EERE: Opening a Clean Energy Center, a Used Car Fuel Economy Tool, and a College Winner

A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). View the Web version.   Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy News September 18, 2013 News and Events Energy Department Dedicates Clean Energy Research Center Energy Department, EPA Release Used-Vehicles Fuel Economy Tool University of Maryland Wins Appliance Design Competition USDA Awards $15 Million for Advanced Biofuels Energy Blog Solar Decathlon 2013: Designing the Houses of Today News and Events Energy Department Dedicates Clean Energy Research Center The ESIF on NREL's campus is the nation’s first major research facility focused on clean energy grid integration and wide-scale deployment. Credit: Dennis Schroeder, NREL The Energy Department on September 11 dedicated the nation’s first major research facility focused on clean energy grid integration and wide-scale deployment. Located on the campus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the new Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) will help manufacturers, utilities, and public and private sector researchers overcome the challenges of integrating clean energy and energy efficiency technologies into today's energy infrastructure. The Energy Department also unveiled Peregrine—the newest Energy Department supercomputer. NREL collaborated with HP and Intel to develop an innovative warm-water, liquid-cooled supercomputer. Peregrine resides in the new ESIF data center, designed to be the world’s most energy-efficient high performance computing data center. President Obama has set a goal to double renewable electricity generation once again by 2020. Seamless and efficient grid integration will help meet this ambitious target and make clean energy technologies even more affordable. To that end, ESIF will tackle generation, transmission, distribution, and end-use challenges to advance renewable energy, electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, microgrids, and next-generation building technologies. As one of the first ESIF projects, the Energy Department, NREL, and Toyota Motor Engineering&Manufacturing, North America, announced on September 11 a collaborative research effort to integrate plug-in electric vehicles into the power grid. Scientists and engineers at ESIF and NREL’s Vehicle Testing and Integration Facility will use 20 Prius plug-in hybrid electric vehicles from Toyota to develop and explore ways to prepare grid operators and energy infrastructure to accommodate the growing U.S. electric vehicle fleet. See the Energy Department press release. The ESIF also made news on September 12 with a one-of-its-kind national secure data center dedicated to the independent analysis of advanced hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The National Fuel Cell Technology Evaluation Center (NFCTEC) allows industry, academia, and government organizations to submit and review data gathered from projects to advance cost-effective fuel cell technology. NFCTEC will also help accelerate the commercialization of fuel cell technologies by strengthening data collection from fuel cell systems and components operating under real-world conditions, and by providing analyses of these detailed data that can be compared to technical targets. See the Energy Department Progress Alert.   Energy Department, EPA Release Used-Vehicles Fuel Economy Tool The Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on September 12 released a new label that features EPA fuel economy estimates and carbon dioxide estimates for used vehicles sold in the United States since 1984. Consumers may create the new label electronically using a new tool on FuelEconomy.gov. This electronic graphic can be downloaded and included in online advertisements on the web, while the paper label may be printed and affixed to the vehicle window. Because a vehicle's fuel economy changes very little over a typical 15-year life with proper maintenance, the original EPA fuel economy estimate remains the best indicator of a used vehicle's average gas mileage. The Obama Administration has taken steps to improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles sold in the United States, establishing the toughest fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles in U.S. history. These standards are expected to save consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump—or more than $8,000 in costs over the lifetime of each vehicle—and eliminate six billion metric tons of carbon pollution. All new vehicles now include a comprehensive fuel economy and environmental window sticker from the EPA, including passenger vehicles that meet the new fuel economy standards. With the FuelEconomy.gov tool, used vehicle sellers can provide potential buyers with fuel economy information that they can easily understand. Last year, more than 40 million used cars were sold in the United States—roughly three times the number of new cars sold in 2012. See the Energy Department Progress Alert and the FuelEconomy.gov website.   University of Maryland Wins Appliance Design Competition The Energy Department announced September 10 that the University of Maryland won the second annual Max Tech and Beyond design competition for ultra-low energy use appliances and equipment for the second year in a row. The team developed a heat pump clothes dryer that is nearly 59% more efficient than a traditional electric dryer. The winning prototype will be on display at this year's U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon in Irvine, California. With a comprehensive business plan, Ohio State University placed second in the challenge for its hybrid air/water conditioner that can achieve nearly a 73% energy cost savings over a conventional central air conditioning, dehumidification, and ventilation system. The Max Tech and Beyond competition challenges university teams to go beyond the current "max tech," or maximum technology performance levels, by exploring new design concepts that could become the next generation of ultra-low energy use appliances and equipment. Funded by the Energy Department's Building Technologies Office and managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the competition encourages participating students to connect with U.S. manufacturers and license their designs after successful demonstration. In total, eight teams spent the 2012-2013 academic year in their respective laboratories, fine-tuning their innovative technologies and gaining valuable knowledge of energy efficiency. These efforts helped to produce ultra-efficient prototypes for demonstration and deployment in the global clean energy market. See the Energy Department Progress Alert.   USDA Awards $15 Million for Advanced Biofuels The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on September 12 that it is making more than $15 million in investments to support the production of advanced biofuel. USDA is funding 188 producers through the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program. For example, Riverview, LLP, a Minnesota-based company, will use a payment to support a project that produces electricity from two anaerobic digesters which use manure from two of the company's dairy operations to produce electricity. During the last quarter of 2012, the anaerobic digesters produced almost 4.9 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power more than 400 homes a year. And American Biodiesel, Inc. in California will receive payment for its quarterly production of biodiesel from a variety of sources, including canola and soybean oil. The biodiesel reduces emissions and is primarily used as an alternative to diesel fuel. See the USDA press release.   Energy Blog Solar Decathlon 2013: Designing the Houses of Today Designing an energy-efficient, solar-powered house for the Solar Decathlon is like solving a riddle that has more than one right answer. Instead of just thinking about building materials and cost in the design process, teams have to consider a myriad of factors to create a winning house. While the design process never officially ends, the teams spend more than a year focusing on the design before breaking ground on their houses. Early on in the process, they select a target client for their house—one of the biggest impacts on their final design—and decide how they will transport their house to the competition site. The teams also have to make sure their designs meet contest criteria and rules—such as staying within a specified square footage, not exceeding solar array dimensions, and being accessible to visitors with disabilities. Throughout the process, the teams are required to submit construction plans and documentation, which are reviewed by the Solar Decathlon organizers for building code and rules compliance. Once their designs are complete, the teams can start constructing their houses. Visit the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 website and for the complete story, read the Energy Blog.   Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your subscriber preferences page. You will need your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, contact support@govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). This email was sent to buzzhairs@gmail.com on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy · 1000 Independence Ave., SW · Washington DC 20585