DOE prepared this EA to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of providing a financial assistance grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) in a cooperative agreement with Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM). If ADM received the funding, the company would demonstrate an integrated system of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture in an industrial setting and geologic sequestration in a sandstone reservoir. The CO2 that would be sequestered is currently a by-product of ADM's Decatur fuel-grade ethanol production facility. ADM would capture approximately one million short tons of CO2 per year using dehydration and compression. The compressed CO2 would be piped approximately one mile to an injection well and sequestered in the Mount (Mt.) Simon Sandstone Formation, a saline reservoir. The project team members include ADM, the Illinois State Geological Survey, Schlumberger Carbon Services, and Richland Community College. DOE's proposed action would provide approximately $141.4 million in financial assistance in a cost-sharing arrangement to ADM. The cost of the proposed project would be approximately $207.9 million. This EA evaluates the environmental resource areas DOE commonly addresses in its EAs and identifies no significant adverse environmental impacts for the proposed project. The proposed project could result in beneficial impacts to the nation's energy efficiency and the local economy, and could contribute to a minor reduction of greenhouse gases.

Unlocking Commercial Financing for Clean Eneargy in East Asia was written for government decision makers in middle and high-income countries, members of international financing communities, and practitioners. In East Asia, all middle-income countries have national targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and some even have targets for carbon reduction. However, a major hurdle to achieving a sustainable energy path is mobilizing the required financing. Policy makers must determine how to unlock commercial financing to scale up clean energy investments. Unlocking Commercial Financing for Clean Energy in East Asia builds on recent experience in applying public financing instruments and attempts to address the following issues: when and under what circumstances to use public financing instruments, which instrument to select, and how to design and implement them most effectively. First and foremost, effective and conducive policies are essential to catalyzing commercial investment in clean energy. Once the right policy regime has been put in place, public financing mechanisms designed to mitigate risks and close financing gaps have proven to play a major catalytic role in kick-starting substantial investments in clean energy. Public financing mechanisms for energy efficiency are particularly important to mitigating financiers' risk perceptions, to aggregating small deals, and to enhancing the interest and capacity of domestic banks. Public financing for renewable energy can provide long-term loan tenure to match the long payback period, mitigate technology risks, and increase access to financing for small and medium enterprises. The selection of public financing instruments should be tailored to the market barriers, the targeted market segments, the regulatory environment, and the maturity of the financial market. Engaging domestic banks through credit lines and guarantees has had the greatest impact in unlocking private financing. Dedicated funds and mezzanine and equity funds can effectively increase access to financing for small and medium enterprises and clean energy start-ups. Finally, the impact of public financing instruments can be substantially increased if they are packaged with technical assistance.

How are we going to fuel our world and stay out of trouble? Author Adriaan Kamp offers some powerful insights on the present workings of the global energy system and provides fresh and new perspectives and thinking for actions and decision-making on the energy challenge. Energy For One World has a strong context for identifying and defining the scenarios, strategies, and drivers for change. Learn to see the "Big Picture" and make the best use of insights on our world energy system. We can supply the world's growing population with a rapid increase in energy demand if we smarten- up our mutual collaboration. It's time we share energy system innovation between the corporate world and politics, between the conventional energy suppliers and the clean-tech, between BRICS and OECD, and between North and South. Take on a path-finding journey and discover new perspectives and new aspirations for essential decision making and action on the international energy challenge and transitions ahead with this easy-to-read and easy-to-digest book. It's compelling and steered to inspire a broad readership to join in the realization of pragmatic and realistic solutions.

The novelty of this work is the fact that it introduces a rigorous and objective economic perspective of current renewable energy support mechanisms and an empirical analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these mechanisms, which is much needed in a debate often dominated by widespread misconceptions. The economic rationale for renewable energy is straightforward: the optimum amount of renewable energy for grid-connected generation is given by the intersection of the renewable energy supply curve with the avoided cost of thermal electricity generation. The proposed analytical framework: (i) differentiates and illustrates trade-offs among local, regional, and national impacts, in the short and long run; (ii) captures distributional impacts; and (iii) captures externalities and compares alternative projects based on equivalent output and cost. Accordingly, the study advocates for the need to get the economic, financial, and institutional basics right for the deployment of renewable energy. The study s integration of renewable energy subsidies with fossil subsidies is another novel and important contribution. This allows important comparisons. For example, to reduce carbon intensity in developing country economies, is it more efficient to deploy renewable energy or implement alternative options, such as eliminating subsidies on fossil fuels? The work is based on case studies of Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tanzania, Egypt, Brazil, and Turkey, selected to provide a representative sample of countries with different energy endowments (coal, natural gas, and hydro-based systems) and policy incentives (from feed-in tariffs to auctions). Along the way, the incremental cost of renewable energy is compared with the average cost of generation. The selection and design of support mechanisms in turn determines the impacts on the budget and residential consumers. The main lessons emerging from the case studies are that successful renewable energy policies: Will only be effective once the state-owned utilities who are the buyers of grid-connected renewable energy are themselves in good financial health Need to be grounded in economic analysis and accompanied by the application of market principles to ensure economic efficiency Require a sustainable, equitable, and transparent recovery of incremental costs"

Energy supplies and prices are major economic factors in the United States, and energy markets are volatile and unpredictable. Thus, energy policy has been a recurring issue for Congress since the first major crisis in the 1970s. As an aid in policy making, this report presents a current and historical view of the supply and consumption of various forms of energy. The historical trends show petroleum as the major source of energy, rising from about 38% in 1950 to 45% in 1975, then declining to about 40% in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s. Significantly, the transportation sector continues to be almost completely dependent on petroleum, mostly gasoline. The importance of this dependence on the volatile world oil market was revealed over the past five years as perceptions of impending inability of the industry to meet increasing world demand led to three years of steady increases in the prices of oil and gasoline. With the downturn in the world economy and a consequent decline in consumption, prices collapsed, but then recovered to a much higher level than in the 1990s. With the crisis in Libya in the Spring of 2011, oil and gasoline prices began again to approach their former peak levels. By 2012, Libyan production had recovered, but a new crisis involving Iran further threatened supply. Natural gas followed a long-term pattern of U.S. consumption similar to that of oil, at a lower level. Its share of total energy increased from about 17% in 1950 to more than 30% in 1970, then declined to about 20%. Natural gas markets are very much more regional than the petroleum market, in which events in one part of the world tend to influence consumption and prices everywhere. Recent development of large deposits of shale gas in the United States have increased the outlook for U.S. natural gas supply and consumption in the near future. Consumption of coal in 1950 was 35% of the total, almost equal to oil, but it declined to about 20% a decade later and has remained at about that proportion since then. Coal currently is used almost exclusively for electric power generation, and its contribution to increased production of carbon dioxide has made its use controversial in light of concerns about global climate change. Nuclear power started coming online in significant amounts in the late 1960s. By 1975, in the midst of the oil crisis, it was supplying 9% of total electricity generation. However, increases in capital costs, construction delays, and public opposition to nuclear power following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 curtailed expansion of the technology, and many construction projects were cancelled. Continuation of some construction increased the nuclear share of generation to 20% in 1990, where it remains currently. Licenses for a number of new nuclear units have been in the works for several years, and preliminary construction for a few units has begun, but the economic downturn has discouraged action on new construction. The accident at Japan's Fukushima station following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami raised further questions about future construction of nuclear powerplants. Construction of major hydroelectric projects has also essentially ceased, and hydropower's share of electricity generation has gradually declined, from 30% in 1950 to 15% in 1975 and less than 10% in 2000. However, hydropower remains highly important on a regional basis. Renewable energy sources (except hydropower) continue to offer more potential than actual energy production, although fuel ethanol has become a significant factor in transportation fuel. Wind power has recently grown rapidly, although it still contributes only a small share of total electricity generation. Conservation and energy efficiency have shown significant gains over the past three decades and offer potential to relieve some of the dependence on oil imports.

The "Top 25 Electricity KPIs of 2011-2012" report provides insights into the state of the industry's performance measurement today by listing and analyzing the most visited KPIs for this industry on smartKPIs.com in 2011. In addition to KPI names, it contains a detailed description of each KPI, in the standard smartKPIs.com KPI documentation format, that includes fields such as: definition, purpose, calculation, limitation, overall notes and additional resources. This product is part of the "Top KPIs of 2011-2012" series of reports and a result of the research program conducted by the analysts of smartKPIs.com in the area of integrated performance management and measurement. SmartKPIs.com hosts the largest catalogue of thoroughly documented KPI examples, representing an excellent platform for research and dissemination of insights on KPIs and related topics. The hundreds of thousands of visits to smartKPIs.com and the thousands of KPIs visited, bookmarked and rated by members of this online community in 2011 provided a rich data set, which combined with further analysis from the editorial team, formed the basis of these research reports.

This World Bank review of India s power sector assesses state-wise progress in implementing the government s reform agenda two decades after the liberalization of India s economy and a decade after the passage of the forward-looking Electricity Act of 2003 (EA). It examines the performance of the sector along the following dimensions, drawing on in-depth background papers achievements in access, the financial and operational performance of utilities, governance, private participation, and the coverage and targeting of domestic user subsidies. Despite considerable progress in implementing the EA mandates and associated policies over the past decade, the report shows that sector finances remain weak. After-tax losses in 2011 were equivalent to nearly 17 percent of India s gross fiscal deficit and around 0.7 percent of GDP; they were concentrated in the distribution segment. Twenty years after the initiation of reforms, an inefficient, loss-making power sector and inadequate and unreliable power supply are major constraints to India s growth, inclusion, job creation, and aspirations for middle-income country status. This report shows that achieving sector outcomes is linked closely to the degree to which each state has implemented the EA. Key reforms mandated by the EA have still not been implemented in full, with progress in promoting competition lagging furthest behind. Further, multiple institutions with diffuse accountability have undermined the sector s commercial orientation: state governments are a major presence with a generally detrimental impact on utility operations; the regulatory environment has not sufficiently pushed utilities to improve performance; and, the flow of liquidity from lenders has limited the pressure on discoms to improve performance and on state governments to allow tariff increases. An important contribution of this report is its forthright recognition that poor power sector performance in India is rooted in distribution inefficiencies and limited accountability. This leads the authors to conclude with recommendations directed at these specific aspects in order to improve service delivery and other metrics of sector performance, put the sector on a financially sustainable path, and help ensure that power is no longer a bottleneck for growth."

India has been one of the world s leading developing countries in providing electricity to both rural and urban populations. The country s rural energy policies and institutions have contributed greatly to reducing the number of people globally who continue to lack access to electricity. By late 2012, the national electricity grid had reached 92 percent of India s rural villages, about 880 million people. Yet, owing mainly to its large population, India still has by far the world s largest number of households without electricity. About 311 million people still live without electricity, and they mostly reside in poor rural areas. Among these, 200 million live in villages that already have electricity. Less than half of all households in the poorest income group have electricity. Even among households that have electric service, hundreds of millions lack reliable supply, experiencing power cuts almost daily. Achieving universal access to electricity by 2030 is not financially prohibitive for India. The challenge of providing electricity for all is achievable, ensuring that India joins such countries as China and Brazil in reaching out to even its remotest populations. The estimated annual investments necessary to reach universal access are in the range of Rs. 108 billion (US$2.4 billion) to Rs. 139 billion (US$3 billion). Considering that the country already spends about Rs. 45 billion ($1 billion) a year on new electricity lines through the current government program, the additional investments needed to achieve universal access by 2030 are quite reasonable. Investments are not the only hurdle to providing electricity to those presently without service. Policies will need to be aligned with the principles followed in other successful international programs. The potential benefits of electrification for those without service are quite high. The benefits of lighting alone would approximately equal the investments necessary to extend electricity for all. When households that adopt electricity switch from kerosene lamps to electric light bulbs, they experience an enormous price drop for lighting energy and can have more light for a range of household activities, including reading, studying, cooking, and socializing. Households with electricity consume more than 100 times as much light as households with kerosene for about the same amount of money. The potential value of the additional lighting can be as large as 11.5 percent of a typical household s monthly budget. If universal access is achieved by 2030, the cumulative benefit for improved lighting alone would equal about Rs. 3.8 trillion (US$69 billion) or Rs. 190 billion ($3.4 billion) in annual benefits. This is greater than the cost of providing electricity service, and does not even include such benefits as improved communications, household comfort, food preservation, and income from productive activities. With electric lighting, households can generate more income, and children can have better educational outcomes and income-earning potential. Without quality energy services, households often face entrenched poverty, poor delivery of social services, and limited opportunities for women and girls."

Virtually every country in the world faces the challenge of designing the regulatory and financial mechanisms that ensure cost-effective procurement of generation to supply electricity demand. Historically, procurement of generation has been particularly difficult in the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America and Africa. High and usually volatile load growth rates, limited access to financing and immature electricity markets have presented obstacles that have introduced challenges to the procurement process. More recently, environmental concerns regarding land use, impact on biodiversity, indigenous populations, and greenhouse gasses emissions have added layers of complexity. Over the last 7 years, auctions for long-term electricity contracts have been getting increased attention within the electricity sector community as thet have emerged as a successful mechanism to procure new generation capacity. Among the reasons for such widespread interest is the large amount of capacity that has been already contracted from diverse technologies (conventional generation, large hydroelectric plants, renewable), under a variety of innovative auction arrangements and mechanisms, sometimes with multiple buyers and sellers taking part in the process. Auctions have been attracting a broad range of investors, from large established companies to new local and foreign independent power producers, and first-time power system investors. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the international experience in electricity auctions, focusing on the procurement of long-term electricity contracts to foster new generation capacity. To this end, several relevant case studies were selected. While focus is given to emerging countries, insightful experiences from developed markets are reported as well. The book reveals the subtlety and complexity of trading and contracting for firm generation in the current power industry and the multiplicity of formats that the corresponding regulatory instruments may adopt. Lessons learned - both positive and negative - regarding policy formulation and implementation which should be of interest to policy makers, government authorities, regulators and power sector stakeholders.

The current distribution of power markets around intermediate structures between full integration and unbundling suggests that there has not been a linear path to reform in practice. Instead, many developing countries may retain intermediate structures in the foreseeable future. This possibility exposes a large gap in understanding about power market structures, since most theoretical work has focused on the two extreme structures and there is limited evidence on the impact of unbundling for developing countries. The study reports the evidence from statistical analysis and a representative sample of twenty case studies selected based on the initial conditions, such as income and power system size. It proposes a novel analytical approach to model market structure, together with ownership and regulation, controlling for several variables, as a key determinant of performance across several indicators, including access, operational and financial performance and environmental sustainability. The results of the analysis provide the following conclusions for policy guidance on power market restructuring for developing countries: There seems to be credible empirical basis for selecting a threshold power system size and per capita income level below which unbundling of the power supply chain is not expected to be worthwhile. Indeed a dichotomy emerges between high income countries characterized by a large system size for which unbundling and other reforms are significantly linked to better performance and low income countries characterized by small system power size for which there is no strong evidence that unbundling and other reforms delivered improvements in performance. Unbundling deliver consistently superior results across the board of performance indicators when used as an entry point to implement broader reforms, particularly introducing a sound regulatory framework, reducing the degree of concentration of the generation and distribution segments of the market by attracting additional number of both public and private players and encouraging private sector participation. Partial forms of vertical unbundling do not appear to drive improvements, probably because the owner was able to continue exercising control over the affairs of the sector and hinder the development of competitive pressure within the power market. Although the quest for growth remains as elusive as it was more than a decade ago, there is now much greater consensus on the policies and institutional changes that are needed to foster growth and economic development. But debate continues on the timing, sequencing, and local adaptation of these reforms. Furthermore, although the benefits of reform are well documented--the reasons as to why and when reforms occur still remain somewhat unclear. Many countries go through long periods of stagnation or even decline, without being able to create an environment for change, while others seem able to break the hold of vested interests and start following paths of reform. In October 2004, the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) of the World Bank held a conference on the Effectiveness of Policies and Reform. This event provided a forum at which participants--over 500 government officials, civil society representatives, and World Bank staff--could discuss how to improve the effectiveness of World Bank support for development policies and reform programs. Included in this volume are the contributions of distinguished development practitioners on issues such as: the links between good performance and policy change; how windows of opportunity can best be used to promote reform; how ownership of policies and reform programs can be encouraged; and how developed country policies can be improved to create a better global environment for development. Ajay Chhibber is director of the Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank and was World Bank country director for Turkey from 1997 to 2003. R. Kyle Peters is senior manager, Country Evaluation and Regional Relations, in the Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank. Barbara J. Yale is a consultant with the Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank.

The Department of Energy (DOE) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of providing a financial assistance grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to ArcelorMittal USA, Inc. (ArcelorMittal) to construct and operate a boiler to capture blast furnace waste gas and convert it into electricity. DOE's Proposed Action is to provide $31.5 million in financial assistance in a cost-sharing arrangement with the project proponent, ArcelorMittal. The total cost of the proposed project would be about $63.2 million. ArcelorMittal's project involves construction and operation of a blast furnace gas recovery boiler to capture and use 46 billion cubic feet of blast furnace gas per year. ArcelorMittal would use the gas, which it currently burns and releases to the atmosphere, to generate electricity for use at the plant. This EA evaluates 14 resource areas and identifies no significant adverse environmental impacts for the proposed project. The project could result in beneficial impacts to the nation's energy efficiency and the local economy. In addition to adding and retaining jobs in the East Chicago area, the project would use waste energy in blast furnace gas to generate electricity. The electricity would replace the same amount of electricity ArcelorMittal purchases from utilities that use conventional power-generating sources such as coal-fired power plants.

DOE prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to assess the potential for impacts to the human and natural environment of its Proposed Action -- providing financial assistance to Novolyte under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the EDV industry in an effort to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. More specifically, DOE's objective is to accelerate the development and production of various EDV systems by building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components. DOE's program will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. Under the terms of the cooperative agreement, DOE would provide approximately 50 percent of the funding for the expansion of Novolyte's current operations in Zachary, Louisiana, to increase capacity and utilization of its existing electrolytes manufacturing facility (referred to as the "Proposed Project" within this EA). The Proposed Project would help to meet the growing North American demand for electrolytes as the EDV and HEV markets develop. The expansion would include increasing capacity and utilization of the existing electrolytes facility, and would include constructing a new production building, moving existing equipment into the new facility, and adding additional capabilities to meet the forecasted demand. Additionally, the Proposed Project would create 18 permanent jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes, although minor, to result from Novolyte's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: air quality and greenhouse gas, noise, geology and soils, surface water and groundwater, vegetation and wildlife, solid and hazardous wastes, transportation and traffic, and human health and safety. No significant environmental effects were identified in analyzing the potential consequences of these changes.

DOE prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to assess the potential for impacts to the human and natural environment associated with its Proposed Action -- providing financial assistance to Honeywell under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the EDV industry in an effort to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. More specifically, DOE's objective is to accelerate the development and production of various EDV systems through building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components. This work will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. Under the terms of the cooperative agreement, DOE would provide approximately 50 percent of the funding for Honeywell to construct a manufacturing plant to produce a critical battery material LiPF6. The project would produce up to 1500 metric tons of LiPF6 on an annual basis for high-quality Li-ion batteries. Additionally, the project would create approximately 34 permanent jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes, although minor, to result from Honeywell's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: air quality and greenhouse gas, noise, geology and soils, surface water and groundwater, vegetation and wildlife, wetlands, solid and hazardous wastes, transportation and traffic, and human health and safety. No significant environmental effects were identified in analyzing the potential consequences of these changes.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) manages the research and development portfolio of the Vehicle Technologies (VT) Program for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). A key objective of the VT program is accelerating the development and production of electric drive vehicle systems in order to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum. Another of its goals is the development of production-ready batteries, power electronics, and electric machines that can be produced in volume economically so as to increase the use of electric drive vehicles (EDVs). Congress appropriated significant funding for the VT program in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 (Recovery Act) in order to stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment in addition to furthering the existing objectives of the VT program. DOE solicited applications for this funding by issuing a competitive Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0000026), Recovery Act - Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative, on March 19, 2009. This project, U.S. Electric Drive Manufacturing Center - Global Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) Electric Validation Center, was one of the 30 DOE selected for funding. DOE's Proposed Action is to provide $105,387,000 in financial assistance in a cost sharing arrangement with the project proponent, General Motors LLC (General Motors or GM). The total cost of the project is estimated at $245,900,733. The overall purpose and need for DOE action pursuant to the VT program and the funding opportunity under the Recovery Act is to accelerate the development and production of various electric drive vehicle systems by building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. This work will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. DOE intends to further this purpose and satisfy this need by providing financial assistance under cost-sharing arrangements to this and the other 29 projects selected under this funding opportunity announcement. This and the other selected projects are needed to reduce the United States' petroleum consumption by investing in alternative vehicle technologies. Successful commercialization of EDVs would support DOE's Energy Strategic Goal of "protect ing] our national and economic security by promoting a diverse supply and delivery of reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy." This project will also meaningfully assist in the nation's economic recovery by creating manufacturing jobs in the United States in accordance with the objectives of the Recovery Act.

The Department of Energy (DOE) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of providing an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act; Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115) financial assistance grant to Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (Air Products) to facilitate construction and operation of a plant to recover waste energy at the AK Steel Corporation (AK Steel) Middletown Works in Middletown, Ohio. DOE's Proposed Action would provide $30 million in financial assistance in a cost-sharing arrangement with the project proponent, Air Products. The total cost of the proposed project would be about $315 million. Air Products' proposed project would construct and operate a combined-cycle power generation plant that would capture and process blast furnace gas to produce electricity and process steam. Air Products would build the plant on AK Steel's existing Middletown Works site, which manufactures cold-rolled steel products. This EA evaluates 14 resource areas and identifies no significant adverse environmental impacts for the proposed project. The proposed project could result in beneficial impacts to the nation's energy efficiency and the local economy and air quality. In addition to adding and retaining jobs in the Middletown area, the project would convert waste energy from blast furnace gas, half of which is currently burned and released to the atmosphere, to generate electricity and process steam. The generated electricity could replace the same amount of electricity AK Steel purchases from conventional power generating sources such as coal-fired power plants.

DOE prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to assess the potential for impacts to the human and natural environment of its Proposed Action-providing financial assistance to Pyrotek under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the EDV industry in an effort to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. More specifically, DOE's objective is to accelerate the development and production of various EDV systems by building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components. This work will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. Under the terms of the cooperative agreement, DOE would provide approximately 50 percent of the funding for Pyrotek to construct an industrial building; installation of electrically heated furnaces and other production equipment such as conveyors, collectors, screens, and cooling towers required to accomplish the proposed expansion of the graphitization process on the Metaullics Systems' Sanborn facility in Sanborn, New York. The expansion would result in an increase in anode material production capacity to meet higher projected demands, decrease processing costs to provide lower priced material to customers, and meet the objectives of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, by creating and preserving jobs. The project would create approximately 50 new jobs and retain approximately 55 existing facility jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes, although minor, to result from Pyrotek's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: air quality, noise, geology and soils, surface water, vegetation and wildlife, solid and hazardous waste, and transportation and traffic. No significant environmental effects were identified in analyzing the potential consequences of these changes.

The United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to analyze the potential environmental impacts of providing funding for the proposed Battleground Energy Recovery Project in Deer Park, Harris County, Texas. The proposed action is for DOE to provide $1.94 million in cost-shared funding to the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) for the Battleground Energy Recovery Project. The proposed project was selected by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to advance research and demonstration of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The proposed project would produce 8 megawatts (MWs) of electricity from high pressure steam generated by capturing heat that is currently lost at the Clean Harbors Deer Park (CHDP) facility. The proposed project is consistent with DOE's goal of increased use of energy efficiency and renewable energy generation projects. The proposed project involves installation of a specifically designed waste heat recovery boiler on the existing kiln afterburner of an incineration unit at the CHDP facility. This boiler would use heat from the incinerator flue gases to generate high-pressure superheated steam. The adjacent Dow Chemical plant would periodically consume part of the steam for process needs, replacing natural gas firing of existing boilers. The majority of the steam, however, would be piped to a new turbine generator (TG). The TG would be installed in a new building adjacent to the existing CHDP facility. Additional waste heat steam from the neighboring Dow Chemical plant would be routed to the TG when available. A cooling tower would be installed adjacent to the new building in the northwest corner of the facility. The 8 MWs of electricity generated by the TG would be used by the CHDP facility to offset purchased power; any excess power generated would be transmitted to the electric grid. Construction and installation activities associated with the proposed project would occur entirely within private industrial property. The project would require a construction permit and a minor amendment to the facility's air emissions operating permit. Additionally, modification to the facility's hazardous waste processing and disposal permit would be necessary. However, no significant adverse impacts are anticipated to result from implementation of this proposed project.

The Department of Energy (DOE) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of providing a financial assistance grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) in a cooperative agreement with the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) as part of the Smart Grid Demonstrations Program. If PNM received the funding, the company would install a 2- to 4-megawatt-hour advanced absorbed valve-regulated lead acid battery, an access road, a parking lot, and a 3,000-foot underground electrical tie-in to the existing power distribution system (the proposed project). PNM would also install separately a collocated utility-scale solar photovoltaic array with an output of about 500 kilowatts at its own expense. The goal would be to use the battery, along with a sophisticated control system, to turn solar energy into reliable dispatchable generation resource. This EA analyzes the potential environmental impacts of DOE's proposed action of providing Recovery Act funding and of the No-Action Alternative. DOE's proposed action is to provide about $1.8 million in financial assistance in a cost-sharing arrangement to PNM. The cost of the proposed project would be about $5.9 million. In this EA, DOE evaluates the impacts to air quality, noise, aesthetics, soils, geology, water resources, biological resources, and cultural resources from DOE's proposed action and PNM's proposed project.

The Department of Energy (DOE) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of providing a financial assistance grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to Texas A&M University (Texas A&M) for installation of a combined heat and power (CHP) system at its campus in College Station, Texas. DOE's proposed action is to provide $10 million in financial assistance in a cost-sharing arrangement with the project proponent, Texas A&M. The cost of the proposed project would be about $70.3 million. Texas A&M's proposed project is to install and operate a high-efficiency CHP system that would produce steam for heating and cooling as well as generate electricity. This EA evaluates commonly addressed environmental resource areas and identifies no significant adverse environmental impacts for the proposed project. The proposed project would upgrade the Central Utility Plant and campus electrical distribution system to serve Texas A&M expansion. The proposed CHP system would result in substantial energy savings, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and reduce the amount of electricity Texas A&M would purchase from carbon-producing plants such coal-fired power generators.

The DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to analyze the potential environmental impacts of providing funding to Norwich Public Utilities (NPU) for its proposed Norwich Cogeneration Initiative in Norwich, New London County, Connecticut. DOE's proposed action is to provide a financial assistance grant of about $718,000. The total project cost would be about $1.47 million, with NPU providing the balance of the funding. The proposed funding is based on a Congressional earmark. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy believes this project will advance research and development and demonstrate energy efficiency technology. NPU would construct and operate a high-efficiency natural-gas-fired reciprocating engine cogeneration facility on property leased from and adjoining Atlantic City Linen Supply New England (ACLS). ACLS operates an industrial laundry service at this location. The proposed project would install a natural-gas-fired reciprocating engine to generate 540 kilowatts of electricity and use the thermal energy, in the form of a closed-loop hot water heat exchanger, to produce hot water for ACLS's operations. The electricity generated by the unit would be transmitted to NPU's distribution system and offset electricity purchases, potentially reducing costs to all customers.

The United States Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE NETL) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to analyze the potential environmental impacts of providing funding for the proposed Pope/Douglas Third Combustor Expansion Project in Alexandria, Minnesota. The Proposed Action is for DOE to provide $927,514 of cost-shared funding for this project, or 5% of the overall total project cost of $19,400,000. The proposed project is a Congressionally Directed Project selected by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to advance research and the development and demonstration of energy efficiency or renewable energy technologies or programs. The proposed project would construct and operate a third Municipal Waste Combustor (MWC) to complement the two existing MWCs at the Pope/Douglas Solid Waste Management (PDSWM) waste-to-energy facility. The proposed project would be consistent with DOE's goal to increase the use and amount of renewable energy generation projects. The third MWC would have a nominal capacity of 120 tons of waste per day and would double the facility's overall capacity. Expansion of the facility would enable PDSWM to manage the solid waste of five counties and provide steam to three customers. Excess steam produced at the facility would be used to produce electricity for in-house use or would possibly be sold to the local energy grid. The proposed third MWC unit would be designed and operated similarly to the two existing MWC units, and would be constructed on an already paved surface, immediately south of the existing MWCs. The proposed project would require a construction permit and a Major Amendment to the facility's existing air emissions operating permit. However, no other permits are anticipated to be required. No significant adverse impacts are anticipated to result from implementation of this proposed project.