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| Technical Assistance, Incentives, and Funding Opportunities: Upcoming Events and Activities:
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| Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry Environment & Energy Conference The 33rd Annual Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry Environment & Energy Awards Conference took place from October 14-15, 2015 at Montgomery Bell State Park. The awards dinner drew in more than 100 attendees, including business and industry leaders from across the State as well as representatives from TDEC and Region IV of the EPA. Award recipients were chosen based on initiatives to go beyond compliance to implement sustainable environmental improvements, including capital investment dedicated to improvement, the degree of innovation, long-term environmental benefits reduction in consumption of energy, water, and fuel, and overall significance to the achievement. At the awards dinner, nine companies were recognized for environmental performance and outstanding energy management efforts in the following categories: - Air Quality (less than 250 employees): Gibson County Utility District in Trenton
- Air Quality (more than 250 employees): Marvin Windows and Doors of Tennessee in Ripley
- Water Quality (less than 250 employees): Tennessee American Water in Chattanooga
- Water Quality (more than 250 employees): Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge
- Solid & Hazardous Waste Management (less than 250 employees): Eaton Corporation in Gainesboro
- Solid & Hazardous Waste Management (more than 250 employees): Y- 12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge
- Comprehensive Energy Excellence (less than 250 employees): American Snuff Company in Memphis
- Comprehensive Energy Excellence (more than 250 employees): General Motors – Spring Hill Facility
- Comprehensive Environmental Excellence (less than 250 employees): Waste Management, Inc. of TN in Franklin
- Comprehensive Environmental Excellence (more than 250 employees): Unilever in Covington
This year’s conference also touched a variety of topics, including TVA’s Integrated Resource Plan, business benefits of sustainable practices, waste management, water resources management, clean air, and the impact of the chemical industry in Tennessee. TDEC Director Molly Cripps facilitated the “Embracing Energy Management for Sustained Success” session, which featured presentations by the Industrial EE Network’s Rick Marsh, as well as Schneider Electric’s Edwin Willhite. OEP Energy Programs Administrator Ben Bolton also participated in the “Advancing Sustainable Transportation in TN” session. Ben highlighted TDEC's sustainable transportation initiatives, while Gibson County Utility District’s Pat Riley focused on natural gas as a transportation fuel and Alcoa’s Chris Moore discussed light weighting of materials used in the transportation industry. For a full agenda, as well as the accompanying presentations, click here.
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| Joelton, TN Receives First-Ever Perfect "10" eScore Due to Energy Efficiency Upgrades
How does the program work? TVA, in partnership with your Local Power Company, offers energy efficiency audits and rebates, grading homes on a 10-point scale. Customers who make a qualified energy efficiency upgrade performed by a Quality Contractor Network (QCN) member or a participating Home Depot retailer will receive an in-home energy evaluation by a TVA-Certified Energy Advisor, an online eScore™ card with a customized list of recommended energy efficiency upgrades, and access to rebates for upgrades made. Homeowners can also take the free eScore™ Self Audit at their place of residence. This quick and easy online audit will help customers learn about their home’s energy use and provide recommendations to help save money right away. Furthermore, all qualifying households that complete the audit will receive a free energy saving kit containing CFLs and other tools to help save energy and money.
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| TVA's Extreme Energy Makeover Project to Award $3.75 Million to Cleveland for Low-Income Housing Retrofits
Cleveland Utilities will join Impact Cleveland as part of the makeover team, which also includes the Cleveland Housing Authority, CLEAResult, and the City of Cleveland. Home Depot and Habitat for Humanity will also provide support for the program, which is due to launch in April of 2016. Homeowners interested in learning more about the program can call 1-844-615-8321.
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| Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN Awarded for Energy Management
U.S. DOE recently recognized 32 winners as recipients of the 2015 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards. These annual awards recognize exceptional efforts made to improve the nation’s energy, water, aviation and vehicle fleet efficiency within the federal government. In the State of Tennessee, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 National Security Complex was awarded for its efforts in efficient utility management, which resulted in more than $6 million in fuel, water, and electricity cost savings. To reach these savings, Y-12 upgraded its steam plant in 2010, so that instead of running on coal, the plant would be powered by natural gas. In conjunction with this, Y-12 engaged in a number of smart management initiatives to cut unnecessary energy waste. This included the optimization of gas contracts, repairing leaks, right-sizing operations, reducing steam demand and supply pressure, and cutting back on weekend steam. To ensure the measurement and verification of its energy savings, Y-12 developed metrics to track performance and cost, which helped to further fine-tune their efforts to justify turned off equipment, when it was not in use. In FY 2014 alone, these initiatives saved more than 97 billion Btu in fuel and electricity, 10,800 gallons of water, and $1.3 million in costs from the prior year.
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| Schneider Electric Awarded Most Sustainable Company of CAC40 for Second Year
Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, with specialization in electricity distribution and automation management, was recently named the most sustainable company within the CAC 40, which is the benchmark French stock market index, for the second year in a row. The company, which has multiple operations facilities across Middle Tennessee, recorded 2.7% in energy savings for the first half of 2015, through its Energy Action program, which includes over 300 sites across the globe. This reduction is in line with the company’s projected 10 percent savings for the 2015-2017 period. Furthermore, within the first quarter of 2015, the company saw a 9.5% reduction in CO2 emissions, based on optimized air, sea and road transport of the company’s goods. Schneider Electric has been ranked the third industrial and 25 th global greenest company within the Newsweek Green Ranking for 2015, and was also ranked 9 th in the “ 100 most sustainable corporations in the world” ranking by Corporate Knights.
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| University of Tennessee Upgrades EV Charging on Campus
As part of the UT Office of Sustainability’s commitment to making UT carbon neutral by 2061, the Office recently replaced and updated all electric vehicle charging infrastructure on campus, after the stations had been shut down during the summer months due to networking issues. Unlike other stations in East Tennessee, UT offers its charging service free-of-charge for anyone who has registered with the university. Full-time students pay a Sustainable Campus Fee, or Green Fee, each semester ($10 for in-state students, and $35 for out-of-state students). This fee was developed by students, and helps to fund projects, such as the electric vehicle infrastructure replacements, that support a more energy efficient, environmentally friendly and sustainable campus.
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| New Report Assesses Environmental Impact of Widespread Vehicle Electrification
A new study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) modeled electric sector and transportation sector emissions with and without widespread vehicle electrification, to determine the environmental effects of vehicle electrification on overall U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For the analysis on widespread vehicle electrification, the report makes the assumption that by 2050, electricity will replace roughly half of light- and medium-duty petroleum-fueled vehicles, as well as a significant portion of non-road equipment, such as forklifts and lawn mowers. Given the continued de-carbonization of the electricity sector due to existing and prospective regulations and the expanding deployment of low-emission generation technologies, the report forecasts GHG emissions through 2050, considering the high likelihood for clean generation sources to achieve significant reductions in overall electric sector emissions. The report then assesses the possibility of further GHG emissions reductions, resulting from widespread vehicle electrification, as well as the continuation of improvement in conventional vehicle efficiency. With these two transportation-related elements, in addition to the de-carbonized electric grid, the report concludes that by 2050, total annual GHG emissions (from both mobile and stationary sources) could be reduced by 45-75%, relative to 2015 levels. Without the broad electric car adoption, however, emissions would be cut by only 25%, relative to 2015 levels. Consequentially, the report notes that while electric vehicles are already cleaner than petroleum-fueled vehicles, with the development of a cleaner electric grid, electric vehicles will ensure an even larger portion of future greenhouse gas reductions overall. In the State of Tennessee, the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition has recently launched www.DriveElectricTn.org, which is a website dedicated to spurring the growth and adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and electric vehicle charging structure in the State of Tennessee. Be sure to check out this website for blog posts, case studies, and useful resources related to electric vehicles. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Office of Energy Programs is also offering a two-tiered rebate on qualifying electric vehicles that are purchased or leased after June 15, 2015 in the State of Tennessee. As of September 25, 2015, there is $470,000 remaining in rebate funding. For more information, and for details on eligibility, visit http://tn.gov/environment/article/energy-electric-vehicle-rebates.
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| TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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| New Round of Funding for USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)
USDA Rural Development’s REAP creates economic development opportunities for agricultural producers, rural small businesses, farmers and ranchers by supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. REAP grants provide a 25% reimbursement of the total system costs, with a maximum grant of $500,000 for renewable energy systems and $250,000 for energy efficiency systems. Within the State of Tennessee, rural small businesses already benefit from over $2 million in USDA grants. The 2015 fall REAP funding round is making $63 million available across the country. USDA estimates that this round of REAP projects will generate or save “207.8 million kilowatt hours (KWh) of energy – enough to power more than 13,600 homes for a year.” Although the November 2 deadline applied to projects with a total project cost of $20,000 or less, the second round application deadline of May 2, 2016 will apply to projects of all sizes. Further details on the new round of funding are forthcoming. For more information and updates on the application requirements contact Pam Crozier, REAP’s Coordinator for Tennessee, at pamela.crozier@tn.usda.gov or (615) 783-1367.
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| U.S. DOE Awards $2.9 Million to UT, Knoxville to Advance Master’s and Doctoral Training in Power Electronics
On October 8, U.S. DOE announced its selection of two universities, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Virginia Tech, to receive nearly $6 million in funding to establish graduate-level programs in power electronics. This funding initiative falls in line with the Obama Administration’s goal to accelerate American manufacturing workforce competence and to develop science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education programs, in order to foster the next generation of engineers and technological innovators. UT Knoxville, in collaboration with ORNL, will create a design-oriented and hands-on education program, focused on wide bandgap (WBG) power electronics. The funding is earmarked for stipend and tuition support during the first two years of graduate-level power engineering training. Through the program, UT Knoxville will strive to place 100% of its students in jobs, and, in particular, will develop a strategy to facilitate the introduction of more women and minority students into the power electronics workforce. For more information, click here.
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| U.S. DOE's EV Everywhere Website
U.S. DOE has launched the new EV Everywhere website, which is dedicated to providing information and resources on electric vehicles, both for consumers and electric vehicle stakeholders. The website provides details on existing EV models, incentives, charging infrastructure, and the cost-effectiveness of driving an EV over a traditional gasoline-powered vehicle. The website also features a Stakeholder Solution Center, which pinpoints for state and municipalities, employers, fleets, contractors and utilities the relevant points of contact within DOE for EV topics related to their specific needs or concerns. As the website is developed, the intent is that it will also be a host to a variety of case studies, economic analysis, data, and more.
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| Southeast Wind Energy Industry Supply Chain Asset Map
The Southeastern Wind Coalition, in partnership with the American Wind Energy Association and the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, has released a Southeast Wind Energy Industry Supply Chain Asset Map, to highlight companies within the region that provide services and conduct research associated with the wind industry. Within the State of Tennessee, there are 8 companies that service distinct aspects of the wind energy value chain, including blade/rotor manufacturing, offshore services, transmission/electrical services, and nacelle development. This tool will serve to help stakeholders identify assets and potential partners within the region.
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| U.S. DOE Funding Opportunity for Commercial Building Energy Efficiency
According to the U.S. EIA, in 2014, 19% of total national energy use was consumed in commercial buildings. Of this, small commercial buildings account for more than 40% of the energy used in the commercial sector. The U.S. DOE Buildings Technologies Office (BTO) Commercial Buildings Integration Program has announced up to $9.5 million in funding for eight recipients to develop market-ready solutions to barriers that hinder the growth of energy efficiency in the small and medium commercial building sector. For more information, click here. An informational webinar on this funding opportunity will be held on November 9th, 2015 from 3-4:30 PM Eastern Savings Time. To register for the webinar, click here. Concept papers are due by December 4, 2015, and full applications will be due by February 1, 2016.
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| Solid-State Lighting R&D Funding Opportunity
In the U.S., LED lighting is forecasted to account for the majority of installations by 2030, representing 88% of the lumen-hours generated by general illumination. To respond to this, U.S. DOE has issued a multi-topic funding opportunity for solid-state lighting (SSL), in order to encourage the maximized energy efficiency of SSL products in the marketplace, and to eliminate barriers to lifetime, color quality, and performance of these products, while increasing the viability and sustainability of domestic manufacturing in this sector. Up to $10.5 million in funding will be available to awarded entities in the following research categories: - LED Core Technology Research
- OLED Core Technology Research
- LED Product Development
- OLED Product Development
- LED Manufacturing Research and Development
- OLED Manufacturing Research and Development
An informational webinar will be held on November 6, 2015 from 1-4 PM Eastern Standard Time. To register for the webinar, click here. Concept papers for this opportunity will be due by November 20, 2015, and full applications will be due by January 20, 2016.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
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| 2nd Annual Tennessee Renewable Energy & Economic Development Council (TREEDC) Conference
From December 14-15, TREEDC will host its 2 nd Annual International Conference at Tennessee Technology University in Cookeville, TN. Session topics include EPA’s Clean Power Plan, Energy Project Financing for Local Governments, Opportunities in Energy Management Technical Assistance, and TVA’s Integrated Resource Plan. For more information, and to register for this year’s conference, visit https://epay.tntech.edu/C20205_ustores/web.
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