Energy Analysis Newsletter — September 2008
Energy analysis at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) encompasses a broad range of energy analysis in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), NREL programs and initiatives, and the energy analysis community. Here is the latest news on energy analysis activities at NREL:
Upcoming Events
William Becker
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September Seminar: Presidential Climate Action Project
On September 11, NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis Center (SEAC) and DOE/EERE's Office of Planning, Budget, and Analysis (PBA) will present a seminar (in Golden, Colorado) discussing energy and climate policy. Energy policy will be a major challenge facing the next president of the United States and Congress. The nation's energy profile is inextricably linked to the health of the economy and to global climate change. The next administration must preside over a transformation of the nation's energy use. During this seminar, William Becker will talk about the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP) and the plan it's creating for the president to jump-start federal leadership on energy and climate policy within 100 days of taking office. PCAP, a two-year initiative of the Wirth Chair at the University of Colorado-Denver, released a preliminary plan last December regarded as the most comprehensive federal climate action agenda to-date. The PCAP will issue a final action plan in October.
For more information on the seminar series — including log-in and call-in information for remote access — visit the Web site.
Upcoming seminars
October 9, 2008
"Hydrogen Demand and Resource Analysis (HyDRA) Project" — Johanna Levene (NREL)
December 11, 2008
"DSIRE Project: Current Trends and Challenges in Analyzing Renewable Energy Incentives" — Rusty Haynes (North Carolina State University)
February 12, 2009
"Economic Development Impacts from 1,000 MW of Wind Energy in Texas, Iowa, Washington, Pennsylvania" — Sandra Reategui (NREL)
Publications
Some of the documents in this section are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs.
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State Clean Energy Policies Analysis Project
The Best Practices: State Clean Energy Policies Analysis (SCEPA) project is a collaborative effort to better understand the environmental, economic, and energy security impacts of state policies using a uniform methodology. The intent of the project, funded by the Department of Energy/Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE-EERE), is to assist state policy-makers and implementers in determining which policies will have the most beneficial impact on the priorities of the state. It is implemented by NREL and the Alliance to Save Energy, in partnership with DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and state stakeholders.
The following reports represent analyses done for the SCEPA project in its initial stages:
Analytic Framework for Evaluation of State Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Policies with Reference to Stakeholder Drivers (PDF 388 KB)
Quantification of benefits from the implementation of state-level energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) policies is a complex process, because stakeholders have a variety of different drivers, specific geographic resources, and needs resulting in a large number of "in-policy" variables, such as solar set-asides in renewable portfolio standards (RPS). A state stakeholder process was completed in the spring/summer of 2007 to identify the primary drivers for EE and RE policy development at the state level, and the most likely policy choices to meet those drivers. The general drivers identified as most critical are: economic development, environmental, and energy security. The likely policy choices for use in meeting EE and RE drivers primarily fall into categories of mandated demand reductions or supply developments. This report presents the framework that was developed to analyze policies based on how well they meet the stakeholder drivers.
State Clean Energy Practices: Renewable Portfolio Standards (PDF 507 KB)
A renewable portfolio standard (RPS) mandates an increase in the use of wind, solar, biomass, and other alternatives to fossil and nuclear electric generation. This paper provides a summary of the policy objectives that commonly drive the establishment of an RPS, the key issues that states have encountered in implementing an RPS, and the strategies that some of the leading states have followed to address implementation challenges. The factors that help an RPS function best generally have been explored in other analyses. This study complements others by comparing empirical outcomes, and identifying the policies that appear to have the greatest impact on results.
State Clean Energy Practices: Renewable Fuel Standards (PDF 1.3 MB)
Renewable fuel standards (RFS) policies are a mechanism for developing a market for renewable fuels in the transportation sector. This flexible market-based policy, when properly executed, can correct for market failures and promote growth of the renewable fuels industry better than a more command-oriented approach. The policy attempts to correct market failures such as embedded fossil fuel infrastructure and culture, risk associated with developing renewable fuels, consumer information gaps, and lack of quantification of the non-economic costs and benefits of both renewable and fossil-based fuels. This report focuses on renewable fuel standards policies, which are being analyzed as part of this project.
Renewable Energy Price Stability
NREL staff members Lori Bird and Karlynn Cory, along with Blair Swezey of Applied Materials, have published the report "Renewable Energy Price-Stability Benefits in Utility Green Power Programs" (PDF 591 KB)
The overall success of the voluntary green power market rests on the willingness of large numbers of individual consumers to pay a premium for these electricity products. Accordingly, electric utilities must present a compelling value proposition for their green power products. The stable-price characteristic of renewable energy generation offers an important and appealing benefit for many consumers, particularly as a hedge against increasing fossil fuel prices. Several approaches exist to provide price stability to green power customers, including (1) establishing a separate green power rate to substitute for a utility's energy or fuel rate, (2) exempting green power customers from fossil fuel-cost adjustments, or (3) revisiting green power price premiums frequently, particularly when base rates are adjusted. This report examines utility experiences when offering the fixed- price benefits of renewable energy in green pricing programs, including the methods utilized and the impact on program participation.
Analysts Meet With Stakeholders
At the request of the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, NREL hosted six visitors from Uzbekistan in August. The visit included discussions on solar, biomass, and wind technologies, as well as potential projects in the design of remote school power systems and cooperation under the Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention.
On August 5, eight students and three young-adult leaders from the Greensburg, Kansas, High School Green Club toured NREL to learn about energy efficiency and renewable energy and how it is being used in their community. The group toured the National Wind Technology Center, NREL's solar and biomass research facilities, and NREL's high-performance building research facility. Greensburg was destroyed by a tornado in May 2007, and DOE and NREL have been providing extensive technical assistance in all aspects of energy in the community's rebuilding efforts. The Green Club was formed after the tornado, as the students learned more about green technologies.
Doug Arent, SEAC center director, presented a paper on renewable energy technologies at the Economics of Technologies to Combat Global Warming Workshop, held in conjunction with the Energy Modeling Forum and Workshop on Climate Change Impacts and Integrated Assessment (CCI/IA) on August 4-5. The workshops bring together leading researchers on energy and climate modeling in support of global energy and climate scenario development and modeling.
On August 10-16, Doug Arent participated in a State Department-sponsored briefing for government, university, and industry officials from Chile and Argentina. The event provided information on the status of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and markets in the United States.
On August 14, NREL staff members Scott Haase and Tony Jimenez conducted a one-day training course for the Blackfeet Tribe (Browning, Montana) on wind energy development. There were 15 attendees, including Tribal Council members and senior tribal program staff.
SEAC analyst Garvin Heath and members of NREL's National Bioenergy Center met in August with representatives of ConocoPhilips to review preliminary results of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) for a renewable diesel product. NREL researchers provided valuable feedback and suggestions for improvements to the ConocoPhilips LCA. Information was also presented regarding NREL's ongoing life-cycle assessment of the ethanol goals for the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). The group will continue sharing developments in each of their projects as they progress.
SEAC staff members David Renne and Shannon Cowlin met with V. Vijay Shankar and Anil Kapoor of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (New Delhi), and Barbara and John Treat of Infrastructure World, on August 19 to discuss their interests in developing solar energy technology manufacturing and deployment capabilities, specifically for Rajasthan and Gujarat. Discussions focused on the resource assessment and analytical work that NREL is doing in Rajasthan as part of the U.S.-India Energy Dialogue. The visitors also met with Harin Ulall of the National Center for Photovoltaics, who provided a presentation on solar photovoltaic technologies.
SEAC analyst Gail Mosey attended the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study in Pacific Grove, on August 21-22. She presented an analysis conducted in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) estimating energy-consumption reduction benefits from Austin Energy's Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) program.
In August, NREL staff members Andy Walker, Kari Bureman, Doug Dahle, and Nancy Carlisle gave presentations to a delegation of state, local, and utility officials from the State of Hawaii, including Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii. The State of Hawaii is working with NREL on a plan to provide 70% of their energy from renewable sources by 2030.
For the latest updates on information regarding energy analysis, visit the Energy Analysis Web site.
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