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Energy Newsbriefs

Articles for July 23, 2012

ENERGY NEWSBRIEFS is a weekly current awareness service provided by the WSU Extension Energy Program Library and written by Angela Santamaria, WSU Energy Library Manager, to assist users in tracking developments in the energy field. To view past issues or to subscribe to receive an email notification of the publication of a new issue, go to the Energy Newsbriefs home.

Please be aware that although every URL is checked for accuracy prior to the publication of Energy Newsbriefs, URLs are, for various reasons, subject to change. Further, servers sometimes fail to connect to working URLs.



COOL ROOFS

"How Cool Roofs Stack Up," by staff, is an article in the June 2012 issue of Buildings. Three buildings in New York City were selected for the installation of one of three different types of white roof surfaces in a three-year field study that is part of NYC CoolRoofs, a program to lower the city's emissions. The white roofs were compared to one another and to a black roof for summer temperatures and winter emissivity.

HVAC/R (HEATING, VENTILATION, AIR CONDITIONING, AND REFRIGERATION)

The following three articles appeared in the June 2012 issue of HPAC Heating/Piping/AirConditioning Engineering:

  1. "Accurately Predicting Boiler-Controller Energy Savings," by John D. Sullivan, PE, Alzeta Corp., explains why a common method of testing add-on boiler controllers can suggest more energy savings than are actually going to be realized. His solution to this problem is an alternative, and more accurate, testing method which he describes.
  2. "Dancing Deaerator," by Gary Wamsley, PE, CEM, JoGar Energy Services, offers an opportunity to solve a puzzle: why was a boiler tripping offline at certain times? For those wanting to figure out the answer, a caution: the answer begins in the third paragraph from the top (with the heading Problem Analysis) and continues with a detailed analysis.
  3. "Maximizing Efficiency with Hydronic Boilers," by Alan Wedal Cleaver-Brooks, makes the case for highly-efficient hydronic boilers.

MILITARY

"US Navy's Great Green Fleet Demonstration Is Underway," by the U.S. Navy, was posted July 17, 2012, on the Biodiesel Magazine website. It describes the demonstration just begun in the Navy's Pacific Rim area whereby a number of different Navy vehicles are powered by a variety of fuels that are not petroleum based. The fuels are either nuclear or bio-based. For the Navy, security is the driver for eliminating its dependence of foreign oil.

POLICY

A Defining Framework for Intelligent Efficiency is a brief description of ACEEE's (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy) Research Report E125 of the same name, published June 2012; it was jointly-authored by Neal Elliott, Maggie Molina, and Dan Trombley. The systems include those in all building types, industrial processes, and transportation systems. The brief description includes a link to the 63-page report; free registration is required to view the full text.

New Report Highlights Importance of Clean Energy Policy, As Well As Need for Reform is a blog entry by Cai Steger, posted April 18, 2012. It describes and links to Beyond Boom & Bust: Putting Clean Tech on a Path to Subsidy Independence, a new 65-page report whose several authors are from the Breakthrough Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the World Resources Institute. The in-depth report provides information on the many federal inducements for clean energy from 2009 through 2014. It, further, suggests policy options to consider as government subsidies end.

RESIDENTIAL EFFICIENCY STRATEGIES

EnergySavers.gov: Stay Cool, Save Money is a website, revised (and re-named) seasonally, from the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The site is now offering many tips for energy savings for the warmer months.

WIND

The following three articles were published in the June 2012 issue of Wind Systems:

  1. "Are We Really Building the Best Wind Turbines?" was co-authored by Marko Yanishevsky, MASc PEng, Institute for Aerospace Research National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada; and by Glen Lux, BSc. Eng., and CEO of Lux Wind Power Ltd., Saskatoon, SK, Canada. The authors feature the Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) which has no tower and uses cables to reinforce the blades.
  2. "Best Practice Machining of Wind Power Components" was written by Brent Godfrey, Industry and Applications Specialist with Sandvik Coromant. Better machining is said to result in superior machined parts which lead to less downtime, efficient operation, and increased productivity.
  3. "Prepreg – Lengthening the Design Envelope" was authored by Kevin Cadd, Technical Programe Manager, Gurit UK. The author presents a resin technology for blades that speeds curing and gives exothermic control for the spars as well as the blades. Other benefits are described.


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© 2012 Washington State University Extension Energy Program. This publication contains material written and produced for public distribution. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted, provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, and that each is referenced by title with credit to the Washington State University Extension Energy Program. Copying, reprinting or dissemination, electronic or otherwise, for any other use requires prior written permission from the Washington State University Extension Energy Program.