CWEB.045/Sept. 30, 1999
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Natural light correlates with higher student test scores and increased retail sales, according to a landmark new study that includes results from Seattle schools.
The study's outcome has potential implications for energy efficiency, as it documents human productivity benefits from filtered natural light inside buildings.
"This indicates a clear direction for our future building investments," according to the Web site of Pacific Gas & Electric's Pacific Energy Center. PG&E sponsored the study, which was conducted by the California-based Heschong Mahone Group. "Daylight design, when done with care, is the single most powerful strategy to reduce energy use in commercial and institutional buildings (from 30-60% reduction). Daylight has now been shown to increase productivity as well. The combined assets of daylighted buildings will help to remove market barriers to using daylight in commercial and institutional design."
"People have been talking about the positive effects of daylight for a long time," study director Lisa Heschong told Con.WEB. "But they haven't had any concrete evidence."
Now they do, based upon analysis of test scores of more than 21,000 students in California, Colorado and Seattle, and sales figures from 108 stores of a retail chain that requested anonymity.
Compelling Connection
Accounting for other variables, "We established a statistically compelling connection between daylighting and student performance, and between skylighting and retail sales," according to the executive summary.
The study found 7-percent to 26-percent increases in student test scores and an average of 40 percent higher retail sales, both linked to daylighting availability.
In the Capistrano Unified School District in Southern California, " . . . we found that students with the most daylighting in their classrooms progressed 20% faster on math tests and 26% percent on reading tests in one year than those with the least. Similarly, students in classrooms with the largest window areas were found to progress 15% faster in math and 23% faster in reading than those with the least. And students that had a well-designed skylight in their room, one that diffused the daylight throughout the room and which allowed teachers to control the amount of daylight entering the room, also improved 19-20% faster than those students without a skylight."
In schools in Seattle and in Fort Collins, CO, "Students in classrooms with the most daylighting were found to have 7% to 18% higher scores than those in rooms with the least."
In the retail chain, meanwhile, "Skylights were found to be positively and significantly correlated to higher sales. All other things being equal, an average non-skylit store in the chain would likely have 40% higher sales with the addition of skylights, with a probable range between 31 percent and 49 percent."
Heschong emphasized that the study found correlations between daylighting and productivity, but did not answer why. "We can't at this point really say what element or elements of daylighting are causing an effect," she said.
The study did offer some "informed guesses" to explain the correlation in schools: better visibility because of higher illumination and enhanced light quality (including better color rendition and light distribution, and absence of flicker); and improved health, mood, alertness and behavior.
As for the retail results, the study suggested "possible mechanisms" of better visibility, more relaxed and loyal customers, more attractive-appearing products and improved employee morale.
And, although the study only directly investigated schools and one retail chain, Heschong believes the results could have much wider applicability. "I don't think it's a very big leap to say what's good for children in a classroom environment might possibly also be good for adults in a working environment."
Study Methodology
In addition to its findings, the study also is notable for its methodology. It used a statistical technique known as multivariate linear regression analysis to control for other influences besides daylighting. This process starts with a large amount of data and "variables of interest," both entered into a computer model, Heschong explained. The model evaluates which variables are statistically significant--dropping those that aren't--and then assigns magnitudes of effect to the remaining variables. Although commonly used in other fields such as epidemiology, this statistical approach is new in assessing building characteristics and performance, according to Heschong.
She and her team conducted the most detailed analysis on the Capistrano district, which had the most data available and the most diverse daylighting of the three districts studied. They assessed test score changes between fall 1997 and spring 1998. Demographic variables were eliminated, according to the study, while other variables in addition to daylight were evaluated, including schoolwide test scores, grade level (the most powerful predictor), operable windows, student participation in special programs, unverified absences and school size. " . . . in general, all the daylighting variables offered as good, if not a better explanation for how far a student would progress, as the variables for which school they attended, whether they were in a special language program, or how many absences they each had."
For Seattle schools, Heschong Mahone
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| Dunlap Elementary School in Seattle. Photo courtesy of Barbara Erwine. |
Seattle Public Schools official Mike O'Connell said he had seen the study findings, but had not yet studied them in detail. The district doesn't yet know whether or how the results might influence school design in Seattle, he said.
"The three districts have different curricula and teaching styles, different school building designs and very different climates," the executive summary concludes. "Yet the results of the studies show consistently positive and highly significant effects. This consistency supports the proposition that there is a valid and predictable effect of daylighting on student performance."
For the retail study Heschong Mahone Group analyzed 108 chain stores, of which two-thirds have skylighting and one-third don't. These stores are all in the same geographical area--described only as "a relatively sunny climate"--and "remarkably uniform" in their design and operation. Monthly gross sales per store over an 18-month period were examined.
Skylighting was found to have "clearly the largest effect [on sales] of any of the variables considered," such as hours open per week, local population and income levels, and years since the last remodeling. "If this particular chain were to add skylighting to the remaining 34% percent of its stores, chainwide sales could increase by up to 11%," the study said.
Building and Energy Implications
The study's findings apply only to well-designed daylighting, Heschong noted. "We're specifically not talking about letting the sunshine in. We're specifically talking about filtered daylight--uniform, comfortable illumination."
She also said that for daylighting to save energy, "You have to turn off the lights. There are no energy savings without photocontrols." But efficiency can be gained: "You can have positive energy savings--heating, cooling and lighting--with skylighting everywhere, even in Seattle." Heschong put together a rough and conservative estimate that skylights and daylighting controls in half the commercial building space in the Northwest could save $16 million to $31 million annually, and reduce regional peak demand by 400 megawatts to 800 MW.
She believes the greatest potential lies in skylighting. Most new buildings these days are one or two stories high; skylights can generally provide daylight to all the square footage inside, while daylighting with windows typically is most effective only in perimeter areas. "The potential energy impacts are vastly larger and the cost to do it is dramatically less," Heschong said. "Three, it's much easier to do. You can diffuse
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| Lafayette Elementary School in Seattle. Photo courtesy of Barbara Erwine. |
Skylighting/daylighting retrofits are feasible in certain applications, such as flat-roof retail buildings as well as grocery stores, according to Barbara Erwine, a Seattle-based consultant who participated in the study.
Erwine believes the study "clearly moves the discussion around windows and skylights beyond the energy payback issue." These paybacks tend to exceed the two to three years most businesses consider reasonable, but the productivity benefits cast this calculation in a new light. "It really opens it up to management to start giving [employees] a daylight amenity. They can get something bottom-line out of it."
The study, Erwine said, also provides more evidence against the popular trend 30 to 40 years ago to design schools with minimal windows.
Lots of Attention
The daylighting study has gotten considerable attention in the mass media, including national television networks. It's also circulating among people who can put the findings to practical use. "We've presented these results to focus groups of building owners of the various types," said Heschong. "The reaction among school people is, 'How fast can we change our design?' The reaction among manufacturing and retail-type owners is, 'Get me a copy of the study so I can take it to my CEO.'"
The study appears to strike a popular chord. "People like windows. People like daylight, and there have been so many arguments against them in the last 20 or 30 years relating to cost, maintenance, security, that people are very happy to have an argument on the other side," said Heschong. "It's something that affects all of us. We were all schoolchildren, or we have children in school, and we all shop."--Mark Ohrenschall
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As the days grew noticeably shorter in early September, a housekeeping instinct kicked in and I painstakingly went through the files in my office.
This surprisingly fulfilling exercise revisited nearly a decade's worth of Northwest energy conservation and renewable energy--programs, gatherings, people, institutions, projects. Competitive bidding. Columbia Colstor. Billing credits. Dan Meek. REMPRO. Con-Mod for the DSIs. Sue Hickey. Puget Sound Conservation Forum. Idaho's would-be commercial energy code. Laid-off timber workers trained to be energy conservationists. Wyoming Wind Energy Project. Showerhead distribution programs.
And on and on I traveled down memory lane (although some of these memories are not, of course, strictly historical).
Remember in 1991, when the Northwest Power Planning Council, anticipating the end of regional electric surpluses, called for 1,500 average megawatts of energy savings by the year 2000? We won't make it, but I don't think anyone cares. The times quite obviously have changed.
I finished my filing project with about six feet of stacked papers to be recycled, along with a strong inclination to move forward.
But where? A mid-August conference in Eugene had offered some ideas.
Up Periscope was billed as an "interactive forum and exhibit presenting strategies for offering value-added services, including green power and distributed generation." Hosts and sponsors were Emerald PUD, Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative, Northwest Public Power Association, Bonneville Power Administration, Portland General Electric and Lane Electric Cooperative.
Customer Service, Distributed Generation
Emerald's general manager, Jeff Shields, welcomed the audience with a wake-up call for utilities. "What this conference is really about is customer service," he said. "If you think you're a commodity broker of a single product, which you've done successfully for a lot of years and you want to hang your hat on that history, you can expect you won't have customers in the very near future." Rhetorical excess, perhaps, but serving customers well is certainly no excessive request these days.
Terry Esvelt, Bonneville Power Administration's energy efficiency vice president, next discussed his perspective on the changing structure of the electric industry. The linear model of central-station generation/high-voltage transmission/local distribution will give way to "the energy web," an interconnected system featuring power generated by end-users. Driving this decentralization are advances in fuel cells, photovoltaics, microturbines and other small-scale technologies, along with telecommunications and, not least, consumer desires. For years, Esvelt noted, BPA's centralized conservation programs were designed to "try to get consumers to do what we want them to do. We don't have to do that anymore. The key is consumers want control; they want the ability to take over the management of their own lives."
From a land of customer choice of electric suppliers, California, Roger Fontes came to report that small customers, alas, haven't been much inclined to switch during this transition period of stranded-cost recovery by investor-owned utilities. However, he said, "It's a big hit with Chevron and people like that." (Energy NewsData's California Energy Markets newsletter reports that 1.4 percent of residential customers and 20.3 percent of industrial cutomers have opted for direct access.) The Northern California Power Agency official reiterated the conference's big themes: "Distributed technologies are important to customers, and customers are your most important asset."
Distributed Technologies
Fuel cells, microturbines and solar photovoltaic roofing panels were spotlighted in a subsequent session.
BPA's Mark Jackson talked about the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells promoted by his agency (see related story in this issue). He raised the possibility of biomass (such as rotting potatoes or sugar beets) serving as a renewable fuel source for this form of distributed generation: "Technically it's feasible." A different and much larger type of fuel cell was described by Paul Eichenberger of Energy Research Corp., whose company makes grid-connected carbonate fuel cells ranging in size from 250 kilowatts to 3 megawatts. He touted these as clean (no nitrogen oxides or carbon monoxide emissions) and efficient (45 to 50 percent in simple-cycle mode fueled by natural gas, up to 70 percent in combined cycle).
Microturbines fueled by landfill gas intrigue the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative, according to PNGC's Kevin Watkins (see related story on PNGC's microturbine demonstration), as does the whole concept of distributed generation.
And Steve Coonen of Atlantis Energy spoke on his company's rooftop-integrated solar photovoltaic systems, now being used on some homes in Sacramento, CA.
Energy Efficiency Makes Sense, Too
This is all very cool stuff in the way of energy generation, environmental quality and consumer empowerment. People a lot smarter and more visionary than I envision a vast future for distributed generation resources, as technologies advance and prices drop and the energy paradigm decentralizes.
I can see this vision, too. It makes sense. But it won't fully materialize in any near future. In the meantime, as the buzz over distributed generation grows ever louder, let's also keep in mind that the efficient end use of energy will continue to make sense as well.
Up Periscope provided examples of education and information in service of energy efficiency--a variation on one of my favorite themes that people, not just technologies, use energy.
Roger Ebbage of the Lane Community College Energy Management Program outlined plans for an energy management certification program with a performance-based curriculum, beginning next year. "Graduates will be able to identify and implement a broad range of energy management initiatives which cost-effectively reduce energy use and utility costs," he told us. "Employers will receive a maximum return on investments."
Consumer education on energy efficiency, meanwhile, happens at two places I visited after the end of Up Periscope's formal sessions.
At Lane Electric Cooperative's headquarters on the outskirts of Eugene, the SmartSource Product Center, prominently located just inside the entrance, displays and sells a wide range of items.
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| Courtesy of Up Periscope |
The idea is to showcase products that Lane's customers--predominantly residential--haven't seen elsewhere, explained energy services representative Ruth Pomplin. "We're making some revenues in the process [$100,000-plus in gross 1999 sales through July] and also educating and contributing to market transformation," she told me. I wondered whether local businesses had complained about this potential competition, but she said no.
"We are not subsidizing this," Pomplin said. "It's got to make ends meet and it's doing that." Lane would like to join with other utilities to enhance buying power.
Near downtown Eugene, the Energy Outlet serves as an energy efficiency information resource, funded by Emerald PUD, Eugene Water & Electric Board and Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative. Visitors can look at products (such as washing machines, solar water heaters and insulation types), use the library (which includes product and how-to videos) and learn about programs, financing options and more. Training also is available for retailers, according to staffer Lynn Stevens. She estimated the Outlet reaches 300 people a month altogether.
These three Eugene-based initiatives exemplify the notion of educating and empowering people for energy efficiency--not just because the electric system benefits from conservation resources, but because it makes sense in many other ways, ranging from more comfortable homes to more productive businesses to lower energy bills to improved environmental quality.
A Hint of Spring
From the larger regional perspective beyond green Eugene, conservation resource acquisition has largely been supplanted by market transformation via the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. The Alliance, whose underlying premise also is educational, anticipates renewed funding by its sponsoring utilities in the very near future--a strong endorsement of its work and its continuing promise.
Bonneville Power's centralized programs have essentially disappeared, replaced by a low-budget menu of useful initiatives, including a proposed wholesale rate discount for conservation and renewables that should stimulate at leaset some new utility investments.
Meanwhile, public-purposes funding has come to pass in Montana and now Oregon. This promises renewed conservation/renewables spending in those states--which have passed electric industry restructuring legislation--after widespread utility cutbacks prompted largely by fears of such restructuring. Who knows about public-purposes funding in Washington and Idaho? Still, the notion of customer service would argue for utilities and others to foster energy efficiency, as would the prospect of a tightening balance between regional energy resource supply and demand. Negawatts have a legitimate place at the power supply table.
The burgeoning green-building movement will surely boost resource efficiency as a whole, including energy.
And as electric prices drift higher . . .
On the renewables front I recall the early 1990s as a time of much discussion but not construction. Now the Northwest can claim two operating wind-energy projects, at least five landfill-gas-to-energy plants and a growing number of solar photovoltaic installations. Public-purposes funding and the BPA discount both will apply to renewables as well. Add green power demand (it's out there, waiting to be tapped) and the promise of distributed generation resources, and the situation brightens even more--although renewables still remain more theoretical than real as an energy resource. Except for hydropower, of course. But that's another story.
In any event, autumn has arrived here in the Northwest, with colorful leaves and fading sunlight and chilly nights, but it feels like a hint of spring for conservation and renewables in our nook of the planet.--Mark Ohrenschall
Energy efficiency is a minor consideration for Northwest government agencies when they buy products and services, but it nonetheless could become more important through public-sector purchasing trends such as best-value and environmental purchasing, and electronic commerce
That assessment comes from a new report titled "Public Procurement and Energy Efficiency in the Northwest," developed for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance by a multidisciplinary team led by Rick Kunkle and Jeannine Moga of Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program, and including Loren Lutzenhiser, WSU departments of sociology and rural sociology; Linda Dethman of Dethman & Associates; and Chad Davis, Jim Perich-Anderson and Robert Paulson of MACRO International.
The efficiency stakes in public procurement are quite large: governments in the United States spend tens of billions of dollars annually on energy-related goods (such as HVAC systems and light bulbs) and services (such as building design). "Clearly, in how and what they buy, public agencies can be more or less energy conscious," the authors write. "And, this consciousness will affect how markets for energy consuming products develop and how much energy is ultimately consumed (and saved)."
The report concludes: "We believe that public purchasing in the Northwest can incorporate energy efficiency considerations to a much greater extent. Attention to energy costs and energy related environmental impacts is already taking place in some government agencies, and there is considerable potential for greater penetration of high efficiency products. Success will require that a variety of efforts be coordinated to reach all organizational levels."
Findings
The procurement research group interviewed 77 representatives of 17 schools and local, state and federal government agencies around the Northwest. The goal was to learn about public-sector buying practics and the role of energy efficiency, and to develop strategies to promote energy-efficient purchasing.
Among their findings:
The report notes energy planning isn't the focus of most governments. "Agencies buy energy consuming products so they can make clear copies, get good light, or reliably run pumps. If these products happen to be green or save money by saving energy, those considerations are usually secondary or added benefits . . . In the few agencies where being 'green' is integrated with the purchasing system, or where resource efficiency has been mandated, energy efficiency concerns in purchasing still tend to pale beside more touchable and visible green buying, such as buying recycled content products."
The research teams lists best-value buying, electronic commerce and green purchasing as prospective leverage opportunities to advance energy-efficient buying. They also identify nine "success factors" that correlate with greater levels of energy-efficient purchasing, such as political and citizen advocacy, and internal government support and resources.
The authors outline potential ways to enhance the effects of regulations and policies, expand professional influences and encourage imitation among agencies, all with the aim of getting governments to habitually buy more energy-efficient products and services.
"You have to create some institutional change if you want long-term change," Kunkle told Con.WEB.
Programs that offer information and/or financial incentives to buy energy-efficient goods and services don't fundamentally change buying practices, he said. "Even though we've had programs out there for 15 to 20 years and there's certainly an awareness of energy efficiency, we didn't see a lot of consistent purchasing of energy-efficient products. There's always those good individual examples . . . [but] by and large that wasn't institutionalized."
Only four of the 17 public agencies queried for the research were considered "medium to high" for their energy-efficient buying practices. Most occupied the broad middle, and a few smaller agencies ranked low. "All the agencies we studied have more potential" to buy efficient products and services, the report said. "Some were strong in buying efficiency for new construction, but not for replacement or office equipment. Others stood out because of a strong commitment to the environment that appeared to be edging them toward energy efficiency. Still others were just getting started (e.g. had recently hired a Resource Manager) but they were moving in the right direction."
Energy efficiency may not be big on its own, but the report suggests it could be piggybacked onto other trends in government procurement, specifically best-value (as distinct from lowest-cost) and environmental purchasing, and the growing movement to electronic commerce. "There are leveraging opportunities that could make it more relevant," said Kunkle.
He also emphasized the report's finding that procurement practices are not particularly centralized. "The process is actually much more dispersed, more variable and complex, kind of messy like a lot of social processes . . . It raises challenges and opportunities you need to understand."
The report elaborates on different types of public-sector purchasing, key variables, competitive parameters, purchasing structures, specifications development, and agency culture and outside influences on purchasing. It also outlines patterns of energy-efficient purchasing of office equipment, and buying of energy-consuming equipment for new and existing buildings.
Where Now?
The application of this research is uncertain. The Alliance--after turning down an Energy Ideas Clearinghouse proposal for an Internet-based service to facilitate energy-efficient purchasing--commissioned the study in 1998 to learn more about regional procurement practices and the market transformation potential.
"It's not as uniform a market as we thought," said Alliance lead project coordinator John Jennings. "There's no one consistent approach for procurement. Even though they may have a procurement office and procurement manager and all these guidelines, it still comes down to the buyer having a lot of influence."
Some proposed strategies outlined in a draft document include building on professional purchaser networks; connecting buyers to energy efficiency information resources; incorporating energy-efficient buying guidelines into green and best-value purchasing policies; and working with "exemplary" governments to help institutionalize energy-efficient buying in other agencies. These could be accomplished via the Alliance and/or other interested organizations.
The Alliance is developing prioritities for new ventures, Jennings said, and the procurement research recommendations are included in these deliberations that should be finished by year's end. "It's way too early to say" what if any market transformation project will result for procurement practices.--Mark Ohrenschall
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What constitutes energy conservation and renewable energy?
This fundamental question, among others, is being addressed by the Regional Technical Forum, a fledgling entity charged with bringing a degree of standardization to the Northwest's pursuit of conservation and renewables. It's not that anarchy will otherwise reign, but the RTF--endorsed by Congress and the Regional Review--is intended to provide some consistency in verifying and evaluating efficiency gains in an era of decentralized activities. The forum, officially chartered this summer as an advisory committee to the Northwest Power Planning Council, also will monitor regional progress on conservation and renewables and suggest improvements.
As its first major task, the RTF is beginning to develop recommended measures that would be eligible for Bonneville Power Administration's proposed conservation and renewables wholesale rate discount.
At their second full meeting, Sept. 14 in Portland, RTF members delved into details of this assignment.
It remains a work in progress. Interested people will have opportunities to comment, and the RTF will continue its refining process for many months before sending BPA its recommendations by September 2000.
Delving into Details
Bonneville, among other requests of the RTF, wants a comprehensive list of suggested qualifying conservation and renewables measures. So RTF staff from the Power Council put together draft screening criteria.
Eligible measures, according to this draft, should first satisfy resource definitions in the 1980 Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act: "'Conservation' means any reduction in electric power consumption as a result of increases in the efficiency of energy use, production, or distribution. 'Renewable Resource' means a resource which utilitizes solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass or similar sources of energy and which is either used for electric power generation or will reduce the electric power requirements of a consumer, including by direct application."
Does efficiency mean economic efficiency or thermodynamic efficiency? "A whole bunch of measures may not be thermodynamically efficient but are economically efficient," said RTF member Jim Lazar, citing the example of shifting loads from peak to off-peak times.
What about net-metering of small-scale renewables such as solar photovoltaics? Is it conservation, by reducing system load, or renewables?
Natural gas-fueled fuel cells aren't renewable and they represent fuel-switching, but they also reduce electricity use, noted RTF member Gil McCoy. "What about cogeneration then," asked Council staffer Jeff King?
Lazar brought up the example of an eastern Idaho farmer who irrigates alfalfa fields with an inefficient pumping system. "Just what do I get to count? I want to be able to pay this farmer to grow some less water-intensive crop and get credit for reduced irrigation pumping load on his farm and increased renewable energy generation on the river."
The second draft criteria suggested "[d]ocumented evidence that the technology 
or practice improves efficiency." Documentation could include engineering calculations, independent evaluations, metering results and/or scientific peer review. RTF member Curt Nichols wondered whether this might unfairly limit emerging technologies. Proprietary technologies whose documented results may be confidential were cited by RTF member Jean Shaffer.
An especially thorny draft screening criteria is financial contributions to organizations "actively engaged" in working to increase efficiency and/or renewables applications.
"I think this is a really tough one," said Shaffer, citing the example of an advocacy organization whose work goes beyond promoting efficiency and renewables to pushing for dam removals. "If you don't narrowly define it you're going to have a political problem consistently," said RTF member Pete West, who nevertheless believes organizations can be held accountable for meeting specific objectives. Council staffer and RTF chairperson Tom Eckman and Lazar both suggested a 10-percent cap on discount-qualifying financial contributions to organizations, but RTF member Kevin O'Meara suggested that could limit small utilities.
Conservation Categories
In addition to these draft screening criteria and a smaller list of proposed criteria for so-called deemed savings under the discount, RTF staff prepared a separate and more specific draft on categories of prospective eligible measures.
This encompassed 11 residential sector categories, nine categories in commercial, 24 categories in the industrial sector and utility systems, and 13 agricultural sector categories. This extensive listing is likely to get even more extensive. RTF members brought up a number of categories absent from the draft, including light emitting diode (LED) traffic signals, commercial natural gas water heaters, residential air-conditioning and commercial plug loads. Load management and renewables were also suggested as distinct categories.
"The purpose at this stage is to get things on the list," said Eckman. "Then we can subject them to screening downstream and any constraints can be placed on them at that point in time. This is the brainstorming phase of the activity, as opposed to prioritizing."
The RTF also discussed a number of potential ways to present costs and benefits of various measures. "The RTF can't judge costs/benefits for every situation," said Council staffer Ken Corum, but it can provide useful estimates for the region. He presented a draft matrix with columns for technology, delivery program, application, location, cost, savings and benefit/cost, all from a regional power system perspective. Local utility system and non-energy benefits had separate columns for the same technology.
Eckman said consistency in this area is likely to be more important than precise accuracy for BPA customers applying for the conservation/renewables discount, although "it's important that we get a number that is roughly correct." This type of information could be "absolutely impenetrable" as a spreadsheet, so he noted it would likely be made available as an interactive and user-friendly CD-ROM.
The RTF also spent a little time Sept. 14 going over the staff's draft proposal on determining baselines from which to measure efficiency gains. It would start with any applicable federal and state laws or standards, then default to "the best evidence of current practice" for a particular market. Attribution for conservation savings and utility reporting requirements were briefly discussed as well.
The RTF will next meet Oct. 12 in Seattle.--Mark Ohrenschall
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A microturbine demonstration project at an Oregon landfill-gas plant holds promise to lower costs and reduce emissions from this biomass fuel, and make it more feasible to produce renewable energy at landfills.
This testing initiative will start in December at the Coffin Butte Landfill near Corvallis, site of an existing 2.5-megawatt-capacity plant at which gas from decomposing garbage is cleaned, dewatered, compressed and run through reciprocating engines to produce electricity.
The 100-kilowatt microturbine is essentially a "very, very, very small version" of the large combustion turbines common at natural gas-fired power plants, according to Pat Reiten of Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative. PNGC manages the Coffin Butte energy facility, and is collaborating on the microturbine demonstration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is providing a $20,000 grant. California-based Onsite Power Systems will provide the ABB-manufactured microturbine.
"This project is perfectly aligned with our program goal of promoting environmentally and economically beneficial landfill gas-to-energy projects domestically," said Ed Coe, project manager of EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program, in a news release.
"We think it's a big deal," PNGC's Kevin Watkins told Con.WEB. He called it the inaugural microturbine demonstration with landfill gas at an operating facility, "and to my knowledge the first-ever microturbine demonstration in the Pacific Northwest."
The microturbine will be sited near the internal combustion engines that currently produce the facility's power, and will use 3 percent to 4 percent of Coffin Butte's landfill gas, according to Watkins. He anticipates the test will last a year at most.
Prospective Economic, Environmental Benefits
Watkins cited two major potential advantages--one economic, the other environmental--of generating power from landfill gas in a microturbine compared with internal combustion engines.
One could be operation and maintenance costs. In his proposal letter to EPA, Watkins wrote PNGC had looked at a potential 1.2-MW-capacity landfill-gas plant in Oregon's Douglas County that would generate electricity for an estimated 6-plus cents per kilowatt-hour using reciprocating engines--"a prohibitively high cost given the current market." With proven microturbine technology the cost could drop below 5 cents/KWh.
The other primary advantage could be reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides, one of the major pollutants from landfill-gas plants. "I wouldn't be surprised if NOx emissions from the microturbines are maybe a fourth of what they are from the engines," Watkins said, although he acknowledged the absence of testing data to support this belief.
In addition to emissions data, the demonstration should provide information on operations, maintenance, durability and other aspects of landfill-gas-fired microturbines.
The possibility of reducing pollution explains "EPA's obvious interest" in the demonstration project, said Reiten. "More broadly than that, if you can bring the generation cost numbers down, it will have the effect of . . . making more landfills economic across the country" for energy production.
About 250 of the 3,000 open landfills in the United States have landfill-gas-to-energy facilities, according to Watkins' proposal letter. Another 500 could host plants, but "[t]he remaining 2,200-2,300 sites apparently suffer from unfavorable project economics (probably due to their small size and limited potential for installation of generating capacity), air quality permitting limitations, or a combination of both of these factors." Microturbines could lessen these problems and lead to development of landfill-gas plants at many currently unfeasible sites, he suggested. This technology also could be added to existing landfill-gas facilities.
Green Power, Distributed Generation
Expanding capacity at Coffin Butte is one of PNGC's interests in the microturbine demonstration. Distributed generation potential is another.
"We have a prospectus on the street for the output of Coffin Butte expansion," at a levelized cost of 4 cents/KWh, Watkins said. PNGC believes there is sufficient available gas to support more energy production, according to Reiten, and the cooperative anticipates increasing demand, spurred to some extent by Oregon's new electric industry restructuring law and its requirement that investor-owned utilities offer retail customers a new renewable resource rate option.
"We see the green power market as growing in the future," said Watkins. "We'll try to be there and have a cost-effective resource to meet that demand. We see the markets for distributed generation expanding as well. Evaluating these new technologies will allow us to address both those futures." If the microturbine and its potential benefits pan out, and if Coffin Butte expands, PNGC will likely install a 750-KW microturbine.
"Recent studies have shown that 56 to 80 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for cleaner, renewable energy sources," PNGC chief executive officer David Piper said in a news release. "With microturbine technology, PNGC is determined to show that doing the right thing shouldn't have to cost more."--Mark Ohrenschall
Two Pacific Northwest utilities have gained extensive knowledge of an innovative solar thermal energy technology, but neither plans to put it to use anytime soon.
PacifiCorp and Idaho Power participated in the Solar Two demonstration project in California's Mojave Desert that ended earlier this year. The 10-megawatt-capacity plant used nearly 2,000
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| Solar Two. Photo Courtesy of National Renewable Energy Labratory's Photographic Information Exchange. |
Solar Two generated about 1 aMW since June 1996, according to DOE, and proved itself a commercially viable technology. At one point the plant delivered electricity to the grid for 153 consecutive hours, demonstrating the capability of the storage system.
"We're proud of Solar Two's success, as it marks a significant milestone in the development of large-scale solar energy projects," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. "It takes us a step closer to making renewable energy a significant contributor to the global energy mix, while helping to make our environment cleaner."
Economically Uncompetitive
DOE has found interest in the molten salt technology in Brazil, Egypt and Spain. However, the news release acknowledged, "the technology doesn't appear to be immediately marketable in the United States . . . Domestic market introduction and acceptance is likely to be more favorable after the technology becomes more economically competitive."
Solar Two's energy costs approached 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, noted to Idaho Power spokesman Dennis Lopez. His utility has "an active interest in traditional solar, and I suspect this was an outgrowth of that particular interest . . . It was an interesting project, but one that has no application to us at this time." Idaho Power contributed $1.2 million to Solar Two, which Lopez said included matching funds from the Electric Power Research Institute.
Solar Two cost $55 million, shared between DOE and a consortium of utilities and other entities. And it used $140 million worth of equipment already on the site from a previous solar project, according to DOE's Christopher Powers.
Portland-based PacifiCorp also contributed $1.2 million to the demonstration project. "Our purpose was to advance the technology, get a better understanding of what its capability and costs are, and build the experience base upon which a company or group of companies could decide to move to a commercial facility and have the necessary information base, experience base to design a 50- or 100-megawatt facility," said business development manager David Engberg.
He acknowledged the high costs of Solar Two power--"well out of market, put it that way"--but said, "It was a demonstration and not expected to compete commercially. It's one of those things you have to go through. It's too risky to build the first project without having gone through that experience."
The Solar Two consortium came away with "a number of very positive learning experiences," according to Engberg, gaining knowledge on materials, design, and operation and maintenance issues.
He said PacifiCorp has no immediate plans for solar thermal generation, in the sunny regions of the Northwest or elsewhere. Should its planned merger with ScottishPower gain regulatory approvals, the combined company has committed to developing 50 MW of new renewable resources (see Con.WEB, March 30, 1999). "I suspect that wind would probably constitute a substantial portion of that," said Engberg. The investor-owned utility also has a 26.1-MW geothermal plant in Utah with expansion potential, said spokeswoman Jan Johnson.
Engberg called Solar Two "an insurance policy, something we can put in the bank . . . When the customers and the market conditions dictate, we're now in a position to proceed."
DOE's Powers said the technology could be viable in areas with high electric costs and lots of sunshine. "Certainly it will be more cost-effective in areas like the American Southwest or Spain or the Middle East . . . A plant like this would probably not be effective in New England."--Mark Ohrenschall
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Ten Northwest utility entities will test proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells under a Bonneville Power Administration-sponsored demonstration project.
"BPA is extremely pleased to have so much interest and support for this project," said BPA fuel cell development manager Mark Jackson in a news release. "I think our customers and the region as a whole are beginning to see the potential benefits fuel cells offer as clean, quiet, efficient power systems."
The selected testers are Central Electric Cooperative, Oregon; city of Idaho Falls, Idaho; Emerald PUD, Oregon; Energy Northwest (formerly Washington Public Power Supply System), Washington; Eugene Water & Electric Board, Oregon; Fergus Electric, Montana; Grant County PUD No. 2, Washington; Lincoln Electric Cooperative, Montana; Mason County PUD No. 3/Lewis County PUD No. 1, Washington; and Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative, Oregon.
Participants will operate fuel cell systems at their own facilities, according to BPA, and the resulting performance data and feedback "will help define the next generation fuel cell systems." BPA plans to have 100 units produced for the next phase, "to further test and refine the technology."
Manufacturer Northwest Power Systems expects to have the first unit available this fall.--Mark Ohrenschall
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The Oregon Climate Trust will soon be receiving about $1.3 million from developers of the Klamath Cogeneration Project--the first natural gas-fired combustion turbine project being built in Oregon under the state's new carbon dioxide mitigation standard.
Meanwhile, the Trust has been getting started with an educational project and three small-scale CO2 mitigation projects, including one with a residential energy efficiency component.
Two of those projects got started about a year ago, while the other one is just beginning, said Climate Trust board chairman Peter West of Renewable Northwest Project. West also credited the Klamath Cogeneration project for stepping forward with the most money for the start-up projects. The rest of the $40,000 in funding came from PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric, Hermiston Power Partners and U.S. Generating Co.
Klamath Cogen's upcoming $1.3 million contribution represents the portion of the state's mitigation standard that developers are meeting through the monetary path. The standard--enacted after the 1997 legislative session--requires developers of new energy projects to reduce CO2 emissions from the new plant by 17 percent, by any combination of efficiency, cogeneration or mitigation offsets. Klamath Cogen is using both the performance and the monetary path to meet the standard.
In anticipation of the monetary infusion from the power project, the Climate Trust board of directors is beginning its project selection process.
Current Projects
As for the current projects, West said they were selected by the Climate Trust board through a request for proposals process. One of the projects has an educational bent and involves working with a local Portland car-care provider to help its mechanics and customers "understand the things they can do to make cars less environmentally damaging." The Oregon Environmental Council is running the program for the Climate Trust--developing brochures and providing information and training to mechanics. West said the Climate Trust is also looking into the feasibility of offering a "global warming car-care package" to car-care chains.
Another project--also with an educational bent--is creation of neighborhood "EcoTeams." West said the concept was developed on the East Coast, but is working well in Portland. It's essentially a "neighbor-to-neighbor" volunteer program that helps residents become more environmentally aware and environmentally sensitive of their daily neighborhood activities. (See Conservation Monitor, August 1994, for a story on EcoTeams).
West said the EcoTeams have been so successful in Portland that the average person participating in the program reduces by 10 percent his or her overall environmental impact--for example, watering lawns and gardens more efficiently; reducing energy consumption; recycling more; relying less on cars and taking the bus or carpooling more often; and reducing use of pesticides and other toxic products. The Trust is expanding the project to include the city of Bend, and has financed an expansion of the EcoTeam curriculum to include more information on global warming and training for team leaders.
The Trust's third project, for which contracts were signed in June, involves planting trees along a tributary of the Umpqua River in southern Oregon. West said cattle have been grazing close to this tributary, impairing water quality. The project involves planting trees as a buffer to keep cattle from the river--and ultimately changing the land use from cattle grazing to sustainable forestry. "They'll plant twice as many trees so the landowner can harvest some trees over time," West said, making it a "commercial sustainable forestry project."
Those trees also could serve as a carbon trading incentive in the future, he added, so that the landowner "may not need to harvest trees at all." There is a restrictive covenant on the property, so if the land is sold, the seller must deliver the carbon in another accessible form. "The delivery of sequestered carbon is guaranteed," West said. "The landowner must deliver or make it up in some other way."
In addition to these projects, the Climate Trust is also running an education program under a joint agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Oregon Office of Energy. West said the Trust has put together a panel of scientists who conduct community forums on CO2 mitigation and suggest what people can do at the local level.
West said one task facing the Climate Trust board is determining the right process for selecting new projects that will be funded with Klamath Cogen's $1.3 million in offset funds. "There's a strong sense on the board that we'd do an RFP," he said. "We have to obligate the bulk of the money within two years," West said, "so we'd like to identify the projects by the end of the first year."
Overseas Rural Solar Electrification
Separate from the Trust, Klamath Cogeneration is providing $500,000 to help bring solar electricity to rural households in China, India and Sri Lanka, as part of the power project's overall carbon offset program. Solar Electric Light Co. of Maryland recently signed an agreement with the Solar Energy Trust, using the Klamath Cogen funding, to supply the overseas solar power systems, according to a SELCO news release.
SELCO chairman NevilleWilliams described this as "a first of a kind effort to use solar photovoltaics for rural electrification to offset emissions." In the developing world, electric lighting via solar energy can replace kerosene lamps, which provide much less light and also pose a fire hazard, SELCO's news release said.--Jude Noland and Mark Ohrenschall
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