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The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is an office of the United States Department of Energy. The EERE focuses on research and development of alternative fuels, and the promotion of the use of these fuels. It is concerned with developing cleaner burning fuels, wind, hydro energy and other renewable energy sources, in order to break the dependency the US has on foreign oil and other non-renewable resources. As a part of this process, the agency creates tax incentives for private businesses to develop new technologies that will assist in the overall goal of creating new and cleaner energy sources. According to EERE the term "clean energy" describes energy-efficient technologies and practices that use less energy, and alternative power and delivery technologies that produce and transport power and heat more cleanly than conventional sources.
History:
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In 1971, the Nixon Administration created the Office of Energy Conservation to supplement the Department of the Interior’s coal, oil, and natural gas research and development programs. In 1973, President Nixon, responding to the energy crisis at that time, announced “Project Independence” to wean the United States from dependence on foreign energy sources. However, no serious action was actually taken. In January 1975, the Ford Administration created the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) to focus the federal government’s energy research and development activities within a unified agency that could promote the development of improved energy technologies. Congress supported this with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. In 1977, President Carter merged ERDA and the Federal Energy Administration and placed it within the Department of Energy. The National Energy Conservation Policy Act of 1978 strengthened the new agency’s efforts. The Reagan administration narrowed the previously mentioned programs into the EERE’s predecessor organization, the Office of Conservation and Solar Energy. Through the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Congress supported the return to applied RD&D (research, development and demonstration), using partnerships with private companies, as implemented by Bush Senior. In 2001 the office was renamed and reorganized into what is today the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Reorganizing for Results
What it Does:
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Purpose and Responsibilities
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy assists in developing biomass and biofuels, solar power, wind power, advanced vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells. All of these tools are used to lessen the threat of energy crises, as well as to aid in an end of U.S. foreign oil dependence. Its goal as an agency is to promote private, marketplace, and government integration of renewable and environmentally sound energy technologies. The EERE is a major part of "The 20 in 10 Plan" to reduce U.S. dependency on gasoline 20% by 2017, and "The Advanced Energy Initiative" which aims to accelerate breakthroughs in the way U.S. the population powers its cars, homes, and businesses.
Programs
EERE is organized around 10 energy programs. These are the programs as described by the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
The President established a goal to reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 2017 through efficiency and alternative fuels and to displace 30 percent of gasoline consumption with biofuels by 2030. Therefore, the Biomass Program is focusing its R&D efforts to ensure that cellulosic ethanol is cost competitive by 2012. Another major effort of the Program is to further develop infrastructure and opportunities for market penetration of biobased fuels and products.
The stated goal of this program is to advance the research and development of energy-efficient building technologies and practices for both new and existing residential and commercial buildings. DOE has posed a “builders challenge” to the homebuilding industry to build 220,000 high performance homes by 2012.
The federal government is the largest energy consumer in the United States. The FEMP is a program aimed at promoting alternative energy sources and energy efficient equipment to be used by the federal government. The Energy Policy Act of 1992, requires Federal agencies to meet a number of energy and water management goals. For example, Federal agencies are called upon to reduce their energy use by 35% by 2010 in comparison to 1985 levels.
A program goal is to reduce the levelized cost of generating geothermal power to $0.03 to $0.05 per kilowatt-hour by 2010.
This is the lead federal agency for directing and integrating activities in hydrogen production, storage and delivery with transportation and stationary fuel cell activities. Hydrogen and fuel cells have the potential to solve several major challenges facing America today: dependence on petroleum imports, poor air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. The Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program is working with partners to accelerate the development and successful market introduction of these technologies.
U.S. industry consumes 32.4 quadrillion Btu, almost a third of all energy used in the United States. Therefore ITP tries to drive energy efficiency and carbon reduction through the manufacturing value chain, from the extraction of raw materials to the assembly of commercial products.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Program encompasses three major types of solar energy technologies: photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, and solar heating and lighting.
The FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership was created to provide a full range of affordable cars and light trucks that are free of foreign oil and harmful emissions without sacrificing freedom of mobility and freedom of vehicle choice. The goal of the 21st Century Truck Partnership is for our nation's trucks and buses to safely and cost-effectively move larger volumes of freight and greater numbers of passengers while emitting little or no pollution, with dramatic reduction in dependence on imported oil.
This program provides funding and technical assistance to its partners in state and local governments, Indian tribes, and international agencies to facilitate the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
The Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program is leading the Nation's efforts to improve wind energy technology so that it can generate competitive electricity in areas with lower wind resources, and to develop new, cost-effective, advanced hydropower technologies that will have enhanced environmental performance and greater energy efficiencies.
Where Does the Money Go:
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On February 8, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service announced 312 projects eligible to be financed with tax-credit bonds under the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB) program. The following link describes all of the allocations for tax credit bonds by the IRS.
Oceanlinx - (Australian-based wave energy company) signed for a $20 million project that will include three energy producing wave platforms in Hawaii and could be operating by the end of 2009. This is one step in a goal outlined in the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, which aims to meet 70% of the state's energy needs with renewable energy by 2030.
Abengoa Bioenergy - In October 2007, Abengoa Bioenergy opened a pilot plant in York, Nebraska, that will process nearly 800 tons of biomass each day, producing about 11.6 million gallons per year (mgpy) of ethanol. The facility was partly funded by DOE.
SunOpta Inc. - In November 2007, SunOpta Inc. announced its plans to build a facility in Little Falls, Minnesota, that will produce 10 mgpy of ethanol from wood chips.
SunOpta BioProcess Inc. Announces Plans to Develop a 10 Million Gallon Per Year Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol Facility (SunOpta News Release)
KL Process Design Group - In late January 2008, KL Process Design Group began operating a facility in Upton, Wyoming, to convert waste wood into ethanol.
Coska, Inc. - In early February 2008, Coskata, Inc. announced plans to build and operate a commercial facility by 2010.
Controversies:
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Is Biofuel Really Energy Efficient?
Photosynthesis is an ingenious but highly inefficient way of converting solar energy into useable fuel. There simply isn’t enough photosynthetic output on the planet to supply global needs for liquid fuel, food, and fibre. One analysis found that clearing forests and grasslands to grow crops releases vast amounts of carbon into the air - far more than the carbon spared from the atmosphere by burning biofuels instead of petrol.
The Straits Times (Singapore) by Simon Upton “Clearing the air on Green Fuel Options.”
Ethanol has its limitations: it is not as efficient as gasoline and must be mixed with gas for use as a transportation fuel. It also tends to absorb water from its surroundings, making it corrosive and preventing it from being stored or distributed in existing infrastructure without modification.
Energy crops for biofuel can reduce CO2 emissions if growing conditions are favorable. If managed properly biofuel could be renewable far into the future. On the other hand, one cannot assume that all bio energy is sustainable or that it can be produced on such a scale that it could replace our current demand for petroleum. This would place a huge pressure on food supplies on a global scale.
Political Animal (by Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly)
UCLA researchers develop method for production of more efficient biofuels (by Matthew Chin, UCLA Newsroom)
Some ‘green’ options could create more problems (Wales Online)
Are New Technologies Causing Environmental Degradation?
The Sustainable Development Commission of the UK recently investigated tidal wave power. It concluded that up to 5% of the UK’s electricity could be generated by a tidal barrage across the Severn Estuary. The promise of energy may be tempting, but the Severn Barrage would be a foreign, permanent structure in a dynamic living system, causing major physical, chemical, and biological changes in one of the UK’s most important estuary. The consequences of these actions cannot be accurately predicted. These choices could end up short-sighted and ones that we may end up regretting.
On the other hand, Modual Tidal generators are more like windmills under water. They seem to capture the energy of a tidal current without significantly impeding the flow.
Some ‘green’ options could create more problems (Wales Online)
Wind Farms Can Kill Birds
Some wind turbines kill birds. This can become a very dangerous risk when dealing with endangered populations of birds being affected. On the other hand, a report published in the journal Nature confirmed that the greatest threat to bird populations in the UK is climate change.
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Suggested Reforms:
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Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Legislation in the 110th Congress (PDF)
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
One instrument, available within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Here industrialized countries can invest in projects in threshold and developing countries (DCs) that rely on sustainable development and support climate protection - and in this way acquire credit for their own country’s emissions reduction.
A Feed-in Tariff is part of a government’s legislation whereby regional or national electricity utilities are required to buy renewable electricity (electricity generated from sources such as solar photovoltaics, wind power, biomass, and geothermal power) at above market rates. The German model, implemented in its improved state in 2000, has proven to be the world’s most effective practice for boosting adoption of renewable energy technologies.
Solar Energy
The objectives of the International Solar Cities Initiative are to support UN energy and climate policies by stimulating the interest of cities into becoming benchmark cities that commit to ambitious emission reduction goals; help cities systematically integrate renewable energy and energy efficient technologies and industries into environmental, economic and city planning; and provide scientific support for the validation and design of effective measures and policies for Solar Cities.
Biofuel
Efficient Upgrading of Biofuel by Integrated (Swedish National Energy Administration) (PDF)
Bacteria that use sugars and sewage as fuel are being investigated as a pollution-free source of electricity. They pluck electrons from atoms in their fuel and dumping them onto the oxygen or metal atoms in the mixture. The transfer of the electrons creates a current, and connecting the bacteria to an electrode in a microbial fuel cell will generate electricity, although not necessarily very efficiently.
Bacteria made to sprout conducting nanowires (by Mason Inman, New Scientist)
Fungi have been found to make biodiesel efficiently at room temperature. According to Wired Science, instead of mixing the ingredients and heating them for hours, the chemical engineers pass sunflower oil and methanol through a bed of pellets made from fungal spores. An enzyme produced by the fungus does the work -- making biodiesel with impressive efficiency.
Fungi Make Biodiesel Efficiently at Room Temperature (by Aaron Rowe, Wired)
Hydro power
MicroHydroPower.net (Kenya) (South Africa)
Wind power
Projects from Wind Energy (Technical University of Denmark)
Spain to Allow Offshore Wind Farms (by Jane Burgermesier, Renewable Energy World)
Siemens of Germany has developed a high-voltage direct current transmission system based on a new power converter technology for connecting off-shore wind-parks and oil drilling platforms with the mainland power grid. Siemens is now creating an 800-kilometer transmission line in India. We could and should be taking advantage of the wind energy capacity that we have off shore.
Siemens in Germany developed a high efficiency turbine for use in combined cycle power plants. Using the world’s largest turbine, such a power plant can achieve an efficiency rate of 60% compared to the coal-fired plant average of 38%. Such a plant in Irsching, Germany, emits 2.8 million tones less carbon dioxide annually than a coal plant.
Siemens makes cool moves: The temperature is increasing every year while the icebergs at the North Pole are gradually melting. Severe floods suddenly come, causing huge losses to people around the world (by Pongpen Sutharoj, The Nation)
Geothermal
History of Geothermal Sources of Energy in Iceland
- Table of Contents
- Overview
- History
- What it Does
- Where Does the Money Go
- Controversies
- Suggested Reforms
- Comments
- Leave a Comment
Founded: 1971
Annual Budget: $1.7 billion (2008)
Employees: 500
Official Website: http://www.eere.energy.gov/
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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