Maine roundup for today
The announced closure of the Bumble Bee sardine cannery in Prospect Harbor continues to be troubling. 128 jobs to be lost. Governor Baldacci says the state will help find a new business, and could designate the cannery as a Pine Tree Zone, allowing the new owner to be exempt from 80% percent of its employee tax withholding for the next 10 years.
Tissue manufacturer Lincoln Paper and Tissue forecasts 2010 as a moderately successful period of no major investments or substantial new hiring. LP&T's CEO Keith Van Scotter has considered switching the fuel for its steam boilers from No. 2 heating oil to natural gas, but can't do so without help from state or federal government.
Landfill gas to energy: the City of Old Town, University of Maine, and Casella Waste Management have requested $3 million in federal stimulus funding to construct a 6-mile gas pipeline allowing gas from the Juniper Ridge Landfill (operated by Casella on behalf of the state) to flow to the steam plant at the university. Phase I consists of building the pipeline and upgrading the steam plant, and would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Phase II involves building an electricity generating facility connected to the landfill by a second pipeline. These plans are tied into the nascent Maine Green Energy Alliance, an entity owned by Casella that aims to generate electricity and sell it directly to participating municipalities like Old Town. Landfill gas remains somewhat contentious, with some opposing the project on environmental and fiscal policy grounds.
Maine does have experience with the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden, also operated (and owned) by Casella. The $10 million Pine Tree Landfill gas project commenced operation in 2008, and is projected to produce enough methane gas to power up to 3,000 homes for 15 years or more. In 2009 a similar project was launched at the Crossroads Landfill in Norridgewock.
Bangor Daily News editorial yesterday lauding Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative (EMEC) for its customer-oriented culture and low prices, noting that the customer-owned utility cut power prices by 10% last year. The editorial is careful not to bash investor-owned utilities, but hints that their profit-to-shareholder motives may result in worse rates or service than customers can get from coops like EMEC.
Elsewhere:
Bloom boxes unveiled. Lots of buzz still, relatively few details. We have learned that commercial-scale units cost $700,000 to $800,000, and that five Bloom Energy Servers deployed by EBay last July produce electricity to power space for 2,000 to 3,000 employees and cut eBay's power bill by $100,000 so far. Interestingly, EBay uses natural gas as the fuel, but plans to convert to landfill gas soon.
Iberdrola anticipates profit growth over the next three years.
The Senate continues to wrestle with the carbon bill, with carbon pricing remaining as the sticking point. Cap and trade? Cap and dividend? Carrot and stick?
Energy powers society; society's choices shape energy policy. A blog about our energy resources and the choices they present for society.
Showing posts with label Bloom Energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bloom Energy. Show all posts
2/22/10
Monday, February 22, 2010
As expected, the federal Surface Transportation Board has received the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway's notice of intent to abandon 233 miles of track in Maine, from Madawaska to Millinocket. Even though this line serves about 20 industrial freight customers, the Railway says it has been losing $4 million to $5 million a year through operating the lines because freight revenue has fallen. The typical freight shipped on the line includes lumber, plywood, logs and wood chips have fallen, all of which are in low demand given the slump in the housing market. If the rail is abandoned, it could cost 750 jobs as increased transportation costs would lead the region's manufacturers to scale back production.
Iran is choosing sites for uranium enrichment plants, claiming it wants civil nuclear power, not weapons.
Distributed generation gets a policy boost, with a finding that widely-adopted rooftop solar might be easier to develop than utility-scale solar arrays, due to the challenges of siting larger projects.
Much buzz today over Bloom boxes, distributed fuel cell arrays about to be announced. Bloom Energy, which raised $400 million in venture capital, holds a press conference on Wednesday at which it is expected to unveil its products. Interestingly, Google already has a 400 kW array in beta-testing operation.
Speaking of Google, FERC granted Google's market-based rate authorization. As someone who works with FERC's market-based rate structure, having filed a number of petitions myself, it is interesting to me to see how the media reports this: as enabling Google to purchase low-cost power. Surely we all want to purchase low-cost power -- what would it take to enable us all to purchase power at market-based rates? Most people would qualify -- no market power, etc.
Some question whether Energy Star really means much for appliance efficiency.
The administration's pro-nuclear news of last week continues to resonate, as Texas evaluates whether proposed new reactors there will receive similar government support.
Six Maine school and university oil-to-wood heating projects will receive more than $3.2 million in federal Recovery Act funds managed by the Maine Forest Service. The Presque Isle office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension was awarded $16,575 for installation of a pellet boiler to replace the current oil boiler, displacing 1,850 gallons of fuel oil. (The existing boiler is around 10 years old -- are we incenting inefficient replacement of newer equipment while older, less efficient facilities remain?) Overall this project costs an estimated $40,169, with the remainder of the project funded by the Maine Economic Improvement Fund. Regional School Unit 29 in Houlton was awarded $750,000 for conversion of an oil boiler to a wood chip boiler at Houlton High School, displacing 65,000 gallons of the 85,000 gallons of fuel oil used annually by the district. The district uses about 85,000 gallons of oil a year, according to the superintendent. Here, the district will keep its oil boiler, but will rely on the new boiler for heating. Other winners are Oxford Hills High School, the Greenville School Department, Phillips Middle School and Poland Middle-High School. Maine Forest Service Director Alec Giffen said the six projects collectively “will annually avoid the burning of almost 263,000 gallons of oil, recirculate $600,000 in fuel dollars in the Maine economy, and avoid more than 5 million pounds of emissions from fossil fuels.”
More Maine stimulus: EECBG grants to central Maine communities.
Iran is choosing sites for uranium enrichment plants, claiming it wants civil nuclear power, not weapons.
Distributed generation gets a policy boost, with a finding that widely-adopted rooftop solar might be easier to develop than utility-scale solar arrays, due to the challenges of siting larger projects.
Much buzz today over Bloom boxes, distributed fuel cell arrays about to be announced. Bloom Energy, which raised $400 million in venture capital, holds a press conference on Wednesday at which it is expected to unveil its products. Interestingly, Google already has a 400 kW array in beta-testing operation.
Speaking of Google, FERC granted Google's market-based rate authorization. As someone who works with FERC's market-based rate structure, having filed a number of petitions myself, it is interesting to me to see how the media reports this: as enabling Google to purchase low-cost power. Surely we all want to purchase low-cost power -- what would it take to enable us all to purchase power at market-based rates? Most people would qualify -- no market power, etc.
Some question whether Energy Star really means much for appliance efficiency.
The administration's pro-nuclear news of last week continues to resonate, as Texas evaluates whether proposed new reactors there will receive similar government support.
Six Maine school and university oil-to-wood heating projects will receive more than $3.2 million in federal Recovery Act funds managed by the Maine Forest Service. The Presque Isle office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension was awarded $16,575 for installation of a pellet boiler to replace the current oil boiler, displacing 1,850 gallons of fuel oil. (The existing boiler is around 10 years old -- are we incenting inefficient replacement of newer equipment while older, less efficient facilities remain?) Overall this project costs an estimated $40,169, with the remainder of the project funded by the Maine Economic Improvement Fund. Regional School Unit 29 in Houlton was awarded $750,000 for conversion of an oil boiler to a wood chip boiler at Houlton High School, displacing 65,000 gallons of the 85,000 gallons of fuel oil used annually by the district. The district uses about 85,000 gallons of oil a year, according to the superintendent. Here, the district will keep its oil boiler, but will rely on the new boiler for heating. Other winners are Oxford Hills High School, the Greenville School Department, Phillips Middle School and Poland Middle-High School. Maine Forest Service Director Alec Giffen said the six projects collectively “will annually avoid the burning of almost 263,000 gallons of oil, recirculate $600,000 in fuel dollars in the Maine economy, and avoid more than 5 million pounds of emissions from fossil fuels.”
More Maine stimulus: EECBG grants to central Maine communities.
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