SmartEnergyViews

Toyota Prius (Prii?) are hard to find. There are currently no new Prius models on the lots of any Toyota dealer in our area (East Tennessee).

Toyota can't make them fast enough. From the Detroit Free Press

Toyota has also struggled this year to produce enough small cars and Prius hybrids to keep up with customer demand. Sales of the Prius, Toyota’s best selling hybrid, declined 8% in July to 14,785.

Batteries are the critical path. From FTD.de

Waiting lists for Priuses have expanded sharply as demand outstrips the Japanese carmaker's capacity to build the petrol-electric hybrid vehicles. Toyota - normally a paragon of supply-chain management - admits to "bottlenecks", particularly in batteries, which have slowed turnover even as drivers clamour for more fuel-efficient cars.

This has created a hot market for used Prius:

According to data released by the Power Information Network, the average used Prius with 8,000 miles on the odometer is selling for $1,300 over the suggested retail price of a new one. What’s more, even a Prius with 22,000 miles sells for just $276 less than a brand new one.

Glad we got ours last year, just in time to get the tax credit (which has now expired):

(Sorry, ours is not for sale.)

Vancouver BC company Day4 Energy says they have developed a design and manufacturing process for a new line of solar cells with efficiency up to 19%. The company says the new design also lowers production costs by up to 25% using existing manufacturing infrastructure.

Sanyo Electric Company of Japan says they have developed new technology that boosts their solar cell efficiency to 23%. It is still in the research phase, but the company expects to begin mass production of 22% or better efficiency solar cells in 2010.

Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Barcelona, Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission's Institute for Energy, said it would require the capture of just 0.3% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts to meet all of Europe's energy needs.

The plan will require a lot of forward thinking and money. European countries are planning for the future.

Southern Mediterranean countries including Portugal and Spain have already invested heavily in solar energy and Algeria has begun work on a vast combined solar and natural gas plant which will begin producing energy in 2010. Algeria aims to export 6,000 megawatts of solar-generated power to Europe by 2020.

In the States, the oil man, T. Boone Pickens, has a plan for wind power.

The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind power.

IC Corporation manufactures a line of diesel electric hybrid school buses and "people mover" buses.

There are two versions of the school bus. The "charge sustaining" type uses a lead-acid battery based electric motor along with the diesel engine for a 20% to 50% improvement in mileage. The "charge depletion" is a "plug-in" hybrid that uses lithium-ion batteries and achieves up to 70% improvement during the first 70 miles of a route, falling back to 20% to 50% improvement over the rest of the run.

One of their people mover hybrids was recently placed on loan to the Denali National Park in Alaska for testing.

Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. announced plans to build one of the first commercial-scale production facilities for converting municipal solid waste to ethanol.

The $120 million plant will begin operations in early 2010 at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Nevada. It is expected to produce 10.5 million gallons of ethanol per year from 90,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste including household garbage.

Fulcrum's CEO E. James Macias says "Converting garbage waste into a clean, renewable fuel for cars has profound social and environmental benefits. It will help mitigate our dependence on imported oil, lower the price of gasoline, reduce the amount of waste landfilled, lower greenhouse gases and create a new industry of jobs and economic growth. Unlike conventional ethanol technology, which uses corn and other agricultural feedstock, our plant will utilize processed municipal solid waste which will not affect the cost or availability of our nation's food supply."

The Sierra BioFuels plant will utilize gasification technology licensed from Integrated Environmental Technologies and a licensed proprietary catalytic technology for converting synthesis gas to ethanol jointly developed by Nipawin Biomass Ethanol New Generation Co-operative Ltd. and Saskatchewan Research Council. The process is expected to be environmentally benign, utilizing a gasification process that does not create significant levels of emissions like waste-to-energy incineration technology.

The process converts post-recycled organic waste, and therefore does not compete or interfere with communities' established recycling programs but does reduce landfill volumes and lower waste disposal costs.

Part of the company's business model involves working directly with solid waste disposal companies for access to fixed-price, low or
zero-cost solid waste.

MIT News Office

Imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing the sun's energy that could allow just that.

The work, to be reported in the July 11 issue of Science, involves the creation of a novel "solar concentrator." "Light is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or concentrated, at the edges," explains Marc A. Baldo, leader of the work and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering.

As a result, rather than covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell "by a factor of over 40," Baldo says.

According to the article, three of the inventors have launched a spin-off company to bring the technology to market, hopefully within three years. Other reports say the technology won't necessarily be suitable for windows, but might work as a skylight.

Toyota announced this week that they will begin U.S. manufacturing of the Prius at their new plant in Blue Springs Mississippi starting in 2010. The plant was originally slated to build Highlander Hybrids, but that production will be moved to Indiana as large pickup production there is scaled back and moved to Texas.

In related news, demand for hybrids is so high that many buyers are on waiting lists.

Federal tax credits that cover up to 30% of the cost of installing solar electric systems for businesses and up to $2000 for residential installations are set to expire on December 31st.

According to the Sacramento Business Journal, companies in the industry are concerned about new business next year, and some are looking overseas. :

"Everybody’s making contingency plans," said Steve Kircher, chief executive officer of Solar Power Inc. in Roseville. "I think you’re going to see cutbacks and layoffs in the construction industry. We’re not out soliciting new business."

A bill to renew the credits is stalled in Congress.

The Tennessean

[Beginning] July 1, medium-speed electric- or gasoline-powered vehicles with four wheels can travel up to 35 mph, and can use roads where the speed limit is 40. Golf carts are excluded.

Tennessee joins Montana and Washington as the only states with such a law. Most of the rest follow a 1998 federal law that allows the low-speed vehicles to travel up to 25 mph.

According to the report, there are 1, 211 low-speed vehicles registered in Tennessee.

The Calgary Herald reports that EEStor is "expected to release the results of independent third-party testing" of it's capacitor based battery system "sometime over the next several weeks." According to the article, EEStor says the system will be "commercially ready within six months."

RELATED:

• Battery technology breakthrough?

• CityZENN: Hope or hype?

According to Car Central in Australia, Volkswagen is bringing a concept car to market that travels 100KM (62 miles) on 1L (.26 gallons) of fuel. That works out to about 234MPG.

The 300CC one cylinder diesel engine car is built using lightweight materials (carbon or possibly magnesium according to some reports) and weighs only 300KG (660LBS). According to the report, Volkswagen only plans to make about 1000 per year, and the cost will be $20K-$30K EUR (approx. $31K-$47K USD).

Florida Power & Light has announced plans for three new solar energy centers, one of which "will provide 25 megawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity, making it the world’s largest photovoltaic solar facility".

The first project should begin in 2008. The other two projects will begin in 2009. Together, the three sites will prevent the release of nearly 3.5 million tons of greenhouses gases over the life of the projects, which is the equivalent of removing 25,000 cars from the road per year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. FPL is the world's number one producer of solar energy and the nation's top producer of wind power.

Then, on a smaller scale, a couple living in The Villages, in Central Florida, installed 24 solar panels on the roof of their house. They now have monthly electric bills "as low as $3". State of Florida and federal tax incentives dropped the cost of this couples' solar installation nearly in half, from $45,000 to $23,000.

According to survey by the Civil Society Institute (CSI) think tank and its Citizens Lead for Energy Action Now project, 75 percent of Americans support setting a national goal of declaring July 4, 2015 as "Energy Independence Day," a target date for ending our reliance on Middle Eastern and other foreign oil supplies. That number is up from 64% in a similar 2005 survey. 90% say energy and related issues will be important when they vote.

Here's a summary of the findings, and here's the complete survey (PDF format).

The 2009 Ford Escape, equipped with a new 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, six-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive, delivers best-in-class fuel economy in the small SUV segment with 28 highway/20 city mpg.

The 2009 Escape Hybrid remains the most fuel-efficient SUV, delivering 34 city mpg and an improved highway rating of 31 mpg - a 1 mpg increase versus the 2008 model.

According to Ford, the Escape's new 2.5-liter I-4 engine uses intake variable cam timing (iVCT) technology for increased power and improved efficiency. The powertrain also incorporates electronic throttle control (ETC), dual-mode crankshaft damping and new intake and exhaust manifolds, which contribute to greater fuel efficiency. And a new optional six-speed automatic transmission contributes up to a 6 percent increase in fuel efficiency.

A new front chin spoiler and rear tire spoilers help reduce wind drag, providing a gain of 0.75 mpg at 70 mph. Escape also features new low-rolling-resistance tires developed in cooperation with Michelin.

Escape Hybrid remains the most fuel-efficient SUV on the planet. For 2009, the Hybrid achieved a 1 mpg improvement on the highway, for 34 city/31 highway mpg. The upgraded Hybrid model will use the new 2.5-liter I-4 designed to run on the Atkinson combustion cycle. A new engine processor enables smoother transitions between gas and electric vehicle mode, and control system enhancements provide more electric mode driving, switching over from gas at 35 mph rather than 25 mph with the previous model.

AAA is advising hypermilers to think of safety first and avoid hypermiling techniques that are dangerous to themselves and others and that might damage their vehicles.

"The goals of hypermiling are positive, such as eliminating aggressive driving and saving energy," said Marshall L. Doney, AAA Automotive vice president. "Unfortunately some motorists have taken their desire to improve fuel economy to extremes with techniques that put themselves, as well as their fellow motorists, in danger."

Examples of the dangerous hypermiling techniques include cutting off the vehicle's engine or putting it in neutral to coast on a roadway, tailgating or drafting larger vehicles, rolling through stop signs and driving at erratic and unsafe speeds. "These practices can put motorists in a treacherous situation where they could lose power steering and brakes or be unable to react to quickly changing traffic conditions," Doney said.

"Not only are these extreme driving behaviors dangerous, many of them also are illegal. However, there are several safe and legal driving techniques motorists can implement to conserve fuel, such as smooth and easy acceleration and braking, maintaining a steady speed, using cruise control and looking ahead to anticipate changing traffic conditions," he said.

Proper vehicle maintenance is also key to optimal fuel economy, but extreme measures can be harmful to a vehicle.

Keeping tires properly inflated can improve fuel economy by two to three percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. However, some drivers have taken this advice too far by over-inflating their tires, which the Rubber Manufacturers Association reports can make them more susceptible to road hazard damage and result in premature wear to the center portion of the tread. Over-inflation can also cause handling issues due to less tire surface making contact with the road.

Some hypermilers also opt to use the lowest 'weight' motor oil (or that with the lowest kinematic viscosity) on the market. However, motor oil is not a fluid that can be freely interchanged and using too light of oil can cause major damage to a vehicle's engine.

In both instances, AAA's auto maintenance experts recommend checking the owner's manual for the manufacturer's recommendations. Tires should only be inflated to the pressures specified by the vehicle manufacturer -- and not what is listed on the sidewall of the tire. Motorists also should use the lowest grade motor oil recommended by the manufacturer for their climate.

Wired has a cool story about an engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory who is working on a prototype plug-in hybrid that can go 50 miles on a charge, gets 100MPG, and has a solar panel on the roof that will power the car for five miles.

The car is a converted Toyota Prius, with advanced lithium-ion batteries. It's charged using an external solar array. One of their areas of research is li-ion battery efficiency and thermal management.

Pacific Business News reports that a new state law in Hawaii requires all new single-family homes built after Jan. 1, 2010 to have solar hot water heaters. Home sites that do not receive enough sunlight can use some other renewable energy source. Homes may also have gas-powered tankless "instant" water heaters as long as the home has one other gas appliance.

Solar hot water heaters are far less expensive than solar PV (photovoltaic) electric systems, and the payback period is much shorter. According to the DOE, water heating represents up to 17 percent of national residential energy consumption.

There's been a lot of buzz about the CityZENN all electric car that charges in five minutes and has a top speed of 80MPH and a range of 250 miles.

The secret is the EEStor capacitor battery, but some are skeptical. On the other hand, EEStor has recently signed a deal with Lockheed for defense related applications. So maybe it's real after all.

More at Alternative Energy News.

According to Business Week, Hertz has added 3400 Prius cars to their "Green Collection," and Enterprise has 4000 hybrids and 450,000 cars that get more than 28MPG.

But, car rental companies say people on vacation with lots of luggage still prefer larger vehicles and SUVs.

EERE News: Solar Power Could Provide 10% of U.S. Electricity by 2025

Solar energy currently provides less than 0.1% of the electricity generated in the United States, but a new report finds that solar power's contribution could grow to 10% of the nation's power needs by 2025. The report, prepared by research and publishing firm Clean Edge and the nonprofit Co-op America, projects nearly 2% of the nation's electricity coming from concentrating solar power systems, while solar photovoltaic systems will provide more than 8% of the nation's electricity. Those figures correlate to nearly 50,000 megawatts of solar photovoltaic systems and more than 6,600 megawatts of concentrating solar power.

As noted in the report, solar power has been expanding rapidly in the past 8 years, growing at an average pace of 40% per year. The cost per kilowatt-hour of solar photovoltaic systems has also been dropping, while electricity generated from fossil fuels is becoming more expensive. As a result, the report projects that solar power will reach cost parity with conventional power sources in many U.S. markets by 2015. But to reach the 10% goal, solar photovoltaic companies will also need to streamline installations and make solar power a "plug-and-play" technology, that is, it must be simple and straightforward to buy the components of the system, connect them together, and connect the system to the power grid.

The report also places some of the responsibility with electric utilities, which will need to take advantage of the benefits of solar power, incorporate it into future "smart grid" technologies, and create new business models for building solar power capacity. The report also calls for establishing long-term extensions of today's investment and production tax credits, creating open standards for connecting solar power systems to the grid, and giving utilities the ability to include solar power in their rate base.

Clean Edge press release here, full report here.

FindSolar.com, operated by solar industry interests and the DOE, has a handy Solar Estimator that calculates an estimated cost for a home solar PV system and provides a list of contractors in your area. It uses some curious formulas that I don't quite understand to calculate positive ROI, but it provides some interesting insights.

Some manufacturers also have calculators, including BP Solar USA, Sharp Electronics, and Kyocera Solar. And the PVWatts.org calculator estimates how much solar power you can generate for any given U.S. location based on a number of variables.

Where I live in Tennessee is listed at the high end of "good" on the "solar scale" of available solar energy. But a 3 or 4 kW system that costs $40K or so will only generate about $35 per month worth of electricity. That's a payback of about 95 years!

(Most of the calculators reduce the payback period based on tax deductions if you finance the system with a home equity loan. I don't understand how that works. It seems like the additional interest v. paying cash would make the system cost more over its life, not less. I'm not very good at math, though, so maybe someone can explain that?)

Folks living in Florida (where we lived for a while) can get a much better deal, because a) they get slightly more solar radiation, but more important b) they have a state rebate incentive that will pay for half the system. Plus they require utilities to provide "net metering" (meaning you can sell excess power back to the grid). The payback period is reduced by half or more, but it's still a stretch.

Conclusion: While good for the environment (assuming "green" manufacturing practices), residential solar PV systems are still too expensive and not yet cost effective. Expect this to change, however, as R&D produces better and cheaper solar panels and manufacturing ramps up.

Of course the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid are the MPG kings, but there are plenty of cars that get great mileage.

In fact, of the top 10 most fuel efficient vehicles (with duplicate models eliminated), five are non-hybrid standard models and all get a combined 29 MPG or more.

Here's a list from the EPA database of every make/model that gets 25MPG or more. Buy one used and save even more!

Read more...

Fuel costs draining local governments, law enforcement agencies

The city has also purchased a hybrid Toyota Prius for Dothan Utilities’ Water Division supervisor to use.

Officers doing part to conserve gas

Urbana also has purchased three gas-saving hybrids, a Toyota Prius and two Ford Escapes, for parking enforcement.

N. Texas City Uses Hybrid Cars To Save Money

The Prius is one of six purchased for the city's housing department and officials said they are getting about 41 miles per gallon in the city. [..] Now the city may replace 250 other vehicles with hybrids.

Feeling pain at the pump, agencies downsize, scale back

[Clark Co. NV/Las Vegas] is trying to combat higher fuel prices by replacing its heavy Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis models with more fuel-thrifty cars such as the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry and Prius. It also is phasing out gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles such as Ford Expeditions and Chevrolet Blazers for hybrid Ford Escapes.

Cities going green as gas prices go higher

Forty cars in Salt Lake City's 1,000-plus vehicle fleet are hybrids or run on CNG, which sells for about 80 cents per gallon. [..] And Murray's Power Department has used four Toyota Prius hybrids during the past few years. [..] West Valley City just bought hybrids and is considering purchasing more. The city says the fuel savings through the car's service life will far outweigh the purchasing costs.

Agencies feel pinch of gas

Salem's fleet now has six hybrid vehicles. Don Thomson, the city's fleet and warehouse superintendent, said replacement cars and trucks will be smaller and more fuel-efficient where possible.

Others are taking a more low-tech approach:

Twin Falls, ID

Deputies are being told to do at least an hour and a half of foot patrol, said Lori Nebeker, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

Cost-conscious cops - NJ.com

Idling patrol car engines are being ordered turned off, more officers are being assigned to walk or bike the beat and even battery-powered Segway scooters are being used to cut back on gas consumption, according to local law enforcement officials.

How Law Enforcement Is Handling High Gas Prices

Sheriff Nielsen says as of last week, deputies have been asked to go 10 miles per hour slower on the interstate and about 5 miles per hour slower in the city.

WBIR.com | Knoxville, TN | Fuel costs change work schedules in Blount Co.

To help offset the ever-increasing cost of fuel, Dunlap proposed a change to the weekly work schedule. Crews now work 2 extra hours per work day but only work 4 days each week.

A joint pilot project between the University of Tennessee and Mascoma Corp. to make switchgrass ethanol has been scaled back. and Mascoma is dropping out as a partner but will provide technology.

According to the news report, the company pulled out because of a soft market for ethanol, and the university says their "previous expectations were unrealistic." The project was previously awarded a $26 million DOE grant.

Mascoma, which recently got equity funding from GM, says they have patented microorganisms that break down cellulosic biomass into ethanol.

They say they have raised $61 million in third-round funding, including $10 million in equity funding from Marathon Oil and the $26 million DOE grant with U.T.

Just editorializing, but maybe U.T. got hooked up with a company in the IPO business instead of the biofuels business?

If you purchase a hybrid vehicle this year (2008), make sure to check on available federal tax credit incentives.

Here's the current IRS hybrid tax credit schedule for 2008 models.

Here's the IRS hybrid tax credit program summary.

Tax credits for Toyota models (Prius, Camry, Highlander, and Lexus models) have phased out because sales have exceeded their quotas.

Tax credits are still available for the following 2008 vehicles: Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and Tahoe Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, GMC Yukon Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid (reduced 7/1, phased out 12/31), Mazda Tribute Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Saturn Aura Hybrid and Vue Green Line. Some new 2007 vehicles are also eligible.

Currently, the highest credit is $3000 for the Ford Escape Hybrid along with the Mazda Tribute and Mercury Mariner versions.

Note that you are not eligible for the hybrid tax credit if you are subject to AMT, and even if you don't pay the AMT your credit amount can be reduced by the AMT calculation and other credits. Here's the 2007 tax year credit form (PDF) with instructions.

MIT: Harnessing solar energy like plants do

Much more chemical research will be needed to make solar energy technologically and economically viable. When plants photosynthesize, they produce high-energy sugars such as glucose; the chemists aim to produce hydrogen fuel or hydrocarbons such as methanol.

When sunlight strikes the artificial photosynthesis device, high-energy photons will split water into hydrogen and oxygen. One of the researchers' biggest challenges is developing inexpensive catalysts that can split water efficiently. Platinum does the job, but it is very rare and expensive, so the researchers are focusing on more abundant metals, such as iron, cobalt, nickel and manganese.

With hydrogen fuel cells, the need for hydrocarbon fuels isn't clear, at least to me. Maybe it has to do with the distribution infrastructure we already have in place? With that, maybe the idea is that the ability to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels would result in more immediate, short-term benefit?

Use this handy MSN gas price directory to find the cheapest gas in your zip code. (My only complaint is that it doesn't indicate if the gas is 10% ethanol.)

For you folks in the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) service area, here's a free online energy audit. It's fairly detailed, and the more information you provide the better recommendations it can make. Complete it by the end of June 2008 and get a free home energy savings kit complete with some CFL bulbs and other goodies.

You can enter up to 12 months of utility bill info, but I put in just two, one for August and one for February. It did a pretty good projection on the other months based on that. Anyway, have a couple of utility bills handy when you start the survey. (P.S. The survey asks for gas consumption in "therms." Ours is billed in CCF. The conversion factor is 1 CCF = 1.0250 therms. Or you can just enter the CCF and it's close enough.)

Bonus: If you register and complete the survey, TVA will send you an energy conservation kit that includes two compact fluorescent light bulbs, outlet and light switch gaskets, filter whistle, two faucet aerators, hot water temperature gauge, home thermometer, and a "How to Save" brochure. (Through June 30, 2008, while supplies last.) That's a pretty good deal.

Customers of TXU Energy (a Texas utility company) can get a free iThermostat that hooks up to the internet.

It's similar to programmable thermostats that let you have different settings for the days of the week and times of the day, except it communicates wirelessly with a bridge device connected to your home network so you can program it from anywhere.

Details here.

Ford Motor Co. EVP Mark Fields discussed Ford's hybrid and plug-in electric plans at a recent industry conference. He noted that Ford is launching hybrid versions of its Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan autos later this year and discussed some of the challenges in bringing a PEHV to market.

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