Industry
News
will provide an opportunity for U.S. suppliers to network with experts and decision
makers from the Nordic countries.
By 2020 Sweden aims to be the first
country worldwide no longer using oil for
energy purposes. Energy production from
waste and biomass will play a key role in
this vision. The country is currently home
to 29 operational waste-to-energy plants
incinerating more than 3. 1 million ton-hr
of waste per year and generating more
than 9 TWh of energy. The largest portion
of this, 8. 6 TWh, is thermal energy; the
remainder is power production. Sweden
offers tax incentives and state funding to
stimulate new technologies and systems.
Sales of home heating oil have dropped to
less than 17 percent of the all-time high in
1973. Oil consumption for households
and the service sector has dropped by
15. 2 TWh since 1994. The use of biomass
for district heating is estimated to potentially reach 33 TWh by 2010.
For more information about the
upcoming trade shows, see www.elmia.se/
waste-recycling or www.worldbioneergy.se.
St. Paul Joins Global
Warming Pact
New St. Paul, Minn., Mayor Chris
Coleman has joined more than 200 cities
in signing the U.S. Mayors’ Climate
Protection Agreement aimed at slowing
global warming. Coleman added his signature to the pact Feb. 1, 2006, the day
after the warmest January in modern
Minnesota history. In the agreement, cities
pledge to take steps to cut their greenhouse gas emissions according to the
Kyoto climate change protocol, which the
United States has not signed.
Coleman stated companies in St. Paul
have already made several efforts to cut
carbon dioxide emissions, including the
replacement of an Xcel Energy coal-fired
power plant with a natural gas-burning
facility and the addition of waste woodburning capability to the downtown district
energy system owned by District Energy St.
Paul. These two projects account for
700,000 tons of an approximately 1 mil-
lion-ton carbon dioxide reduction that
Coleman hopes to achieve by 2008.
FERC Revises Cogen Rules
The Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission has revised regulations for
cogeneration and small power production
facilities, eliminating ownership restrictions
for both new and existing facilities and
ensuring that the thermal output of
cogeneration facilities is used in a productive and beneficial manner.
The final rule implements section
1253 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005,
which amended section 210 of Public
Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
(PURPA). The rule amends Commission
regulations to ensure that new qualifying
cogeneration facilities (QFs) use thermal
output in a productive and beneficial
manner, and that the electrical, thermal,
chemical and mechanical output of new
cogeneration QFs is used fundamentally
for industrial, commercial and institutional
purposes. The final rule thus supports
development of new cogeneration facilities that truly conserve energy.
The rule, Revised Regulations
Governing Small Power Production and
Cogeneration Facilities, can be found at
www.gpoaccess.gov.
Korean District Heating
Prices Rise
As reported in Korea’s JoongAng
Daily, the Korean Ministry of Commerce,
Industry and Energy announced Feb. 1,
2006, that it would immediately raise the
cost of district heating in response to rising
international crude oil prices. Households
connected to such companies as Korea
District Heating Corp., GS Power Co. and
Ansan City District Heating are to see
prices go up by 14. 9 percent. Oh Young-ho,
deputy minister for energy policy, noted
that the hike was unavoidable since the
government had curbed prices last year in
spite of a 46. 8 percent hike in crude
prices over the prior year. The cost to heat
apartments of approximately 105.6 sq m
( 1,136.7 sq ft) is expected to rise from
about 60,000 won ($62) to 69,000 won
($71). Oh said that lower-income families
will not have to pay heating bills at all and
that bills for social service organizations
would be reduced.
Pew Center Issues Climate
Change Plan
The Pew Center on Global Climate
Change released the first comprehensive
plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
in the United States. The Agenda for
Climate Action identifies both broad and
specific policies, combining recommendations on economywide mandatory emissions cuts, technology development, scientific research, energy supply and adaptation with critical steps that can be taken in
key sectors. The report is the culmination
of a two-year effort to articulate a pragmatic course of action across all areas of
the economy.
The report concludes that there is no
single technology fix, no single policy
instrument and no single sector that can
solve this problem on its own. Rather, the
report maintains, a combination of technology investment and market development will provide for the most cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gases; it will
also create a thriving market for greenhouse gas-reducing technologies. To
address climate change without placing
the burden on any one group, the report
urges actions throughout the economy.
The full text of this report is available
at www.pewclimate.org.
New Brunswick Energy Park
Seeks Provincial Support
The NB Telegraph-Journal reported
Feb. 17, 2006, that backers of an energy
park for Sussex, N.B., Canada, are hoping
to conduct a feasibility study that will convince the provincial government to allow
the park concept to move ahead. The
Kings East Development Partnership is in
talks with the province about the possibility of using natural gas from a field in
Penobsquis, even though the government
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