ASERTTI News
Mark Your Calendars: 2010
Energy Outlook Conference, February 1-4. 2010
ASERTTI and NASEO will host the 2010 Energy
Outlook Conference in Washington, DC from February
1-4 at the Fairmont Hotel. The conference will
serve as an essential opportunity for State Energy
Office (SEO) directors, staff, and interested
stakeholders to hear the latest on ARRA and the
implementation and reporting issues that SEOs are
currently facing. Session highlights include:
- Net Zero Energy Commercial Buildings
Consortium Update
- National Laboratory Roundtable –
Transferring Emerging Technologies
- Scaling up Renewable Energy Investment
- A Look at States’ ARRA Funded Clean Energy
Jobs Creation
- Vehicle Electrification – Cars,
Infrastructure Investments, and Consumer Demand
- Net Zero Energy Commercial Buildings
Consortium Update
- Transformative Renewable Energy Technology –
Innovation and Market Outlook
- ISO 50001 – The Future of Industrial
Efficiency
- National Laboratories – Advancing and
Transferring Emerging Technologies
Please
click here to visit the event website for more
information including an agenda and online
registration.
Patricia Hoffman
Nominated as DOE Assistant Secretary for Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability
President Barack Obama recently announced his
intent to nominate Patricia A. Hoffman as Assistant
Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability, Department of Energy. Ms. Hoffman was
named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability at the United States Department of
Energy in November 2007. The focus of her
responsibility is to provide leadership on a
national level to modernize the electric grid,
enhance the security and reliability of the energy
infrastructure and facilitate recovery from
disruptions to the energy supply both domestically
and internationally. Ms. Hoffman has 14 years of
experience at the Energy Department developing and
managing technology research programs critical to
the electric sector for the Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability as well as the
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
During her tenure, she managed efforts that resulted
in the longest demonstration of ceramic components
operating in an industrial gas turbine.
Additionally, under her leadership, the Department
demonstrated the first recuperated, industrial gas
turbine for distributed generation applications. Ms.
Hoffman holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of
Science in Ceramic Science and Engineering from the
Pennsylvania State University. Please
click here for the full story.
DOE Launches New Website to
Bring Energy Technology Information to the Public
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the
launch of Open Energy Information (www.openEI.org)
- a new open-source web platform that will make DOE
resources and open energy data widely available to
the public. The data and tools housed on the free,
editable and evolving wiki-platform will be used by
government officials, the private sector, project
developers, the international community, and others
to help deploy clean energy technologies across the
country and around the world. The website was
launched as part of a broader effort at DOE, the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
and across the Obama Administration to promote the
openness, transparency, and accessibility of the
federal government. Please
click here to read the full story.
DOE Announces Climate REDI
Program at Copenhagen Climate Conference
On behalf of President Obama, Energy Secretary
Steven Chu announced the launch of a new initiative
to promote clean energy technologies in developing
countries while speaking at the Copenhagen climate
conference. The launch of a new Renewables and
Efficiency Deployment Initiative (Climate REDI)
program will accelerate deployment of renewable
energy and energy efficiency technologies in
developing countries – reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, fighting energy poverty and improving
public health for the most vulnerable, particularly
women and children. Please
click here for the full story and more
information on the Climate REDI program.
2010 North Carolina Green
Business Fund Solicitation Now Available
The 2010 North Carolina Green Business Fund
Solicitation (call for Proposals) is now open. The
North Carolina Green Business Fund is a competitive
grants program established by the State of North
Carolina in 2007, and administered by the NC Office
of Science and Technology, a division of the North
Carolina Department of Commerce. Eligibility for
the grant is limited to small for-profit businesses,
non-profit organizations, state agencies, and local
governments to encourage the expansion of small to
medium sized businesses with 100 or fewer employees
that have innovative commercial technologies,
products and services to grow a green economy in the
state. Agencies must have their principal base of
business in North Carolina. Please
click here for information about how to apply
for the NC Green Business Fund. The deadline for
the receipt of pre-proposals (750 words maximum) is
January 19, 2010.
Advanced Energy’s First
Rater Camp a Success
ASERTTI member, Advanced Energy, hosted the first
Carolina Rater Camp November 3-5, 2009 in Raleigh,
bringing together home energy raters, weatherization
contractors, inspectors and other energy
professionals in the area. The effort provided
networking and training opportunities to strengthen
efficiency-focused building programs such as ENERGY
STAR® for New Homes in North Carolina. Please
click here for the full story. For more
information about home energy raters or the ENERGY
STAR homes program, please
click here to visit the ENERGY STAR website.
EPRI, Tri-state G&T and NV
Energy to Demonstrate Solar Thermal Hybrid Power
Plants
ASERTTI member, the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI), announced two industry technology
demonstration projects designed to help utilities
add solar energy to fossil-fueled power plants that
could result in reduced emissions and fuel costs.
Both projects involve adding steam generated by a
solar thermal field to a conventional fossil
fuel-powered steam cycle to help generate
electricity, creating a solar "hybrid" plant.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association,
Inc., will host one demonstration at its coal-fired
245-megawatt (MW) Escalante Generating Station in
Prewitt, NM. Nevanda Energy will host the other at
its natural gas-powered 1,102-MW Chuck Lenzie
Generating Station near Las Vegas. Please
click here for the full story.
New Syracuse University
Data Center, Developed with NYSERDA and IBM,
Provides Model to Dramatically Reduce Energy
Consumption and Costs for Data Center and
Telecommunications Industries
Syracuse University opened a new computer data
center with innovations that can dramatically reduce
the energy consumption and costs for the data center
and telecommunications industries in the future.
Developed in partnership with ASERTTI member, the
New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA), and IBM, the data center will
provide a model to help these industries address the
significant challenge of controlling high energy
use. New York has the nation’s second largest
concentration of data centers, the centralized hubs
that control the flow of computer information. Data
centers represent the fastest growing sector of
energy consumers, with energy use doubling every
three to five years. The $2 million in NYSERDA
funding helped Syracuse University, working with
IBM, to install an on-site electric generating
system that will allow these industries to
significantly increase both its operational and
energy efficiency. Please
click here for the full story. |
