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 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) grant to Saft America, Inc., Jacksonville Plant to construct and operate a high-volume manufacturing plant to build advanced lithium-ion cells and batteries for military hybrid vehicles, aviation, smart grid support, broadband backup power, and energy storage for renewable energy. DOE's Proposed Action is to provide $95.5 million in financial assistance in a cost-sharing arrangement with the project proponent, Saft America Inc., Jacksonville Plant. The total cost of the proposed project is estimated at $191 million. Saft America's facility would be built at the Cecil Commerce Center, Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. This EA evaluates 14 resource areas and identifies no significant adverse impacts for the proposed project. Beneficial impacts to the nation's air quality and transportation could be realized from implementation of the proposed project. In addition, minor beneficial socioeconomic impacts would occur from increased employment opportunities and spending in the local economy.

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 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) grant to Compact Power, Inc. to construct and operate a high-volume manufacturing plant to build advanced lithium-ion cells and batteries. The cells and batteries would be for use in automotive applications including but not limited to hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, pure electric vehicles for commercial purposes, and military hybrid vehicles, as well as for aviation, smart grid support, broadband backup power, and energy storage for renewable energy. DOE's Proposed Action is to provide $151 million in financial assistance in a cost-sharing arrangement with the project proponent, Compact Power, Inc. The total cost of the project is estimated at $303 million. Compact Power, Inc.'s proposed project would expand its domestic capacity to produce advanced lead-acid batteries for use in the transportation industry. Compact's 850,000-square-foot facility would be built on vacant land located mostly in the City of Holland, Allegan County, Michigan, with a small portion of the proposed site located in the adjacent Fillmore Township. This EA evaluates 14 resource areas and identifies no significant adverse impacts for the proposed project after consideration of the mitigation of impacts to wetlands. Beneficial impacts to the nation's air quality and transportation could be realized from implementation of the proposed project. In addition, beneficial socioeconomic impacts would occur from increased employment opportunities and spending in the affected local economies.

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 Celgard under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the electric drive vehicles (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 Celgard to construct a small industrial facility (approximately 135,000 square feet) on approximately 20.6 acres of land for the manufacturing of separator materials for commercial HEV batteries. The proposed project would involve the installation of a manufacturing plant with sufficient capacity to manufacture at least 1,000,000 square meters of separator material to support the assembly of at least 20,000 plug-in HEV batteries, or equivalent, per year in accordance with the requirements of DOE's Funding Opportunity Announcement. Additionally, the project would create approximately 273 permanent jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes, although minor, to result from Celgard's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: air quality and greenhouse gas, noise, geology and soils, groundwater, vegetation and wildlife, socioeconomic, utilities and energy use, 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 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.

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, Power Ring Manufacturing Scale-up, was one of the 30 DOE selected for funding. DOE's Proposed Action is to provide $9,090,000 in financial assistance in a cost sharing arrangement with the project proponent, SBE, Inc. (SBE). The total cost of the project is estimated at $18,186,387. 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.

DOE prepared this EA to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of providing two types of financial assistance to Dow Kokam MI, LLC to construct and operate the Midland Battery Park for manufacturing of advanced lithium polymer batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles: (1) a grant under Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA 0000026, Recovery Act - Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative and (2) a loan pursuant to Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 as an automotive component supplier promoting improved fuel economy in light-duty vehicles. As the name of the grant Funding Opportunity Announcement indicates, the grant would be made from funds appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act; Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115). This EA analyzes the potential impacts of the proposed construction and operation of the battery manufacturing facility by Dow Kokam MI, LLC, the two proposed federal actions (a grant and a loan), and the alternatives to the proposed project. The Midland Battery Park would be constructed on a 50-acre vacant site in Midland, Michigan, that is zoned industrial and surrounded by other industrial and commercial facilities. The new battery manufacturing facility would be about 770,000 square feet in size and would require a new 1- to 2-mile-long electric transmission line. DOE evaluated 15 resource areas in this EA and identified no significant adverse impacts for DOE's proposed actions, which would facilitate construction of the Midland Battery Park. With the following exceptions, impacts to the resource areas and issues examined would not occur or would be negligible. The proposed project site would be located in an area where soils were previously contaminated with dioxin and near areas with shallow groundwater contaminated with vinyl chloride and Freon 11. Concentrations of dioxin at the site are within acceptable limits for industrial uses and due care requirements would be implemented during construction to minimize risks of exposure. Discharge permit requirements for the safe handling and treatment of contaminated groundwater would be implemented during temporary dewatering to excavate and install detention basins and underground utilities. Over nine acres of isolated non-jurisdictional wetlands would be filled to construct the facility. The state of Michigan determined that these wetlands are not regulated under Federal or State laws. Detention basins would be created to temporarily store on-site storm water runoff and replace the main function of these low value wetlands. DOE determined that grading and filling these wetlands would not cause significant adverse impacts. A new transmission line could be a risk to migratory birds and could impact nearby wetlands and sensitive species. However, the transmission line should be designed to avoid these wetlands and protected species and common design standards should be implemented to minimize risks to migratory birds. Beneficial economic impacts would occur from increased employment opportunities and spending in the local economy. The use of batteries produced at this facility would increase the use of electric and hybrid vehicles, which would help reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from vehicles and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

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.

In support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Program, conceptual systems and cost analyses were developed by the Parsons Corporation for coal processing plants to produce hydrogen while recovering carbon dioxide (CO2) for offsite processing or sequestration. These plants had been referred to as decarbonized fuel plants, but are now called hydrogen fuel plants. The scope of work for this analysis entailed the following: Identifying alternative processes and technologies utilized for production of hydrogen from coal; Reviewing the technical and economic characteristics of developmental materials and technologies for separating hydrogen and oxygen from gas mixtures; Conceptualizing process plant designs that utilize developing technologies and materials, resulting in costs of product and CO2 sequestration significantly lower than with conventional approaches; Comparing the costs of a hydrogen fuel plant with plants designed to produce hydrogen from coal utilizing conventional technology; Performing sensitivity analyses on the baseline conceptual hydrogen fuel plants to determine the effect of modifying plant design on cost of product; Presenting data and results on this study at periodic conferences and workshops. An alternative plant was conceived for producing hydrogen from coal utilizing a hydrogen separation device (HSD) being developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The HSD is based on a high-temperature membrane separation concept that can be designed to selectively separate hydrogen from other gases. By utilizing the HSD, it should be possible to separate hydrogen from CO2 passively and economically. This report is a compilation of a series of letter reports issued between 1999 and 2001 to document the activity and results from this investigation. It includes the following: An establishment of a baseline plant design for hydrogen production based on the ORNL membrane concept, A comparison of this design to the conventional methods of producing hydrogen from natural gas and coal, and An evaluation of the HSD based on gasifying a mixture of Wyodak coal and biomass.

Due to the growth in natural gas production, primarily from shale gas, the United States is benefitting from some of the lowest prices for natural gas in the world and faces the question of how to best use this resource. Different segments of the U.S. economy have different perspectives on the role natural gas can play. Suppliers, which have become the victims of their own production success, are facing low prices that are forecast to remain low. Some companies that have traditionally produced only natural gas have even turned their attention to oil in order to improve their financial situation. Smaller companies are having a difficult time continuing operations and larger companies, including international companies, have bought into many shale gas assets. Prices have remained low even as consumption has increased, in part, because producers have raised production to meet the demand and because companies have improved efficiency and extraction techniques. Some companies, many with large production operations, have applied for permits to export natural gas. This has raised concerns from consumers of natural gas that domestic prices will rise. The debate regarding exports is ongoing. Industries that consume natural gas have seen input costs drop, and some have heralded low natural gas prices as the impetus for a manufacturing revolution in the United States. Some companies have begun to make major investments to take advantage of the low natural gas prices, particularly in petrochemicals. Other companies are waiting to see if prices will remain low long enough to warrant major investments in new facilities. Meanwhile, the electric power sector has already seen a transition from coal-fired generation to natural gas. Low natural gas prices are also putting pressure on renewable sources of power generation. However, increases in demand will put upward pressure on natural gas prices. The transportation sector, the one part of the economy vulnerable to foreign energy supplies, is beginning to explore ways to use more natural gas. Transportation makes up less than 1% of U.S. natural gas consumption and would require billions of dollars in investment to increase that share significantly. All of the change that has taken place so far has occurred despite environmental concerns and regulatory developments at the state and federal level that might curtail production. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that produces various pollutants, some more than other fossil fuels and some less. Methane, the major component of natural gas, is also a potent greenhouse gas when released without burning. Other environmental concerns focus on water use and disposal in hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from shale formations. Over the next five years, many of the issues being debated now may be decided. The industry and market are adapting to the newly found supplies and the concerns associated with them, as well as integrating more natural gas into the economy. There are many evolving issues some of which Congress can influence directly because of statutes and some indirectly. On the demand side, legislation has been introduced regarding exports of liquefied natural gas and alternative fuels for vehicles. There has been other legislation related to environmental regulations of natural gas.

The "Top 25 Coal and Minerals Mining of 2011-2012" report provides insights into the state of mining 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.

ASEAN has a goal to create an economic community by 2015. To achieve the goal, connectivity among the member states needs to be given due importance. In 2010, ASEAN adopted the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC), which looked at physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity. It pinned down fifteen priority projects which can potentially transform the ASEAN region, providing the conditions for a single market and production base. But MPAC is an expensive initiative, and funding remains a major challenge. The private sector needs to be actively involved as a number of infrastructure projects identified in the MPAC are lacking substantial investment. This book looks at the current state of ASEAN's physical connectivity and challenges in building better infrastructure. It contains a collection of papers that discuss specific issues pertaining to each kind of physical connectivity - transportation infrastructure, telecom connectivity, ICT and energy infrastructure. The book concludes with the steps needed to be taken for implementation of the various plans, and policy recommendations.

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.

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.

The "Top 25 Natural Gas 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.

Since early recorded history, people have been harnessing the energy of the wind. In the United States in the late 19th century, settlers began using windmills to pump water for farms and ranches, and later, to generate electricity for homes and industry. Industrialism led to a gradual decline in the use of windmills. The steam engine replaced European water-pumping windmills, and in the 1930s, the Rural Electrification Administration's programs brought inexpensive electric power to most rural areas in the US. However, industrialization also sparked the development of larger windmills, wind turbines, to generate electricity.

After experiencing strong growth in the mid-1980s, the U.S. wind industry hit a plateau during the electricity restructuring period in the 1990s and then regained momentum in 1999. Industry growth has since responded positively to policy incentives.

Although wind power currently provides only about 1% of U.S. electricity needs, it is growing more rapidly than any other energy source.

Wind power has negligible fuel costs, but high capital costs. The estimated average cost per unit incorporates the cost of construction of the turbine and transmission facilities, borrowed funds, return to investors (including cost of risk), estimated annual production, and other components, averaged over the projected useful life of the equipment, which may be in excess of twenty years.

Modern wind turbines fall into two basic groups: the horizontal-axis variety and the vertical-axis design. Utility-scale turbines range in size from 100 kilowatts to as large as several megawatts. Larger turbines are grouped together into wind farms which provide bulk power to the electrical grid. Single small turbines (below 100 kilowatts) are used for homes, telecommunications dishes, or water pumping. Small turbines are sometimes used in connection with diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaic systems. These systems are called hybrid wind systems and are typically used in remote, off-grid locations where a connection to the utility grid is not available.

A key challenge for wind energy is that electricity production depends on when winds blow rather than when consumers need power. Wind's variability can create added expenses and complexity in balancing supply and demand on the grid. Recent studies imply that these integration costs do not become significant (5%-10% of wholesale prices) until wind turbines account for 15%-30% of the capacity in a given control area.

Opposition to wind power arises for environmental, aesthetic, or aviation security reasons. New public-private partnerships have been established to address more comprehensively problems with avian (bird and bat) deaths resulting from wind farms. Some stakeholders oppose the construction of wind plants for visual reasons, especially in pristine or highly-valued areas.

Wind technology has improved significantly over the past two decades, and wind energy has become increasingly competitive with other power generation options. Federal wind power policy has centered primarily on the production tax credit (PTC), a business incentive to operate wind facilities. The PTC was extended through 2013. While wind energy still depends on federal tax incentives to compete, key uncertainties like climate policy, fossil fuel prices, and technology progress could dominate future cost competitiveness.

Full Table of Contents, Sample Sections, and additional resources are available on the book's web site: www.TCNWind.com

Over the past two decades, the extraction of nonrenewable resources in Latin America has given rise to many forms of struggle, particularly among disadvantaged populations. The first analytical collection to combine geographical and political ecological approaches to the post-1990s changes in Latin America's extractive economy, Subterranean Struggles closely examines the factors driving this expansion and the sociopolitical, environmental, and political economic consequences it has wrought. In this analysis, more than a dozen experts explore the many facets of struggles surrounding extraction, from protests in the vicinity of extractive operations to the everyday efforts of excluded residents who try to adapt their livelihoods while industries profoundly impact their lived spaces. The book explores the implications of extractive industry for ideas of nature, region, and nation; "resource nationalism" and environmental governance; conservation, territory, and indigenous livelihoods in the Amazon and Andes; everyday life and livelihood in areas affected by small- and large-scale mining alike; and overall patterns of social mobilization across the region. Arguing that such struggles are an integral part of the new extractive economy in Latin America, the authors document the increasingly conflictive character of these interactions, raising important challenges for theory, for policy, and for social research methodologies. Featuring works by social and natural science authors, this collection offers a broad synthesis of the dynamics of extractive industry whose relevance stretches to regions beyond Latin America.

At present, different concentrating solar thermal technologies (CST) have reached varying degrees of commercial availability. This emerging nature of CST means that there are market and technical impediments to accelerating its acceptance, including cost competitiveness, an understanding of technology capability and limitations, intermittency, and benefits of electricity storage. Many developed and some developing countries are currently working to address these barriers in order to scale up CST-based power generation. Given the considerable growth of CST development in several World Bank Group partner countries, there is a need to assess the recent experience of developed countries in designing and implementing regulatory frameworks and draw lesson that could facilitate the deployment of CST technologies in developing countries. Merely replicating developed countries' schemes in the context of a developing country may not generate the desired outcomes. Against this background, this report (a) analyzes and draws lessons from the efforts of some developed countries and adapts them to the characteristics of developing economies; (b) assesses the cost reduction potential and economic and financial affordability of various CST technologies in emerging markets; (c) evaluates the potential for cost reduction and associated economic benefits derived from local manufacturing; and (d) suggests ways to tailor bidding models and practices, bid selection criteria, and structures for power purchase agreements (PPAs) for CST projects in developing market conditions.|Security sector reform (SSR) is widely recognized as key to conflict prevention, peace-building, sustainable development, and democratization. SSR has gained most practical relevance in the context of post-conflict reconstruction of so-called ""failed states'"" and states emerging from violent internal or inter-state conflict. As this volume shows, almost all states need to reform their security sectors to a greater or lesser extent, according to the specific security, political and socio-economic contexts, as well as in response to the new security challenges resulting from globalization and post-9/11 developments. Alan Bryden is a researcher at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. Heiner Hnggi is assistant director of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces.

In their efforts to increase the share of renewable in electricity grids to reducing emissions or increasing energy diversity, developed and developing countries are finding that a considerable scale-up of investments in transmission infrastructures will be necessary to achieve their goals. Renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, and hydro power, tend to be sited far from existing electricity grids and consumption centers. Achieving desired supply levels from these sources requires that networks be expanded to reach many sites and to ensuring the different supply variation patterns of renewable are combined with existing sources in the grid to ensure the constantly varying demand for electricity is always met. Expanding networks will be crucial to achieve renewable energy objectives efficiency and effectively. Efficiency is important to ensure renewable energy goals are achieved at the lowest cost while considering needed investment in transmission. Besides the cost of transmission, which is often worth, transmission needs be planned and built in such a way that the many sites being taped are connected in a timely fashion. The challenges of ensuring efficiency and efficacy in developing transmission for renewable become surmountable if the right planning and regulatory framework for expanding transmission are put in place. This report reviews emerging approaches being undertaken by transmission utilities and regulators to solve to cope with these challenges of expanding transmission for renewable energy scale-up. Proactively planning and regulating transmission networks are emerging as the premier approach to ensure that transmission networks are expanded efficiently and effectively. Linking planning with clear and stable cost-recovery regulation can also help bringing the private sector to complement the considerable investment needs in transmission. Based on the evolving experience and on established theory and practice on transmission regulation, the report also proposes some principles that could be useful to implement specific rules for the planning, development, and pricing of transmission networks.