Energizer Newsletter
September 28, 2009
Volume 2, Issue 11
Extension Clean Energy Outreach
by Leigh Fortson
Extension Regional Communications Coordinator and REA (Renewable Energy Advocate)
Gilpin County to Install Wind Turbine
“This is going to be an educational project,” Gilpin County Extension director, Irene Shonle said with enthusiasm. “Anyone—homeowners or business people—can come here and see it; hear it; get a feel for it; and analyze how much energy it’s producing.”
Irene was talking about a new Skystream 3.7 demonstration wind turbine that United Power, the local electric Coop, has funded for installation at the Gilpin County Extension office.
Irene, who is also the CESIT wind team leader, has partnered with United Power on several earlier projects. They talked about the idea of erecting a demonstration turbine at the office, and agreed that Extension was the perfect place for it. After getting the go-ahead from the County to use their land, United Power agreed to pay for the project. Gilpin County will pick up the insurance.
The tower is a 2.4 kilowatt turbine that will be tied to the grid and have the capability of feeding data to online viewers.
“Essentially, it’s a live production,” Irene reported, “that will show exactly how much electricity it’s producing at any given time. I want people to come here, see how it really works, help dispel myths and look at the real cost, true deliverability and the practicality of whether or not it could work for them. Everything will be transparent.”
Irene admits that Gilpin County isn’t the wind capital of the state, but she—and her partners—are convinced that the project will serve its purpose of demonstrating how the technology works rather than providing all of the electricity needed to run the Extension office.
Irene’s passion for educating her public won’t stop there, if she has her way. She is currently applying for a grant that would furnish two more renewable energy devices: a vertical axis wind turbine and a photovoltaic array, both of similar size as the Skystream.
“If this comes through, people can come in and do side-by-side comparisons of how much energy is produced over seasons—or years for that matter. The data will help everyone evaluate what’s best for their needs. Plus, they’ll gain an understanding of how it all works so the idea of alternative energy won’t be such a mystery.”
The data will be accessible to the public on the CESIT website: www.ext.colostate.edu/energy/.
The turbine will be in place by December of this year. Visitors are welcome.
United Power Offers Solar Leasing Program
Wind isn’t the only news item on the clean energy agenda for United Power. Their Sol Partners Cooperative solar Farm is the nation’s first to be owned by a rural electric coop, although it appears that other coops are catching on. What’s really unique, however, is that they are now offering a lease option to their customers.
Serving only 65,000 businesses and residents, United Power is considered small. But not too small to set the example for how to grow renewable energy—even though they are not held to the higher standards of larger utilities to meet their renewable portfolio standards.
Customers can lease a single, 210-watt solar photovoltaic panel for a 25-year period at a cost of $1,050, or $5 per watt. The return on investment is calculated at 
3%, or $32 per year, and is credited against the customer’s utility bill.
Given the high cost of purchasing solar panels, this enables customers an affordable, maintenance-free option. United Power will take care of the paperwork, too, including insurance and permit costs.
The program was funded through the Governor’s Energy Office and began operation on April 1 of this year.
Larimer County Landfill to Produce Electricity
The Colorado Carbon Fund will sponsor a novel clean energy project at the Larimer County Landfill: converting methane into electricity to power about 900 local homes, according to the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO).
“The Colorado Carbon Fund's methane-to-electricity project is among the first of its kind in the state and will open the door for future clean energy projects," Governor Ritter announced.
This is a joint effort between Colorado-based Timberline Energy, LLC, the Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association (PVREA), the Portland, Oregon-based Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) and the Colorado Carbon Fund (CCF).
The project, expected to cost about $3 million to construct, will capture and collect methane gas generated by decomposition at the landfill and convert it to electricity. Poudre Valley REA will buy the electricity and provide the power to area residents. Construction of the facility, which is located on the landfill owned by Larimer County and the cities of Loveland and Fort Collins, began in August. Methane capture is expected to begin this fall and the completion of the entire facility is slated for spring 2010.
The Colorado Carbon Fund, a program of the GEO, has committed a minimum of $230,000 toward the project through the purchase of carbon offsets. The CCF's funding comes from donations made by individuals and businesses.
The Larimer County Landfill methane-to-electricity project marks the CCF's first clean energy venture since its launch last year. The CCF identified the Larimer project with the assistance of The Climate Trust, a nationally recognized nonprofit leader in the carbon offset market.
Landfill gas-to-energy projects reduce global warming pollution by adding renewable energy to the grid and by preventing methane from leaking into the air. Landfill gas is typically about 50 percent methane, which pound-for-pound is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a global warming pollutant.
By preventing methane pollution, the facility's benefits are equivalent to taking about 7,500 cars off the road each year. These projects can minimize the impacts of landfills in other ways, such as by preventing groundwater contamination.
Denver Energy Challenge to Aid High Schools
The City & County of Denver, Xcel Energy, Denver Public Schools, the Governor's Energy Office, and the Sierra Club have teamed up to help Denver residents reduce their carbon footprint while helping ten local high schools fund clean energy projects.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Denver Public School Superintendent Tom Boasberg, GEO, and Xcel Officials announced the official launch of the Denver Energy Challenge on Sept. 16.
The program encourages residents to:
- donate to the Colorado Carbon Fund to offset the carbon footprint of driving.
- participate in Xcel Energy's Windsource to purchase some or all of their electricity from renewable sources.
For each new Windsource participant, Xcel will make a donation to help fund energy efficiency or renewable energy projects at North, South, East, Montbello, West, Manual, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln, and Kennedy High Schools.
"The Denver Energy Challenge offers a new spin on a great existing program by allowing residents the opportunity to not only reduce their carbon footprint, but also help one of their local schools," says Mayor Hickenlooper.
Details about the Denver Energy Challenge can be found at www.Denverenergy.org.
Funding Offered to Ag Producers
Source: Western Farmer Stockman
The Colorado Agricultural Value Added Development Board is offering $500,000 in grant funding to promote agricultural energy-related projects in the state. Recipients have until October 30 to apply.
The Board administers the Advancing Colorado's Renewable Energy program which has provided funds over the past three years to promote energy-related projects beneficial to the state's ag industry. Included in the grants have been projects advancing micro-hydro, small wind, solar, biomass and biofuel efforts.
Funds will be allocated in the following three categories:
- Feasibility studies: Up to $25,000 may be awarded to study the viability of establishing an agricultural energy-related project and may address the market for the product, engineering requirements, economic practicality, environmental concerns, management and other necessary study components.
- Project participation: If a successful feasibility study has been completed, up to $100,000 may be awarded to assist with the purchase or lease of equipment, construction costs and land expenses.
- Research: Up to $50,000 may be awarded for research into agricultural energy-related topics and issues.
A matching contribution of at least 10% of the total project budget is required from recipients of the grants, and the funds may not be utilized for paying down debt, general administration or indirect overhead costs.
For more information, guidelines and an application, go to www.colorado.gov/ag/energy or contact the Colorado Department of Agriculture Markets Division at (303) 239-4116.
Flux Farm Seeks Rural Landowners for Hydro Power Projects
The Flux Farm Foundation is a non-profit organization located in Carbondale with the mission of contributing to the economic viability of agriculture by providing landowners with research driven information on how to profitably integrate renewable energy and carbon sequestration technologies onto farms and ranches in the intermountain west. Their director, Morgan Williams, is also a part of the CESIT Bioenergy/biofuels team. To learn more about them, go to www.fluxfarm.com.
Flux Farm was recently awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to develop and manage the Western Colorado micro-hydroelectric feasibility study and a permitting demonstration project. They are asking Extension agents to be on the lookout for anyone in their county who might be interested in participating in the project.
Five eligible landowners will:
- conduct technical micro‐hydroelectric feasibility studies
- negotiate preliminary power purchasing agreements with utility providers
- address environmental concerns associated with micro‐hydroelectric project development
- collect information on water rights
- learn about project economics
- approach state and federal permitting offices
Projects will be selected to create a representative sample of micro‐hydroelectric opportunities in the region and each will be developed into a detailed case study to assist future landowners and develop policy recommendations. Up to $15,000 may be available for each feasibility study with a 50/50 match requirement (i.e. we put in $15,000 and the landowner puts in $15,000).
Project deliverables: At the conclusion of the project, landowners will have a clear understanding of what their hydroelectric resource is, how much the project will cost to build, how much electricity will be produced, how much revenue can be expected, what steps will be required to meet regulatory compliance, what sources of funding are available to aid with project build costs, and what the next steps should entail. The information collected should be sufficient to apply for federal funding through the USDA 9007 Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP funds come in the form of a 25% grant and/or 50‐75% guaranteed loan financing.
To learn more, contact Morgan at morgan@fluxfarm.com and type ‘Micro Hydro Project Interest Form’ in the subject line.
NREL Pumping to Meet Fuel Requirements
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires that the U.S. use 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022. But, 15 billion gallons is required by 2012. Keith Knoll, senior project leader for NREL's Fuels Performance Group says meeting that goal is a push.
Currently, ethanol is the most widely used and readily available renewable fuel. As a result, it is a likely candidate to make up a significant chunk of the 36 billion gallons required under EISA. Ethanol as a motor fuel is commonly found in E85, a fuel intended for use only in Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs). Ethanol also is widely used as a 10 percent blend in standard gasoline (E10) to reduce carbon monoxide emissions and smog. But, increasing ethanol from the current 10 percent blend to a proposed blend of E15 or even E20 brings up a whole host of questions and issues.
For instance, E20 is currently not allowed for use in conventional automobiles under the 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Air Act. This is where research from NREL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will play a pivotal role in understanding how blends like E15 and E20 affect vehicles currently in the market. The research is examining whether using higher ethanol blends will have an adverse impact on tailpipe emissions, exhaust temperatures, catalytic converters and engine performance and durability.
NREL and ORNL will be studying mid-level ethanol blends for some time…Generally, the tests have shown no big surprises or short term effects when using greater blends of ethanol in existing cars. All vehicles in the test experienced some loss in fuel economy, which is expected because ethanol has a lower energy density than gasoline. At the E20 blend level, the average reduction in miles per gallon was 7.7 percent when compared to gasoline only. "Another issue we looked at was whether there would be any unintended consequences on air quality when using the higher blends," Knoll said.
Study results so far have shown that as ethanol increased, tailpipe emissions stayed largely the same. When it came to how catalytic converters reacted to increased ethanol, results depended on how the engine control system regulated the fuel-to-air ratio during high power operation such as heavy accelerations or long hill climbs. "While these initial results are interesting, the next step is going to be a larger study, with more vehicles, that will look at the long-term effect that ethanol has on catalytic converters and numerous other issues like drivability and engine durability," Knoll said.
To read more, go to: www.nrel.gov/features/20090918_ethanol.html
Xcel Energy Hopes to Xpand Solar Program
Source: The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
Xcel Energy filed a request with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to expand its Solar*Rewards program to meet the requirements of the Renewable Energy Financing Act of 2009, also known as Colorado Senate Bill 51.
The act intends to make alternative energy more affordable and accessible to consumers by increasing the amount the state can loan for clean energy projects and expanding the loan pool to more projects.
Solar*Rewards offers rebates to solar power users. The rebate amount depends on the size of the system.
The law also allows the owner of a solar power system to sell electricity to people that have the solar equipment on their property if the equipment supplies no more than 120 percent of the average electricity amount used by the typical Colorado household or business in a year. That’s why Xcel is proposing changing its energy cap on new metered solar power systems to the 120 percent limit and allowing a rewards customer to buy solar-generated electricity from a company.
Xcel would also like to change the Solar*Rewards program to include all 100 to 500 kilowatt systems that apply for a Solar*Rewards contract. These large systems did not always win a contract with Xcel in the past.
News From 25x25
$500 Million in ARRA for Clean Energy Projects
Marking a major milestone in the effort to spur private sector investments in clean energy and create new jobs for America's workers, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $502 million in the first round of awards from an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program that provides cash assistance to energy production companies in place of earned tax credits. The new funding creates additional upfront capital, enabling companies to create jobs and begin construction that may have been stalled until now.
"This renewable energy program will spur the manufacture and development of clean energy in urban and rural America, allowing us to protect our environment, create good jobs and revitalize our nation's economy," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Secretary Chu followed up: "These grants will help America's businesses launch clean energy projects, putting Americans back to work in good construction and manufacturing jobs. The initiative will help double our renewable energy capacity over the next few years and make sure America leads the world in creating the clean energy economy of the future."
The program is expected to provide more than $3 billion in financial support for clean energy projects by providing direct payments in lieu of tax credits. These payments will support an estimated 5,000 bio-mass, solar, wind, and other types of renewable energy production facilities in all regions of the country over the life of the program. As a result of this first round of funding, more than 2,000 Americans will have access to jobs in the renewable energy industry – both in construction and in manufacturing – while moving the nation closer to meeting the Administration's goal of doubling renewable energy generation in the next few years.
The Treasury Department opened the application process for the 1603 program on July 31, 2009. The first awards were announced and Movement Gym in Boulder was among them, being awarded $157,809 for a PV system.
Natural Gas Can Supplement Switch to Renewables
As Congress debates the policies that will lead our nation to a new energy future, renewable and sustainable energy resources must be the principle components of a reduced carbon economy. However, natural gas can serve as a bridge fuel to a sustainable energy future by providing the critical low-carbon back-up fuel that can enable deep market penetration of renewable sources such as wind power and concentrated solar thermal power.
While the 25x’25 Alliance has since 2004 promoted the development of land-based renewable energy sources, a basic pillar supporting the 25x’25 Vision is that it will take a wide variety of resources to meet the growing demand for energy. The goal of meeting at least 25 percent of our nation’s energy needs with renewables by 2025 implies that the remaining energy mix will have to come from more conventional sources. It is consistent with the 25x’25 Vision that the arsenal of resources needed to meet global demand for energy that is expected to climb by 40 percent by 2030 should include low-carbon energy resources, including natural gas.
While energy consumption has been projected to trend down in the short term, as the economy improves and consumption levels climb back up, the United States must tap into nonrenewable resources that provide similar, even if limited, benefits as renewable energy. The nation must exploit those low-carbon conventional resources that boost the U.S. economy, enhance our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and improve our environment. Natural gas meets all three of these critical criteria.
According to a recent report from the Energy Future Coalition and 25x’25 endorsing partner, Center for American Progress, natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel. It produces less than half as much carbon pollution as coal. Recent technology advancements make affordable the development of unconventional natural gas resources. This creates an opportunity to use natural gas as a bridge fuel to a 21st-century energy economy that relies on efficiency (the option of first choice under a 25x’25 future), renewable sources, and low-carbon fossil fuels such as natural gas.
The recent development of technology enables the affordable development of gas reserves, currently estimated at about 1,770 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable gas, which can play a large role in helping to more rapidly and cost-effectively speed the transition to a low-carbon economy and reduce climate changing emissions. The Potential Gas Committee, a nonprofit natural gas research organization, estimates total U.S. gas resources can provide enough natural gas to serve as a bridge energy source for the next 90 years.
Natural gas produces slightly more than one-fifth of all U.S. energy. And while tens of gigawatts of natural gas generation capacity has been installed over the past two decades, but only about two-fifths of this capacity is used at any given time. At little to no additional cost for infrastructure, natural gas generation can be easily substituted for existing coal-fired capacity without any new plant or transmission construction.
Oil and coal combined comprise about two thirds of all energy consumption and their combustion produces substantially more global warming and other conventional pollution than natural gas. Combusting natural gas to make electricity produces about half of the global warming pollution of coal, and one-third of petroleum burned in cars. Given its domestic abundance and its lower pollutant levels, natural gas should play a larger role in our energy mix.
Policy makers should provide incentives that will effectively create jobs, reduce oil consumption, protect consumers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The policy focus should be on a broad range of no- or low-carbon energy technologies. Congress should implement those policies in the energy and climate change legislation under consideration this fall.
US House Passes $1Billon Wind R&D Bill
Source: RenewableEnergyWorld.com
The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2009, a bill that would improve the efficiency, reliability and cost effectiveness of domestic wind energy systems. The bill (H.R. 3165) was sponsored by Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY 21) and passed with bipartisan support in a voice vote.
The bill would also create a demonstration program to measure wind energy performance that would include the full range of wind conditions across the country.
The bill requires the Secretary of Energy to carry out a US $1 billion program of research and development to improve the energy efficiency, reliability, and capacity of wind turbines. In order to accomplish this goal, DOE will work with wind companies to optimize the design and adaptability of their systems, as well as reduce the cost of construction, generation, and maintenance of wind energy systems.
Specifically, this program would include:
- Examination of new materials and designs to make larger, lighter, less expensive, and more reliable motor blades
- Development of technologies to improve gearbox performance and reliability
- Work to develop low-cost transportable towers greater than 100 meters in height
- Examination of advanced computational modeling tools, control systems and blade sensors
- Further developing methods to assess and mitigate the effects of wind energy systems on radar and electromagnetic fields
- Developing technologies to improve transmission from remotely located wind farms
The bill would also create a demonstration program to measure wind energy performance that would include the full range of wind conditions across the country. That data would be then used as part of the research and development program. It also requires that the demonstration programs be conducted in collaboration with private industry.
The bill authorizes $200 million dollars per year from 2010 through 2014 for these programs.Natural Gas: The Clean Fossil Fuel
Source: National Public Radio
In recent years, natural gas producers in the United States have struggled, mostly in vain, to be taken more seriously in the energy world. Big oil companies like Exxon had concluded that natural gas reserves in the United States were not sufficiently abundant to warrant big investments in exploration and drilling. When small independent gas producers argued otherwise, they were often ridiculed.
"I once had to tell the Exxon people in front of a congressional committee that I respectfully disagreed with every single thing they had presented," recalls Robert Hefner, 74, a veteran gas producer from Oklahoma.
But the natural gas folks now have numbers on their side due to new successes in getting gas out of shale rock. Geologists have always known that shale rock, often found in combination with coal and oil deposits, holds substantial amounts of natural gas. If a piece of shale rock is broken and lit with a match, it will actually burn for a few moments with a small flame.
The shale gas was previously considered unreachable, but advances in drilling techniques have changed that assessment. The result is a dramatic increase in estimated natural gas reserves. The Potential Gas Committee, loosely affiliated with the Colorado School of Mines, reported in June that natural gas reserves in the United States are actually 35 percent higher than believed just two years ago, and some geologists say even that estimate is too conservative.
"I used to say the nation is awash in natural gas," Hefner says. "Now I say we're drowning in it."
One area getting new attention is the Marcellus basin, a 400-million-year-old shale formation stretching from New York to West Virginia. That basin alone is believed to hold as much as 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the equivalent of about 80 billion barrels of oil. (There are also large shale gas basins in Texas, Wyoming, Arkansas and Michigan.) It is not clear how much of the shale gas is recoverable, but the new production techniques have boosted all previous estimates.
Shale formations are deep underground — 6,000 feet or more — and the rock is relatively impermeable. Deep drilling is expensive, and in the past the amount of gas that could be reached was not considered sufficient to justify the cost.
In recent years, however, gas producers expanded the use of "horizontal" drilling. After boring more than a mile below the Earth's surface to reach the shale layer, a drill operator will slowly "steer" the drill bit to one side, until it is heading sideways across the shale layer, thus achieving access to more of the shale than a traditional vertical well could provide.
Even so, the tightness of the shale rock would mean that relatively little of the trapped gas would seep into the pipeline. Gas producers therefore fracture the rock by forcing a water and sand mixture into the formation at very high pressure. This "water fracturing" technique opens millions of tiny cracks in the rock, enabling more of the gas to seep out.
Horizontal drilling and water fracturing are not new techniques in the oil and gas business, but only in recent years have producers used the procedures in combination to produce shale gas, and the results have been dramatic.
"It's the biggest thing I've ever even heard of," says Ray Walker, vice president of Range Resources, a gas exploration and production company. "It's huge. The ability to produce these shale reservoirs is going to revolutionize this industry all over the world."
To read or listen to the rest of the story, go to: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113043935
Wind Picks Up Financing from Wall Street
Source: Wall Street Journal
After nearly a six-month lull, Wall Street is getting back into the business of financing new wind farms. Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. have invested $100 million each to finance separate wind farms this month, taking advantage of a brand-new federal program that is paying substantial cash grants to help cover the cost of renewable energy investments.
Bankers say this is the beginning of an active pipeline of new wind-farm financing, as well as investment in large solar installations and geothermal facilities.
Xcel Energy Bill to Show Price Hike
Source: Thedenverdailynews.com
Xcel Energy filed to recover $12.8 million in costs associated with anticipated higher forecasted fuel and purchased energy prices for the fourth quarter of 2009 and to adjust the under-recovered deferred balance as of Aug. 31.
The quarterly Electric Commodity Adjustment (ECA) filing is expected to increase residential and small-business customer bills by about 2 percent. The costs associated with increases or decreases through the ECA are passed along to customers on a dollar-per-dollar basis.
The company filed its rider with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and if approved, it would go into effect Oct. 1. Costs associated with the ECA would increase to $0.03153 per kilowatt-hour for the fourth quarter, compared to $0.02964 per kilowatt-hour this quarter. For typical residential customers using 632 kilowatt-hours a month, current bills would increase by $1.23 a month to $ 68.20. Typical small-business customer using 1,123 kilowatt-hours a month would see current bills increase by $2.16 a month to $118.34.
Upcoming Events
The 2009 International Peak Oil Conference
October 10 - 13
Denver, CO
"System Reset: Global Energy and the New Economy"
www.aspo-usa.com
Colorado's Annual New Energy Economy Conference: Powering the Future
October 20, 2009
The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel
1550 Court Place, Denver, Colorado 80202
A one-day conference sponsored by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission; the Governor's Energy Office, the Office of Consumer Counsel and Energy Outreach Colorado. Registration for attendees and exhibitors will be available in August 2009.
Colorado's New Energy Economy: Powering the Future
For information on the following workshops, go to the Solar Energy International website www.solarenergy.org.
Denver Tour of Solar Homes
10/03/2009
Denver, Colorado
Alternative Energy Expo
10/23 - 10/24/2009
Delta, Colorado
Colorado ENERGY STAR Summit
12/09/2009
Denver, Colorado
CSU Energy Website
To learn more about wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels, visit our energy website at: www.ext.colostate.edu/energy.
Furthermore
Go to hes.lbl.gov/hes/db/zip.shtml and you can do an online calculation of your own energy use and carbon footprint. It’s easy to use. Tell your communities about it.
Send me anything that’s newsworthy that you’re doing in the world of clean energy and renewables. We need to keep our colleagues up to date on what’s going on in Extension and the value of our role!
Leigh Fortson
Extension Regional Communications Coordinator and REA (Renewable Energy Advocate)
Colorado State University Extension
2764 Compasss Drive, Suite 232
Grand Junction, CO 81506-8746
(970) 241-3346, FAX (970) 241-3643
leigh.Fortson@ColoState.EDU
