FierceEnergy

Navigating by the sun

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:49:14 -0400

U.S. Department of Defense takes aggressive lead as early adopters of solar energy

By Rebecca "Becky" Halstead, Brigadier General (retired)

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has a long-standing tradition of accelerating technological innovation, serving as early adopters and impacting the broader commercial market in such areas as aviation, computing and global positioning systems (GPS).

For the past several years, the DoD has been playing this same role in the renewable energy space. In fact, the Pew Charitable Trusts reports that DoD clean energy investments increased 300 percent between 2006 and 2009, from $400 million to $1.2 billion. Projections for 2030 are set to eclipse $10 billion annually, with an overall target of obtaining 25 percent of the DoD's energy from renewable sources by 2025.

Driven by climate change and the need for energy security, the DoD's plans are designed to strategically maximize effectiveness during military, disaster relief and humanitarian engagements. As initiatives unfold, the DoD will serve as a huge laboratory, laying the groundwork for widespread adoption of new ideas for optimizing efficiency and creating "zero energy" environments -- consuming only as much energy as they generate.

Efficiencies gained from a greater reliance on solar energy technologies have the potential to create energy independence, shrink risks for military personnel in the field, reduce the DoD's carbon footprint and drive clean energy innovation for the entire nation. As this large-scale mission unfolds, the DoD will have a direct influence on national security and the health of the U.S. economy, with strategies shaped around overcoming two critical challenges: energy usage and strategic vulnerability.

Energy Usage

The DoD is a massive energy spender, with Deloitte reporting a 175 percent increase in gallons of fuel consumed per U.S. soldier per day since the Vietnam conflict. With 300,000 buildings on its installations, covering 2.2 billion square feet of space, the DoD spends nearly $4 billion a year on the energy needed to power them.

The DoD's energy portfolio includes the energy used at military installations around the world and energy used by military forces executing their operational responsibilities, such as fueling ships, ground vehicles and airplanes. It costs significant amounts of money to acquire, manage, transport, protect and consume fuel at this level. The true cost of fuel use ranges from $10 to almost $400 per gallon depending on distance and delivery method.

This level of dependence threatens energy security and inhibits the ability for military personnel to move freely, which puts constraints on strategic decision-making. In fact, an overwhelming percent of ground supply chain movements for current U.S. military operations are dedicated to moving fuel -- a tremendous logistical burden and major vulnerability for attack.

At its current pace of consumption, the DoD is paying too great a cost in lives, expense and compromised capability in response to climate change, oil dependence and heavy reliance on an increasingly fragile electricity grid.

Strategic Vulnerability

Climate Change -- The Pentagon leadership has ranked global warming as a destabilizing force, and has advised military strategists to stay abreast of climate science and factor global warming into their long-term planning. Heat waves and catastrophic storms put more pressure on the military to respond to humanitarian crises or natural disaster, and a number of U.S. bases are threatened by rising sea levels. In particular, bases located on the East Coast are especially vulnerable to frequent and powerful hurricanes. If sea levels were to rise by one meter, Norfolk, Virginia, an important base of the U.S. Navy, would be flooded. While climate change alone is not likely to lead to future conflict, it may be an influencing force. Climate change is affecting, and will continue to affect, U.S. military installations and access to natural resources worldwide.

Oil Dependence -- In 2011, the Center for Naval Analysis' Military Advisory Board called for "immediate, swift and aggressive action" over the next decade to reduce U.S. oil consumption 30 percent in the next 10 years, stating that U.S. dependence on oil constitutes a significant threat to the economy, global leadership position, environment and military. Even a small interruption of the daily oil supply impacts the nation's economic engine, but a sustained disruption has the potential to alter essential economic elements, from food costs and distribution to manufacturing goods and services, and freedom of movement.

Instability of the global oil supply also plays an important role, with the need for fuel-independence becoming more imperative every year. The Energy Information Administration predicts the percentage of total imported oil consumed by the U.S. will decline minimally in the next two decades -- to 53 percent in 2020 and 56 percent by 2030. As the worldwide demand for oil increases, competition for these supplies will increase.

Fragile Electricity Grid -- The DoD faces the same reliability and fuel issues as the civilian sector: aging infrastructure and grids that are susceptible to terrorist attacks and natural disasters. In the event of a large-scale power disruption, fuel resupply on military installations could be seriously compromised because of competing demand for fuel distribution.

DoD Solar Initiatives

The DoD's Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) is comprised of 27 "test bed" projects designed to test, evaluate and scale up new and innovative energy technology to reduce the $4 billion cost of powering its facilities and to improve security. The programs main areas include:

smart microgrids and energy storage at installations
advanced component technologies to improve building energy efficiency
advanced building energy management and control technologies
tools and process for design, assessment and decision-making associated with energy use and management

The DoD's fundamental investment strategy seeks to: 1) reduce demand for traditional energy through conservation and energy efficiency; and 2) increase supply of renewable and other alternative energy sources. Investments that curb demand are the most cost-effective way to improve an installation's energy profile. For the solar energy world, the DoD's energy conservation investment program adds tremendous credibility to the conversation and helps the military increase power reliability, lessen its need for diesel fuel and reduce its carbon footprint.

About the Author
Brigadier General (Ret) Becky Halstead is currently CEO/Founder of STEADFAST Leadership, a leader consultancy company. Becky is an inspirational speaker, consultant and advisor. She served in the U.S. Army for 27 years, leading over 20,000 Soldiers and 5,000 civilians in Iraq, and commanding eight out of her last 11 years in the Army. She provides logistics and leadership expertise to the Principal Solar team.

DOE shaping next-gen nuclear leaders

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:48:04 -0400

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has made available $47 million in scholarships, fellowships, research grants and university research reactor upgrades to train and educate the next generation of leaders in America's nuclear industry.

The 143 awards announced under the DOE's Nuclear Energy University Programs and Integrated University Program will support nuclear energy research and development at 46 colleges and universities nationwide.

Breaking down the awards, a total of $5 million is designated for 39 undergraduate scholarships and 31 graduate fellowships in nuclear energy-related engineering and science programs. Students will study a breadth of critical nuclear energy issues from fuel cycle sustainability to reactor efficiency and design.

Twenty-three colleges and universities will benefit from a collective $6 million for research reactor infrastructure improvements like making the country's existing fleet of reactors more efficient and in line with industry advances.

Forty-seven university-led nuclear energy research and development projects will receive $36.2 million collectively to advance innovation in fuel cycle research and development; reactor concepts research, development and demonstration; nuclear energy advanced modeling and simulation; and transformative research.

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GSA energy hogs force efficiency measures

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:22:20 -0400

Commercial buildings account for nearly 40 percent of the United State's energy use, and the U.S. General Services Administration's (GSA) owns nearly 182 million square feet of office space nationwide. IBM will develop and install smart building technology for 50 of the GSA's highest energy-consuming buildings.

This Smart Building initiative will connect building management systems to a central cloud-based platform, improving efficiency. Increasing building efficiency will help agencies reduce energy consumption in federal buildings 30 percent by 2015, as mandated by the government.

The technology will give employees and building managers something they haven't had before -- a window into building operations. The IBM system will monitor building performance nationwide and stream data to a central facility, allowing faster analysis and more informed decision-making.

When implemented on a full scale, GSA will use newly available data and analytics to save energy and reduce building operating costs in all of its facilities.

For more:
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PACE helps CA fast-track clean energy goals

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:03:30 -0400

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), which provides up to 100 percent of the capital required for energy improvement projects at a fixed interest rate for up to 20 years, is helping "California's Solar Cities" move forward. PACE financing provides municipalities immediate cash flow to put clean energy projects on a fast track. Article

Utility's solar FIT makes schools, investors Prosumers

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:52:47 -0400

Gainesville Regional Utilities' (GRU) solar feed-in tariff (FIT) program is making Prosumers out of the Alachua County public school district and those investing in the school solar project.

In this project, private investors own the solar system and sell the electricity to GRU at $0.29 per kWh under a 20-year FIT contract. The returns are in the double digits -- 10 to 12 percent annually.

The school district also benefits financially, receiving lease payments from investors over the lifetime of the contract. The school district will see $2.46 million in guaranteed savings.

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Americans support renewable energy -- with conditions

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:28:50 -0400

We've heard around the water cooler that the American public would be willing to pay (slightly) higher rates for renewable energy. Now, a New York Times report is confirming this via survey results from researchers at Harvard and Yale Universities.

On average, Americans are willing to pay an additional $162 per year -- or a 13 percent increase - as part of a "National Clean Energy Standard" (NCES).

Despite this support for renewables, there are conditions. U.S. residents like the idea of clean energy sources, but not if they include nuclear power or gas-fired generation. Fear fueled by reports of nuclear disasters and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) are driving these feelings.

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Green energy push; Energy Oscars

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:11:48 -0400

Quick news from around the Web.

>The Silicon Valley Leadership Group pushes for green energy from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Article
>Green marketing should go beyond energy efficiency. Article
>Co-ops create the Energy Oscars. Article
>An alternative solution to the energy crisis. Article

Technology trends utilities can (and should) capitalize on

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:09:14 -0400

Utilities today are at a serious crossroads with aging infrastructure, renewable energy, big data and evolving regulations. Utilities can actually capitalize on these changes by introducing innovations in technology to drive revenue protection and decrease operational costs, according to SunGuard, an energy and commodities solutions company.

The utility sector is in flux and will need to increasingly leverage technology in order to meet and stay informed of these emerging challenges.

SunGard has identified some of the trends affecting the utility sector and driving technology innovations:

Renewables are driving the need for utilities to increase analytics and operations capacity to balance fairly predictable demand with unpredictable renewable sources.
New regulations surrounding carbon emissions are driving energy companies to develop solutions that offer visibility, manageability and predictability into energy use, cost and performance.
Uncertainty in energy costs and rate cases are driving statistical modeling for improved credit risk analysis and collections efforts.
Utilities will continue to move IT to private clouds in order to reduce costs and focus on core competencies.

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Customized energy intelligence for utilities

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:45:34 -0400

Pulse Energy has released the Pulse Platform -- a suite of cloud-based software and services to allow utilities to meet conservation goals and engage their commercial customers with customized energy intelligence for each market segment.

The integrated solution encourages behavioral and operational change through a set of adaptive energy models that provide measurement and verification, actionable insights and tips, savings persistence, and consumption forecasting.

"Energy management is increasingly being complemented by a greater level of analytics and insight, which is delivering ‘energy intelligence' and is also seeking to optimize real-time supply and demand dynamics, as well as energy optimization within production systems. Enterprises will increasingly need to exploit this technology," said Simon Mingay, Vice President of Research for Gartner.

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Con Edison expands C&I energy-efficiency program

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:29:34 -0400

Elliptical Mobile Solutions (EMS) is the latest company to enter the Con Edison Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Energy Efficiency Program.

The new Market Partner, who specializes in energy-efficient Micro-Modular Data Centers, will offer its solutions as part of the program to provide cash rebates and incentives to encourage companies to reduce energy consumption.

Micro-Modular Data Centers dramatically reduce data center energy and operating costs by containing the hot and cold aisles within the enclosure. By cooling the equipment within the enclosure rather than the entire room, a company can save up to 50 percent in operating and energy costs. Additionally, customers who install EMS's energy efficient enclosures will potentially be eligible to receive financial incentives for technical studies and rebates from Con Edison. As a Market Partner, EMS will provide Con Edison's commercial and industrial customers with technical support, helping them meet their energy savings goals and guiding them though the application process.

The Micro-Modular Data Centers reduce data center energy and operating costs by containing the hot and cold aisles within the enclosure. By cooling the equipment within the enclosure rather than the entire room, a company can save up to 50 percent in operating and energy costs.

As a Market Partner, EMS will provide Con Edison's commercial and industrial customers with technical support, helping them meet their energy savings goals and guiding them though the application process.

For more:
- visit this website

Related Article:
Con Ed rebates promote energy-efficient lighting

Bond funds $7M in retrofits to 19 campus buildings

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:17:02 -0400

Funded in part by an energy-efficiency, tax-exempt bond issued by the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU), Pepco Energy Services, will install more than $7 million in energy conservation measures for 19 buildings on the Delaware Technical Community College campus.

More than 1 million square feet of building space will be retrofitted with such measures as the conversion of constant volume air-handling units to variable air volume; the installation of an irrigation system; and new chillers to replace the multiple, problematic direct expansion units.

Over the 15-year contract, the college will save more than $9 million in energy costs and reduce annual energy consumption by approximately 21 percent for the Wilmington and Stanton campuses, 16 percent for the Terry campus, and 8 percent for the Owens campus. Further, the efforts will vastly reduce the College's carbon footprint.

Construction should be completed by August 2012.

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DOE's NREL engages in shady business

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:39:37 -0400

The US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is engaging in a shady business -- a new repeatable test protocol that simulates real shade conditions and can predict with much greater precision the effects of shade on a solar array.

The effects of shade can vary depending on the configuration of PV modules, the extent of the shade, and the use of shade mitigating power electronics in the system. Until now, the industry lacked representative, repeatable test procedures for evaluating the annual effect of shade on different PV systems equipped with different shade mitigation devices.

The test found that under heavy shading conditions the use of microinverters instead of typical string inverters can improve system performance more than 12 percent.

The research was funded by DOE.

For more:
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NSTAR proposes lowest rates in 8 years

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:28:59 -0400

NSTAR customers could see the lowest electricity rates since 2004 if a proposal is approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. The new rate would be 16 percent less than the rate currently in effect. Article

Utility bonuses; race for solar solution

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:48:18 -0400

Quick news from around the Web.

>Proposed legislation targets utility executive bonuses. Article
> Coal-to-gas switching presents opportunities for regulated utilities. Article
>Who will win the race to a cost-effective solar source? Article (subscription required)
>And finally...the solar power eye implant that restores sight. Article

Consert: Top social media outlets for utilities

Barbara Vergetis Lundin — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:43:28 -0400

The power of social media can be invaluable for utilities that want a cost-effective way to communicate with and market to customers; expand their presence and branding; and have a positive impact on energy conservation, customer savings and business initiatives.

"...utilities need to go beyond the meter and invite two-way communication through the use of social media," said Tony Di Giosia, Director of Marketing for Consert. "Social media is about people and the voices behind it. It's about story-telling and the ‘we' not the ‘me.'"

The intelligent energy management company has some ideas on how utilities can use social media as a vehicle to build community and engage with their customers.

First, start small to reign in the daunting task of establishing a social media presence. Second, once you start using social media, make sure it is monitored consistently so comments are responded to in a timely manner. Third, respond to both positive and negative feedback to reinforce that you are interested in talking with customers no matter what the message.

There a number of social media outlets that utilities can take advantage of and Consert makes its picks for the tops.

Facebook: The average Facebook user creates 90 pieces of content each month and more than 30 billion pieces of content are shared each month, according to Consert, making users a very valuable brand ambassador for a utility. Utilities can use Facebook to post information about programs and services; updates on load events; tips on topics of interest press releases and news coverage; customer surveys; and customer events schedules.

Twitter: Utilities can use Twitter to quickly disseminate information, such as outage notifications and energy-saving tips, which will encourage followers to re-tweet, facilitating a continually growing community.

Facebook and Twitter can initially be used as a newsfeed and expanded with relevant customer-focused posts. Consert recommends developing an "editorial calendar" of topics that can be covered and increase posts to all social media properties to at least three times a week.

Blogs: Blogging establishes a utility as a trusted advisor. Blog posts should be no longer than 500 words and focus on what customers should be aware of. Blogs authored by the utility CEO can humanize the brand and break down the corporate barrier, allowing customers to connect with senior leadership.

YouTube: YouTube is a powerful sales and marketing tool for utilities. For example, utilities can post how-to videos to assist customers in controlling their energy usage, conserving energy and saving money.

For more:
- see this article