One
mission of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Program at ORNL is to conduct research that will lead to
the development and commercial deployment of sustainable
energy resources. Thus, the EERE program actively promotes
partnerships and collaborations with industry, state and
local governments, trade and policy associations, universities,
and the Department of Energy and other federal agencies.
At
the heart of this research and development activity is an
enthusiastic commitment to finding ways to reduce the U.S
economy's energy intensity. Involved partners are more likely
to move technologies into the mainstream market. In addition,
early collaboration can ensure that the unique issues of
ORNL's customers are being addressed as the partners focus
on more-energy-efficient practices.
One
hallmark of the EERE Program is effective partnerships across
the five major technology sectors: buildings, distributed
energy, industry, renewable energy, and transportation. Industrial
partnerships are particularly integral to the success of
the program, because they provide an important pathway to
commercializing the results of R&D activities. Other
articles in this issue of the ORNL Review provide numerous
examples of these industry collaborations.
Two
additional key partnerships are featured in this article:
the program's growing relationship with the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) and partnerships with various energy offices
of the states.
TVA—Critical
Regional Partner
|
Projects involving TVA and ORNL include heat pump
water heaters.
|
In
the past few years, TVA, as America's largest power producer,
and ORNL, as the largest energy laboratory, have led the
nation in advancing energy efficiency and energy security.
Major activities in which ORNL and TVA have collaborated
include:
- Invention
of the frostless heat pump by ORNL researchers in response
to TVA's request for an electric appliance that would
be competitive with gas units by providing greater thermal
comfort, while increasing energy efficiency by minimizing
the heat pump's defrost cycle
- Promotion
of heat pump water heater technology, which is 50% more
energy efficient than traditional water heaters, with
the leading water heater manufacturers
- Field
testing hybrid solar lighting technology, which has resulted
in the creation of a more marketable third-generation
technology
- Participation
in the design and construction of near-zero-energy prototype
Habitat for Humanity houses
- Pursuit
of the effective integration of photovoltaics into roofing
structures
- Development
of low-cost sensor detection approaches to monitoring
power transmission performance
- Investment
in a range of power transmission research projects, such
as testing advanced conductors, at DOE's National Transmission
Technology Research Center at ORNL
- Support
of a regional networking infrastructure to more effectively
link the computers of ORNL and the region with computers
at other national research centers
- Participation
of ORNL as the first major industrial customer of TVA's "green
power" program.
ORNL
and TVA continue to assess areas of mutual interest in developing
technologies and capabilities that are national models for
advancing energy efficiency, security, and economic development.
Projects involving TVA and ORNL include
(left to right) integrating photovoltaics
in roofs, purchasing of TVA's "green power" by
ORNL, and promoting frostless heat pumps.
|
State
Partnerships
Three
different initiatives with states have provided effective
approaches to accelerating the development and deployment
of sustainable energy technologies throughout the country:
The State
Partnerships Program, which was initiated in
1996, awards ORNL research and technical assistance support
to states in response to solicitations for projects.
Emissions and fuel use during truck idling are being
studied by ORNL, UT, and New Jersey researchers.
|
|
The principal partners targeted through this process
are the National Association of State Energy Officials
and the Association of State Energy Research and Technology
Transfer Institutions. Since the program's inception,
the EERE Program has completed projects with energy offices
in 36 of the 50 states. For example:
- ORNL
researchers analyzed the potential for energy efficiency
in Iowa and determined that state funding would have
the greatest impact through a combination of market-based
programs and standards that target both the residential
and commercial sectors.
- Researchers
with the National Transportation Research Center of ORNL
and the University of Tennessee, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, and New Jersey are cooperating to measure and
characterize emissions and fuel use during idling of
long-haul trucks to help state energy and air quality
offices do their planning and to support development
of technologies that mitigate emissions and reduce fuel
waste.
- Seattle,
Washington, has been plagued by failures of recently
constructed buildings resulting from damage induced by
moisture. The city and Washington State University have
partnered with ORNL to determine the cause of the premature
deterioration of these buildings and to develop building
envelope designs and control strategies that achieve
both energy efficiency and moisture control.
The Technical
Assistance Project provides assistance to states
through a collaborative effort among three DOE national
labs—ORNL, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
in Colorado, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
in California. The project supports short-term technical
assistance for initiatives involving system benefits
charges or other rate-payer-funded utility efficiency
and renewable programs, renewable or efficiency portfolio
standards, use of clean energy technologies to help states
and localities address air emissions, or use of renewable
energy on both state and local public lands. Examples
of recent projects supported through ORNL include:
- Development
of emissions metrics (undesirable and desirable levels
of airborne nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide,
volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter) associated
with state implementation plans for air quality improvement
in Tennessee
- Recommendations
for developing an energy efficiency technology portfolio
standard for New Jersey
- Assessment
of the soil composition of state land for growing biomass
fuel material in Florida
In
a third initiative, the EERE Program is collaborating with
the Education and Research Consortium of the Western
Carolinas (ERCWC) in transferring technology in
the rural Western Carolinas. The goal is to translate energy-efficient
technology concepts into marketable products that have significant
potential for reducing both energy use and energy costs,
as well as support economic development and education in
the region. Five projects currently under way involve ERCWC
and other regional university, community college, institutional,
and industrial partners. These projects include:
- Development
of climate-based software tools to support EERE applications
for local, state, and regional use
- Manufacture
and testing of an energy-efficient dual-service water
heating appliance prototype
- Creation
of a Western Carolina Office of Technology Transfer,
supported by EERE technologies transferred from ORNL
and other organizations
- Provision
of community college campus building and industrial assessments
for energy efficiency opportunities to support the development
of a Western Carolina industrial assessment center at
a community college
- Creation
of a user-friendly exhibit in North Carolina's new Arboretum
facility to educate the public about energy-efficient
practices
The ORNL-EERE
Program's success at achieving energy sustainability
and security for the nation rests upon maintaining and
developing fully engaged partnerships and collaborations
with all major players in the marketplace. Establishing
effective and ongoing relationships with multiple partners
helps ensure the adoption of energy-efficient technologies
throughout the buildings, distributed energy, industry,
renewable energy, and transportation market sectors.
|
