind facility in the United States and the largest U.S. wind
power plant yet. The company plans to erect 170 turbines in
a part of Nantucket Sound called Horseshoe Shoal. A
submarine cable system consisting of two power lines, each
115 kilovolts, will transmit the power from the facility to the
shore at Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on Monday
that it will require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the facility, which will be built on state and federal waters
stretching across about 28 square miles of the sound. The
site is closest to land at Point Gammond, which is 4.1 miles
away. The Corps will work closely with the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, which is also performing an environmental
review. On March 6th and 7th, the Corps will hold public
meetings to help determine the range of issues the EIS
should address and to identify significant issues that should
be analyzed in depth. See the press release on the Corps'
New England District Web site at:
<http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/news/2002-16.html>.

Cape Wind expects to begin construction on the facility in
2004 and complete it by 2005. See the Cape Wind Web site
at: <http://www.capewind.org/learning/pglan02.htm>.

The Web site also includes a map of the site with overlays of
shipping channels, ferry routes, and airplane flight lanes, as
well as a link to computer-simulated views of the site from
the shore, at:
<http://www.capewind.org/benefiting/sitev02.htm>.

Pennsylvania also hopes to increase its wind power
capacity: the state's Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) issued a permit for a new 60-megawatt wind facility in
Wayne County last week. National Wind Power and Orion
Energy LLC are developing the project, which will consist of
47 turbines on two parcels of land covering 858 acres. See
the DEP press release at:
<http://www.dep.state.pa.us/newsreleases/default.asp?ID=1468>.


Acquisitions a Growing Trend in Solar and Wind Power

While wind power developers are at work in Massachusetts
and Pennsylvania, acquisitions appear to be growing in
popularity as a way to obtain wind power capacity. For
example, Entergy Corporation, a global energy company,
announced in mid-month its purchase of a majority
ownership in the newly completed Top of Iowa Wind Farm,
an 80-megawatt facility in northern Iowa. See the Entergy
press release at:
<http://www.entergy.com/news_database/news-detail.asp?ID=306>.

Shell WindEnergy Inc. followed suit shortly thereafter with its
purchase of the 80-megawatt Llano Estacando Wind Ranch
near Amarillo, Texas, from Cielo Wind Power, LLC. Shell
WindEnergy is part of Shell Renewables, one of five core
businesses of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies.

But for Shell Renewables, the big news last week was its
buyout of solar photovoltaic partners Siemens AG and E. ON
Energie AG. Their joint venture, called Siemens und Shell
Solar, will now be owned entirely by Shell and will be known
as Shell Solar.

The wind and solar purchases are part of the Shell Group's
plan to invest up to $1 billion in renewable energy
technologies over the next five years. See the Shell
Renewables press releases at:
<http://www2.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=rw-br>.


Hawaii Resort Dedicates 250-Kilowatt Solar Power System

The Mauni Lani Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii dedicated
its new 250-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system last week. The
sun-tracking system was manufactured and installed by
PowerLight Corporation. The installation brings the resort's
total solar power capacity to 500 kilowatts, which PowerLight
claims as the most solar electric generating capacity of any
resort in the world. The resort projects savings of $5 million
over the next 25 years by using solar power. See the
PowerLight press release at:
<http://www.powerlight.com/pr/012202powertracker.html>.

Part of the resort's solar generating capacity is actually on
the move -- it's a fleet of solar-powered golf carts. A
photovoltaic canopy on each cart helps keep its battery
charged, significantly reducing the resort's use of grid power
to recharge the carts. PowerLight just delivered 60 of the
carts to the resort, which plans to convert its entire fleet to
solar power by the end of 2003. See the PowerLight press
release at:
<http://www.powerlight.com/pr/012202suncaddy.html>.

The demand for solar power systems grew significantly in
2001. At California's Sacramento Municipal Utility District
(SMUD), for example, nearly 1,200 kilowatts of solar
generating capacity was installed on more than 220 homes
and business in 2001 -- nearly seven times more than the
utility installed in 2000. That growth spurt helped SMUD to
achieve a total solar capacity of 10 megawatts, spread over
more than 1,000 solar power systems that were installed
through the utility's Solar Pioneers program. SMUD expects
the program to continue growing rapidly in 2002; to meet the
demand, the utility has tripled the number of staff and
contractors working on the program. See the SMUD press
release at:
<http://www.smud.org/info/02archive/0118_solar_landmark.html>.


New Zero-Emission Vehicle Rules On Hold in California

California's latest set of rules for Zero-Emission Vehicles
(ZEVs), issued by the state's Air Resources Board (ARB),
have failed to win approval from the California Office of
Administrative Law. The ARB announced last week that the
rules were apparently not approved because it failed to
follow proper procedures when giving notice of its proposed
changes to the program. ARB has 120 days to remedy the
situation, and it expects to meet that deadline. See the
notice on the ARB Web site at:
<http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/zev2001/zev2001.htm>.

New York, meanwhile, is pressing ahead with its own
version of the ZEV program. The state's current regulations
require ten percent of all vehicles sold in the state to be
ZEVs, which in practical terms means electric vehicles,
starting with Model Year 2005. Early this month, Governor
George E. Pataki announced an alternative approach for
automakers that starts a year earlier but includes credits for
vehicles with near-zero emissions -- vehicles referred to as
Partial ZEVs or PZEVs in the California rules. The new
approach also allows partial credits for PZEVs that use
alternative fuels or hybrid technologies. These changes are
similar to changes made in California by the ARB, but on a
slower timetable. See Governor Pataki's press release at:
<http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/year02/jan4_02.htm>.

State standards for auto emissions are governed by unusual
rules: by federal law, only California can set stricter standards
than the federal standards, and other states must either
follow federal standards or adopt standards essentially equal
to California's. This approach helps keep the standards
manageable for automakers, but places California in a
leadership position. New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont
have followed California's lead on ZEV rules. Reportedly,
Massachusetts is now taking an approach similar to New York's,
and Vermont has not yet announced what approach it will take.


DOE Awards $8 Million for Weatherization in Texas, Oklahoma

DOE announced last week its award of $8 million to Texas
and Oklahoma for weatherization assistance to low-income
households. DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program
provides funds to state and local agencies, as well as Native
American tribes, for measures that improve the energy
efficiency of the homes of people that can least afford to
waste energy. The program provides comprehensive energy
auditing, health and safety diagnostic services, and whole-
house energy efficiency services, including air infiltration
reduction, insulation, heating system service, and measures
to reduce residents' use of electricity. See the DOE press
release at:
<http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases02/janpr/pr02010.htm>.


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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
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2001 Ranked as Second Warmest Year on Record

The year 2001 was the second warmest globally since
record keeping began in 1880, according to data released in
mid-January by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). Only 1998 ranked higher, and
temperatures that year were boosted by strong El Nino
conditions. In contrast, 2001 began with weak La Nina
conditions, which tend to depress global average
temperatures. Temperatures in the United States were also
above average; the year ranked as the sixth warmest since
record keeping began in 1895. See the report on NOAA's
National Climatic Data Center Web site at:
<http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2001/ann/ann.html>.

Conditions appear ripe for 2002 to become a record-
breaking year: according to NOAA's Climate Prediction
Center, the tropical Pacific Ocean is warming, a trend which
could lead to an El Nino by early Spring. However, NOAA
cautions that it is too early to predict the magnitude or
duration of the anticipated El Nino. See the NOAA press
release at:
<http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s849.htm>.


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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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If you have questions or comments about this
newsletter, please contact the editor, Kevin Eber, at
kevin_eber@nrel.gov.