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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in accordance with the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, selected the Snohomish County Cathcart Landfill Site in Snohomish County, Washington, for a feasibility study of renewable energy production. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provided technical assistance for this project. The purpose of this report is to assess the site for a photovoltaic (PV) system installation and estimate the cost, performance, and site impacts of different PV options. In addition, the report recommends financing options that could assist in the implementation of a PV system at the site.

A hybrid passive/active solar heating system, featuring a passive air thermosiphon loop, is described. Heated air is supplied to a rock storage bin, coupled with blower-driven air distribution to the house. The house, of 246 m/sup 2/ (2650 ft/sup 2/) heated area and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, also includes a greenhouse located under the planar collector array. Architectural features and construction details of the house, the solar collector, storage, and distribution system are presented. Representative results of three months of monitoring by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory of collector, rock bin, and greenhouse temperatures, as well as outside ambient temperature and insolation, are reported and discussed. Data recorded hourly since the system was placed in operation in early February 1978, show temperatures in the rock bin in excess of 71/sup 0/C (160/sup 0/F) and in the collector absorber mesh in excess of 93/sup 0/C (200/sup 0/F). Delivery temperatures from the charged bin, without auxiliary boost, range from 38 to 54/sup 0/C (100 to 130/sup 0/F).

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is working with the California Energy Commission (CEC) to determine the potential role of commercial-sector distributed energy resources (DER) with combined heat and power (CHP) in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reductions. Historically, relatively little attention has been paid to the potential of medium-sized commercial buildings with peak electric loads ranging from 100 kW to 5 MW. In our research, we examine how these medium-sized commercial buildings might implement DER and CHP. The buildings are able to adopt and operate various technologies, e.g., photovoltaics (PV), on-site thermal generation, heat exchangers, solar thermal collectors, absorption chillers, batteries and thermal storage systems. We apply the Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM), which is a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) that minimizes a site?s annual energy costs and/or CO2 emissions. Using 138 representative mid-sized commercial sites in California, existing tariffs of major utilities, and expected performance data of available technologies in 2020, we find the GHG reduction potential for these buildings. We compare different policy instruments, e.g., a CO2 pricing scheme or a feed-in tariff (FiT), and show their contributions to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) goals of additional 4 GW CHP capacities and 6.7 Mt/a GHG reduction in California by 2020. By applying different price levels for CO2, we find that there is competition between fuel cells and PV/solar thermal. It is found that the PV/solar thermal adoption increases rapidly, but shows a saturation at high CO2 prices, partly due to limited space for PV and solar thermal. Additionally, we find that large office buildings are good hosts for CHP in general. However, most interesting is the fact that fossil-based CHP adoption also increases with increasing CO2 prices. We will show service territory specific results since the attractiveness of DER varies widely by climate zone and ...

Drilling is integral to the exploration, development, and production of most energy resources. Oil and natural gas, which are dependent on drilling technology, together account for about 77% of the energy sources consumed in the US. Thus, the limitations of current drilling technology also restrict the rate at which new energy supplies can be found, extracted, and brought to the marketplace. The purpose of the study reported was to examine current drilling technology, suggest areas where additional research and development (R and D) might significantly increase drilling rates and capabilities, and suggest a strategy for improving drilling technology. An overview is provided of the US drilling industry. The drilling equipment and techniques now used for finding and recovering oil, natural gas, coal, shale oil, nuclear fuels, and geothermal energy are described. Although by no means exhaustive, these descriptions provide the background necessary to adequately understand the problems inherent in attempts to increase instantaneous and overall drilling rates.

Wind resources in the state of Iowa show great potential for wind energy development. This fact sheet provides a brief description of the state's wind resources and the financial incentives available for the development of wind energy systems. It also provides a list of contacts for more information.

This briefing book is designed to give a concise overview of the facts of the energy situation in New England and of attitudes within the region towards current energy issues. Many of the central problems of U.S. energy policy are manifested in the region in a magnified form. The region entered the period of energy shortages and increasing prices in an economically declining condition. Energy prices were already high in 1970, 30% higher than the rest of the country; the difference increased to 38% by 1974. With essentially no indigenous energy resources, New England is an energy-importing region. For various reasons it is also more dependent on petroleum than other regions of the country and, at the same time, distant from domestic petroleum-producing regions. The result is that over 60% of the fuels it consumes is imported from abroad. Although the future supply of energy to the region is critically dependent on energy-resource policies, policies related for example to coal and oil shale development, the region's concerns cluster around policies and technologies that are perceived to have a more direct impact on its energy welfare. Thus, energy conservation, solar energy, nuclear power, offshore oil development and, in general, the price of energy to the region are paramount issues of concern and debate. Following the Introductory chapter, these issues are discussed in four additional chapters: The Energy Situation in New England; Regional Energy Issues; Energy-Related Institutions; and State Legislation.

This reports presents the operating results for Run 252 at the Advanced Coal Liquefaction R D Facility in Wilsonville, Alabama. This run operated in the Close-Coupled Integrated Two-Stage Liquefaction mode (CC-ITSL) using Illinois No. 6 bituminous coal. The primary run objective was demonstration of unit and system operability in the CC-ITSL mode with catalytic-catalytic reactors and with ash recycle. Run 252 began on 26 November 1986 and continued through 3 February 1987. During this period 214.4 MF tons of Illinois No. 6 coal were fed in 1250 hours of operation. 3 refs., 29 figs., 18 tabs.

Program planning support was provided by; developing a geothermal RD and D program structure, characterizing the status of geothermal RD and D through review of literature and interaction with the geothermal research community, developing a candidate list of future Texas geothermal projects, and prioritizing the candidate projects based on appropriate evaluation criteria. The method used to perform this study and the results thereof are presented. Summary reviews of selected completed and ongoing projects and summary descriptions and evaluations of the candidate RD and D projects ar provided. A brief discussion emerging federal RD and D policies is presented. References and independent project rankings by three of the GRP members are included. (MHR)

This report briefly describes the Gas Reburning and Low-NO{sub x} Burners technology which is a low-cost technology that can be applied in both retrofit and new applications. This demonstration will be conducted on a utility boiler in Colorado at Cherokee Station {number sign}3; however, the technology is applicable to industrial boilers and other combustion systems. Although this technology is primarily a NO{sub x} reduction technology, some reductions in other emissions will take place. Since 15--20% of the coal is replaced with natural gas, SO{sub 2} and particulate emissions are reduced commensurately. Also the lower carbon-to-hydrogen ratio of natural gas compared to coal reduces CO{sub 2} emissions. The formation of NO{sub x} is controlled by several factors: (1) the amount of nitrogen that is chemically bound in the fuel; (2) the flame temperature; (3) the residence time that combustion products remain at very high temperatures; and (4) the amount of excess oxygen available, especially at the hottest parts of the flame. Decreasing any of these parameters, tends to reduce NO{sub x} formation. 6 figs., 1 tab.

This volume deals with the problems and procedures inherent in the development of the Beluga Coal District. Socio-economic implications of the development and management alternatives are discussed. A review of permits and approvals necessary for the initial development of Beluga Coal Field is presented. Major land tenure issues in the Beluga Coal District as well as existing transportation routes and proposed routes and sites are discussed. The various coal technologies which might be employed at Beluga are described. Transportation options and associated costs of transporting coal from the mine site area to a connecting point with a major, longer distance transportation made and of transporting coal both within and outside (exportation) the state are discussed. Some environmental issues involved in the development of the Beluga Coal Field are presented. (DMC)