News

April Seminar: Energy Policy and Planning at the Local Government Level

Sarah Busche

David Peterson

On April 14, NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis Center (SEAC) and DOE/EERE's Office of Planning, Budget, and Analysis (PBA) will present a seminar discussing DOE/EERE Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program's funded research regarding clean energy policy and planning at the local government level. To date, a majority of clean energy policy research has focused on the state and federal levels. While there has been substantial research on local level climate change initiatives, NREL has conducted one of the first analyses of clean energy policies separate from climate change initiatives. In an effort to help state and local governments better understand the challenges of implementing a citywide energy plan, NREL has also examined the climate-oriented energy plans of two cities: Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. In this webinar, Sarah Busche will take a broad look at the status of local clean energy policies in the United States and the interaction between state and local policies. Dave Peterson will follow with a discussion of the successes and challenges distinct cities encounter when putting a citywide energy plan into practice, with a focus on Austin and Denver.

April 14, 2011
11:30 a.m.—12:30 p.m. (Golden, Colorado)
RSF X423 (Owl Creek)
(Limited seating)

May 12, 2011 (Golden, Colo.)
"Climate Change Research: Integrated Assessment Modeling" — Brian O'Neill, National Center for Atmospheric Research

For more information on the seminar series — including log-in and call-in information for remote access — visit the Web site.

Publications

LCA of Gasoline and Diesel

SEAC analyst David Hsu recently published the report "Life Cycle Assessment of Gasoline and Diesel Produced via Fast Pyrolysis and Hydroprocessing." In this work, a life cycle assessment (LCA) estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and net energy value (NEV) of the production of gasoline and diesel from forest residues via fast pyrolysis and hydroprocessing, from production of the feedstock to end use of the fuel in a vehicle, is performed. The fast pyrolysis and hydrotreating and hydrocracking processes are based on a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) design report. The LCA results show GHG emissions of 0.142 kg CO2-equiv. per km traveled and NEV of 1.00 MJ per km traveled for a process using grid electricity. Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis shows a range of results, with all values better than those of conventional gasoline in 2005. Results for GHG emissions and NEV of gasoline and diesel from pyrolysis are also reported on a per MJ fuel basis for comparison with ethanol produced via gasification. Although pyrolysis-derived gasoline and diesel have lower GHG emissions and higher NEV than conventional gasoline does in 2005, they underperform ethanol produced via gasification from the same feedstock. GHG emissions for pyrolysis could be lowered further if electricity and hydrogen are produced from biomass instead of from fossil sources.

Energy Plans in Denver and Austin

NREL analyst Dave Peterson, along with Ester Matthews of Austin Climate Protection Program and Michele Weingarden of Greenprint Denver, recently published the report "Local Energy Plans in Practice: Case Studies of Austin and Denver." This report examines the successes and difficulties that two large cities, Denver, Colorado, and Austin, Texas, have experienced in implementing their respective citywide energy plans. The report considers factors that have assisted or hindered putting energy initiatives from each plan into practice, including political, financial, and logistical realities. The report also examines the goals and design of each plan and how throughout the implementation process the cities have altered expectations or the direction of energy initiatives included in the plans. This report provides state and local government policymakers and analysts with a more nuanced understanding of the successes and challenges distinct cities encounter in putting a citywide energy plan into practice.

Water Use in Electricity Generating Technologies

SEAC analysts Jordan Macknick, Garvin Heath, and KC Hallett and center director Robin Newmark recently published the report "A Review of Operational Water Consumption and Withdrawal Factors for Electricity Generating Technologies." Various studies have attempted to consolidate published estimates of water use impacts of electricity generating technologies, resulting in a wide range of technologies and values based on different primary sources of literature. The goal of this work is to consolidate the various primary literature estimates of water use during the generation of electricity by conventional and renewable electricity generating technologies in the United States to more completely convey the variability and uncertainty associated with water use in electricity generating technologies.