For the second time in three years, Congress has passed a comprehensive energy measure that the president has signed into law. The overarching aim is to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. While the bill had bi-partisan support, it has still been criticized by both the right and left as harmful to the economy and giving short shrift to green fuel sources, respectively.

With the blessing of automakers, the new law will increase the minimum fuel-efficiency for passenger vehicles for the first time in 32 years from an average of 25-miles per gallon now to 35-miles per gallon in 2020. That, in turn, could help trim this country's use of foreign oil supplies by 1.1 million barrels per a day that equates to more than half of the oil exported by Kuwait and Venezuela.

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Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat

Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published this month have concluded.

The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months, as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their production. These latest studies, published in the prestigious journal Science, are likely to add to the controversy.

These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is being converted to cropland globally to support biofuels development.

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Fuels Cells Power Up
By Ken Silverstein, Energy Biz Insider

Fuel cells are creating a lot of fanfare. But is it warranted? While some say that those hydrogen-oriented devices and the clean byproducts they release are not inevitable, others say that they are playing key roles now that will only grow.

Hydrogen, a carrier of energy, has many applications. It can be used to fuel vehicles, power stations and heavy equipment. One of most burgeoning niches is that of back-up power whereby companies that provide essential services can ill-afford a loss of service and the subsequent revenues. Telecommunications enterprises, for instance, have been pushed by federal regulators and customers alike to beef up their operations and particularly after some natural disasters knocked out services for extended periods.

The telecommunications industry is currently spending $2 billion to provide back-up power to its cell towers. The fuel cell industry says that its technology is best in such cases, noting that it is more durable than batteries and cleaner and less noisy than diesel engines.

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Bali Talks Mark Beginning of New Discussion About Global Warming
Ken Silverstein, Energy Biz Insider

It may be the final stretch of the Bush presidency. But it's just the beginning of new discussions to achieve more aggressive greenhouse gas cuts -- ones that would reach beyond the Kyoto Protocol that ends in 2012.

Talks among 192 nations ended last month in Bali, Indonesia that lay out a broad framework by which they would cut their heat trapping emissions. While no hard targets were set, the agreement does compel all nations to negotiate more precisely their plans beginning in 2009. For their part, developing countries such as India and China that have increasing emissions would receive assistance from richer nations as well as easier access to Western technologies to increase power plant efficiencies and reduce auto emissions.

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Save The Date – National Association of Power Engineers Meeting

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Energy Management from a Compressed Air System Perspective
Doug Lubs – CEO - Lubs Technologies, Inc., Indianapolis, IN – Authorized distributor for Cooper Compression (now known as Cameron), Transair, and Sullair

All meetings are held at 12 noon at Citizens Gas, 2020 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN.
For more information please contact Rick Ratliff at DLR Mechanical at (317) 253-6822.