Industry
News
Markham, Ont., Starts
Up CHP System
Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman and Markham,
Ont., Mayor Frank Scarpitti started the
engines April 20 on a new 5 MW combined
heat and power facility that is part of the
town of Markham’s district energy system.
The newly constructed CHP plant produces
enough electricity to power 5,000 homes.
The heat recovery system is capable of
providing heat for up to 3 million sq ft
of building space.
The new facility resulted from a successful contract bid with the Ontario Power
Authority in 2006 to build a high-efficiency
natural gas plant to serve the provincial
power grid.
The Markham District Energy System
first began operation in 2000, providing
heating and cooling energy to IBM’s software laboratory. Since then another 20
buildings in Markham Centre have been
connected to the system including Motorola,
Honeywell, Markham’s Civic Centre offices
and a variety of residential high rises. The
high-efficiency district system reduces
greenhouse gases in Markham Centre by
50 percent. A second district system is
planned in East Markham; construction
will begin in 2010-2011.
EESI Marks 25th Anniversary
The Environmental and Energy Study
Institute (EESI) is celebrating its 25th year
in 2009. The independent nonprofit group
was established in 1984 by a bipartisan
congressional caucus to develop innovative
solutions to energy and environmental
problems and to promote consensus building among a broad range of constituencies.
EESI’s activities include policy maker
education, networking and coalition building, and policy development. The group’s
efforts are focused in three main programs:
Energy and Climate, Sustainable Biomass
and Energy, and Transportation and Energy.
EESI is governed by a board of directors
made up of environmental, business and
academic leaders and has a multidisciplinary
professional staff. Primary funding for EESI
comes from foundations; other support
comes from individuals, corporations and
government.
Sega Named Outstanding
Small Company
Engineering and technical services firm
Sega Inc. of Overland Park, Kan., was presented this spring with the IEEE Region 5
Outstanding Small Company Award 2008.
IEEE is the world’s leading professional
association for the advancement of technology. IEEE Region 5 includes Missouri,
Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas,
Louisiana and Texas.
Nominations for the award are judged
on the following merits: the company’s
IEEE dues, level of support of employees’
participation in IEEE, support of the local
IEEE section, and support of IEEE at the
region and institute level. Companies must
have fewer than 500 engineering employees
to be classified as a small company.
Sega has been a strong supporter of
IEEE, having sponsored two employees
serving active roles in the organization and
20 additional employees as active members.
These employees attend the biannual
Transmission and Distribution Expo.
DOE Announces Funding
for CHP R&D
The U.S. Department of Energy issued
a funding opportunity announcement (FOA)
July 8 for up to $40 million in research,
development and demonstration of combined heat and power systems, based on
annual appropriations. The Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), part of the Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is
DOE’s lead organization for CHP research
and development. ITP is advancing CHP as
an efficient energy solution that supports
the Obama administration’s strategy of
revitalizing the American economy, enhancing the nation’s energy security and combating climate change.
The FOA will accelerate the development
and deployment of CHP technologies and
systems to work toward a goal of increasing
U.S. electricity generation capacity from CHP.
DOE will provide up to 50 percent of these
cost-shared awards.
Specifically, this solicitation will seek
applications for funding of research, development and demonstration of stationary
CHP systems at three power levels. The first
level covers large systems with greater than
20 MW of electricity output. This area has
an estimated total budget of $30 million –
$15 million from the DOE. Area 2 has an
estimated total budget of $30 million –
$15 million in federal funding – and covers
medium-size systems between 1 MW and
20 MW. Area 3 has an estimated budget of
$20 million – $10 million in DOE cost-share
– and covers small systems less than 1 MW.
For further details on this funding
opportunity, see http://Grants.gov.
New Energy and Climate
Resources for Planners
The Environmental and Energy Study
Institute (EESI) and the American Planning
Association (APA) are collaborating on a
project to help planners and the local communities they serve be at the forefront of
the response to energy and climate issues.
The two groups have jointly developed three
tools to help planners reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and
reduce energy use, transition to renewable
energy sources, adapt to climate change
and cope with uncertainty about energy
source prices and supplies.
One part of the project is the Planners
Energy and Climate Database, an online tool
for finding information related to addressing
energy and climate issues at the local, regional
and state level ( www.planning.org/research/
energy/database/).
The second tool is an energy and climate
report to be released in fall 2009 through
APA’s Planning Advisory Service. The report,
which incorporates research and input from
experts in planning, energy and allied fields,
will provide essential background information
for integrating energy and climate issues
into planning.
The third resource is the Planners Energy
and Climate Network, which planners and
others many join to receive updates on the
