The Current - December 2013
December 2013
MCEC News
- Save the Date! MCEC Plans Legislative Reception for January 14th
- CETI forum tackles opportunities and obstacles to clean energy development
- MCONNECT stages successful launch at Maryland Farm Bureau Conference
Industry News
- Wood Stove Decathlon showcases clean, efficient, affordable technologies
- Savenia Labs introduces whole-house energy ratings
- MEA opens competition for $1 million in Game Changer 2.0 grants
Clean Energy Briefs & Events
- Howard County hardens uses solar system to harden its infrastructure
- Take the EmPOWER Maryland Challenge
SAVE THE DATE!
MCEC PLANS LEGISLATIVE RECEPTION FOR JANUARY 14
Be part of the clean energy advocacy effort in 2014 as the General Assembly reconvenes in Annapolis to deliberate legislation that may impact the energy sector, the environment, and possibly the success of your business.
MCEC will host our annual Legislative Reception on January 14, 2014 and we want you to be involved. Plan to help spread the word about the benefits of creating jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland.
We anticipate hosting more than 200 elected officials, aides, appointed officials, industry leaders, environmental advocates, and energy stakeholders.
MCEC Executive Director Kathy Magruder says the annual event is one of the most important the organization hosts and is calling on industry leaders, business owners and clean energy advocates to plan to attend.
"We want to be sure Maryland continues to have the policy and regulatory tools in place to facilitate our advanced energy economy,” Magruder said. “This event is a tremendous opportunity for the energy sector to interface with policymakers during session to underscore the value of the tax, employment, environmental and energy independence benefits that we are contributing to as we build the clean energy economy in the state.”
While planning for the General Assembly session is still in early stages, Magruder sees a few topics that will likely be priorities on the agenda this session, including potential revision of the Biomass RPS addressing the use of black liquor and woody feedstocks, the possible reintroduction of Community Energy/Net Metering legislation, and the allocation of Strategic Energy Investment Funds (SEIF) that are collected through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction and used to fund various energy efficiency and renewable energy advancement programs as well as the Maryland Energy Administration budget.
For more information or to become a sponsor of the 2014 MCEC Legislative Reception, contact us at 443-949-8505. To register, log onto our Legislative Reception website.
CETI forum tackles opportunities and
obstacles to clean energy development
The energy industry is changing more quickly than at anytime during the past 40 years, and that flux is creating both big opportunities and deep frustrations for companies in Maryland’s clean energy sector.
How to grow the clean energy sector in the current market was the focus of a December forum hosted by the Clean Energy Technology Incubator (CETI), a joint creation of the Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC) and bwtech@UMBC.
Bjorn Frogner, CETI’s entrepreneur-in-residence, noted that the
clean energy sector’s accomplishments to date amount to a modest percentage of
the growth the sector can and needs to achieve.
Maryland’s EmPOWER goals, for example have put the state on track to shave its peak-hours energy use by 16.4 percent by 2015, exceeding the program’s goals. The same program, however, has put Maryland on track to reduce total, per capita energy use by 8.4 percent by 2015, far below EmPOWER’s 15 percent goal, Frogner said.
The goal for Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard is to generate 20 percent of all power from renewable sources by 2022. From 2007 to 2012, the percentage of renewables in Maryland’s energy mix grew from 5.9 percent to 7.9 percent. To reach the 2022 goal, Frogner said, the state would have to dramatically increase several kinds of clean energy production, including more than doubling waste-to-energy, expanding land-based wind from 120 MW of installed capacity to 690 MW, expanding solar from 120 MW to 1094 MW, and creating 650 MW of offshore wind capacity. In total, Maryland would have to develop more than 2,400 MW of new, renewable energy capacity in the next nine years to meet its clean energy goals.
“I doubt that we can reach those goals,” Frogner said. “I have reason to believe I should be skeptical.”
Assorted clean energy experts have concluded that the sector has sufficient technology to achieve tremendous growth.
Jigar Shah, former CEO of the Carbon War Room and author of “Creating Climate Wealth,” has stated, “We have sufficient technology right now to justify profitable investments in $10 trillion in clean energy.”
The obstacles blocking that growth are “primarily an issue of new business models as opposed to the need to invent new technologies,” Shah said.
The December CETI forum which attracted nearly 50 clean energy innovators from a wide variety of specialties, analyzed impediments to growth and proposed initiatives that could help the clean energy sector better achieve its potential.
Thriving without incentives: Participants said Maryland companies need to develop innovative business plans and new kinds of funding models, especially since government subsidies for clean energy will likely disappear in the next two to three years. George Oyler, founder of Clean Green Chesapeake, and Connie Lausten, principal at cLausten LLC, said biofuel companies in particular must focus on developing products that are financially viable without government incentives. Ethanol, they noted, has always been controversial and has recently lost considerable political support. This fall, federal officials proposed a dramatic cut to the percentage of ethanol and advanced biofuels that must be mixed into gasoline.
Broader market opportunities: Several participants said Maryland companies need more broad-based opportunities to role out their technologies, introduce them to a large numbers of consumers, and collect data on product performance and consumer response. State and local governments as well as utilities could provide such platforms in several ways, including:
- Creating an office of energy technology transfer;
- Taking greater efforts to boost energy efficiency and clean energy use in public buildings;
- Embracing a Connecticut-style approach to supporting the creation of microgrids to sustain essential services during grid outages;
- Creating a utility-based program that enables approved companies to offer their products/services to utility customers; and
- Creating new financing instruments, such as green banks, to fund the development and deployment of clean energy systems.
Integrating clean technologies: Forum participants also stressed that further efforts are needed to integrate clean energy technologies into the existing energy system and built environment. Those efforts would include:
- Advance improved processes to integrate microgrids, distributed generation and smart grid technologies into the existing grid;
- Encourage more consistent practices and regulations among counties and cities for solar installations, community wind projects and other clean energy installations; and
- Support clean energy adoption through non-financial incentives, such as granting higher density to developments with clean energy systems or integrating renewable energy into affordable housing developments.
MCEC Executive Kathy Magruder said the center plans to address many clean energy policy issues during the next session of the Maryland General Assembly. MCEC will officially kick off its 2014 legislative efforts with a reception on January 14.
MCONNECT stages successful launch at Maryland Farm Bureau Conference
Despite the threat of a winter storm event, the Maryland Clean Energy Center hosted more than 75 representatives from the agriculture community at a reception during the opening day of the annual Maryland Farm Bureau Conference in Ocean City.
The overall MCONNECT event series is sponsored by the law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. This first event in the series focused on Agriculture, Environment & Energy, and was hosted in partnership with several companies bringing waste-to-energy technology solutions and capabilities, including Planet Found and Triea Systems. Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit and LEAD Maryland also supported the event.
Recognizing that energy costs are one of the most costly inputs for farmers and producers, MCEC intended the event to help match those consumers with solutions that might beneficially impact their bottom line.
“We made some great connections for our industry partners with decision makers in their target market audience,” said MCEC Executive Director Kathy Magruder. “We were also surprised to learn how many farmers and producers are already deploying distributed generation and energy efficiency solutions in their operations.”
According to sponsor Plant Found Executive Director Steven Bolgiano, “For Planet Found it was well worth it. I really appreciated the quality of the introductions.”
Jenny Rhodes - Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources for the University of Maryland Extension, Queen Anne’s County and the current president of Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. - was on hand along with several of her LEAD IV classmates. She felt the event was “a great way to casually meet energy service providers and talk about opportunities.”
Future MCONNECT Networking Reception events are scheduled to take place in 2014. To learn more about topics, dates, hosting or sponsoring an MCONNECT event go to: www.mdcleanenergy.org/mconnect
UPCOMING MCONNECT Networking Reception: “Financing & Energy Innovation”
Tues., February 18th Hosted by Whiteford, Taylor & Preston; Baltimore Sponsors Wanted!
Wood Stove Decathlon showcases clean,
efficient, affordable technologies
Some commentators described it as a high-profile push to usher an old-fashioned heat source into the modern day quest for clean, renewable, efficient energy systems.
Last month, the Takoma Park-based Alliance for Green Heat hosted the first ever Wood Stove Decathlon on the Washington Mall. The five-day event showcased and scrutinized wood stoves from both venerable manufacturers and innovative newcomers to the wood industry. It awarded prizes to stoves that were most efficient, affordable, with highest consumer appeal and lowest carbon monoxide emissions. It also granted the prize for lowest particulate emissions to a team of University of Maryland students who, by their own admission, “didn’t know anything about wood stoves a year ago.”
Taylor Myers, captain of the UMD Team Mulciber and a graduate student in fire-protection engineering, said the team aimed to design a stove that was highly efficient yet easy to use. The design included a combustion fan to better regulate oxygen flow and temperature inside the stove. Automated systems control the air flow to maintain ideal burning conditions. Meanwhile, the stove’s heat recovery system utilizes heat that might otherwise go up the chimney and its thermoelectric generators provide sufficient power to circulate stove heat throughout a house. As an added benefit, those generators can also recharge a cell phone or power a small appliance.
John Ackerly, founder of the Alliance for Green Heat, praised the UMD students for “thinking totally outside of the box.”
The dozen stoves competing in the decathlon included catalytic hybrid stoves, stoves made from soapstone and other highly conductive natural materials, traditional steel-plated fireboxes, and stoves that employed oxygen sensors, computerized controls and other advanced technologies.
Woodstock Soapstone won the grand prize as well as the prize for affordability. Two stoves - the Wittus Twin Fire and the Travis Cape Cod Hybrid - tied for second place overall.
“These award-winning technologies are part of the solution for millions of Americans to reduce their reliance on fossil heating fuels,” Ackerly said.
Decathlon teams, he added, contributed “to an ongoing educational effort to help the U.S. government appreciate the potential of cleaner and more efficient wood heating.”
Savenia Labs introduces whole-house energy ratings
Savenia Home, a new service by Bethesda-based Savenia Labs, is aiming to revolutionize the information that homebuyers and sellers use to evaluate houses.
Think of it as an energy Blue Book for homes. Savenia Home Ratings help calculate the lifetime value of energy-saving appliances, lighting and improvements in a home. For buyers, the ratings supply information needed to better understand the total cost of owning and operating a particular house. For home sellers, the ratings provide a way to quantify and explain the value of energy upgrades to prospective buyers.
Energy efficient appliances and water heaters as well as upgraded lighting can save tens of thousands of dollars in home utility costs over the typical 15-year lifetime of many appliances. Up until now, however, it has been difficult to quantify those values. Yet research shows that some buyers are willing to spend more upfront for homes that offer utility savings.
With Savenia Home, professional home sellers and builders can enter product model numbers and home zip codes into the Savenia database. The database calculates a Gold, Silver or Bronze home rating for qualified upgrades. It also provides detailed information on the home’s operating costs and environmental impact.
Savenia uses its proprietary energy efficiency databases and local information on energy costs and environmental impacts to create an easy-to-read Savenia Home Rating Label.
Real estate and home building companies Jane Fairweather Real Estate and Sandy Spring Builders are teaming up with Savenia to pioneer the new rating system.
“Buyers are paying closer attention to how much it will cost to operate their future home and sellers need to be able to provide concrete answers,” said John Jabara, founder of Savenia Labs. “Now buyers can make more informed buying decisions and sellers can finally get credit for investments in efficient products.”
MEA opens competition for $1 million in Game
Changer 2.0 grants
The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is inviting applications for $1 million in second-round funding for its Game Changer Energy Innovation Competitive Grant Program (Game Changer 2.0).
The program funds cutting-edge projects that are attempting to develop innovative, Maryland-based projects that support the deployment of "game changing" renewable and clean energy generation and storage technologies. Ultimately, the enhanced deployment of clean renewable energy generation will assist the State to meet its Renewable Portfolio Standard and Greenhouse Gas Reduction goals while also spurring local economic development.
MEA anticipates awards from Game Changer 2.0 will be in the range of $50,000-$250,000 per project with applicant cost shares of at least 70 percent.
“Our previous rounds of Game Changer Energy Innovation Competitive Grant Program funding proved to be extremely successful and MEA is pleased to offer another round of funding,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, Director of the Maryland Energy Administration. “The program not only brings Maryland closer to reaching our renewable energy generation goal of 20 percent by 2022 but also spurs clean energy generation technology innovation and creates economic development opportunities for Maryland’s future.”
Game Changer projects can focus on a wide range of clean energy technologies and business models. Those include, but are not limited to, hybrid solar photovoltaics, community energy projects, district energy heating and cooling systems, biogas-fueled distributed generation, combined heat and power systems, biomass gasification or pyrolysis systems, cost competitive fuel cells, and hybrid renewable energy systems that utilize intermittent renewable resources that can be made firmer by energy storage and clean natural gas or biodiesel-fueled generation technologies.
Applications must be received or postmarked on or before 12:00 noon, January 13, 2014. For more information on the Game Changer Competitive Grant Program, visit http://energy.maryland.gov/Business/gamechanger/index.html.
CLEAN ENERGY BRIEFS
Howard County hardens uses solar system to harden its infrastructure
Crews contracted by Howard County have started installing roof-mounted solar panels at the Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant in Savage.
The 217-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system is part of the county’s $8.1-million electrical protection system upgrade in an effort to safeguard the Water Reclamation Plant from electrical outages that could lead to sewage overflows. When Superstorm Sandy hit Maryland last year, the sewage plant lost power for 24 hours. That outage caused a spill of nearly 20 million gallons of diluted but untreated effluent into the Little Patuxent River.
“Howard County continues to take the necessary steps to prepare for emergencies and to protect the environment,” said County Executive Ken Ulman. “These upgrades are the future of our public infrastructure in Maryland.”
In addition to the 15,000-square-foot solar array, the upgrade will also include the installation of three back-up generators. It is estimated that the solar panels will result in a yearly power cost savings of $22,900. Upon completion of this project, the County’s Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant will become the only large facility of its kind in Maryland to have a photo-voltaic system contributing to its energy. Weather permitting, the project is expected to be completed by late February 2014.
Take the EmPOWER Maryland Challenge
The EmPOWER Maryland Challenge encourages commercial, industrial, and non-profit enterprises in Maryland to commit to reducing their electricity consumption to 20 percent by May 1st, 2015.
Companies participating in the program will receive technical support for employing low-cost/no-cost solutions, as well as recognition for their leadership. Additionally, challenge participants will be eligible for grants to help them cover up to 50 percent of the cost for energy efficiency upgrades after utility rebates, with awards ranging from $20,000 to $500,000.
Learn more and apply today! EmPOWER Maryland Challenge applications are due by January 15, 2014.