U.S. Department of Energy
Free Resources Available: The 1996 NREL Information Resources Catalogue is intended to inform anyone interested in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies of NREL's outreach activities, including publications and services. The services section of the catalogue represents many ways in which NREL makes information available to the public, including a visitors' center, electronic networks, and information hotlines. Documents listed were published by NREL in fiscal year 1996 and include general interest publications, technical reports, conference papers, journal articles, and patents.

The catalogue is free in limited quantities and can be obtained through the document distribution service at (303) 275-4363 (phone), (303) 275-4053 (fax), or evanss@tcplink.nrel.gov (email). Contact: Anne Jones, (303) 275-3678.

Alabama
Science Workshops Big Hit With Teachers
The Science, Technology, and Energy (STE) Division of the Alabama Department of Economic & Community Affairs (ADECA) has provided Alabama science teachers with hands-on learning and science kits for use in the classroom. Outstanding science teachers have conducted the four-hour Saturday morning workshops throughout the state in conjunction with the Regional Educational InService Centers.

Topics such as photovoltaics, electricity, magnets, and simple machines have provided the relevant equipment, lesson plans, and practice that give teachers, even those with little science background, the knowledge and confidence to present the lessons in their classrooms. This year's workshop on basic electricity and how it works has turned on the "light of understanding" for some elementary school teachers. Instead of just learning how series and parallel circuits work, many teachers have said they finally understand why they work. Other workshops scheduled this year will focus on light energy, sound energy, heat energy, and their role in life and science.

Some of the items that have been provided in science kits include volt meters, ammeters, peg board apparatus stands, motors, magnets, circuit boards, and photovoltaic panels. More than 4,000 solar panels were distributed to Alabama teachers at workshops and through special programs with Alabama Power Company. With many schools dealing with a shortage of lab equipment and funds, teachers have expressed their need for and appreciation of the items received at the workshops.

Contact: Donna Robinson, (334) 242-5332

Energy Education Computer Programs Updated
ADECA STE has worked with the University of Alabama in Huntsville for several years in developing science and energy-related computer programs and distributing them free to Alabama teachers at hands-on workshops throughout the state. A general series for grades 1-12, including games and tutorials, and a science series, Project SEE (Science Energy Education) for grades 6-12, developed for the Apple IIe, have been distributed to most areas of Alabama. Programs have also been sent to other energy offices, utilities, schools, and companies in 22 states and internationally. Selected programs have been updated and are now available for the Apple IIe, IBM, and Macintosh, and may be downloaded from the Internet. New programs being developed are designed for CD-ROM and will be interactive.

Contact: Donna Robinson, (334) 242-5332

Project R.O.S.E. Enters 20th Year of Service
Project R.O.S.E. (Recycled Oil Saves Energy), Alabama's statewide used oil collection and recycling program, enters its 20th year of service in 1997. Project R.O.S.E. is one of the oldest volunteer used oil collection programs in the United States.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary, an informational video highlighting the used oil industry will be produced for national media release. The video will feature the new state-of-the-art refinery in Saraland, Alabama, and how the Project R.O.S.E. model has been successfully used in other state programs. Throughout the year in Alabama, special events will be hosted by Project R.O.S.E. These activities will range from one-day rural collection events to regional workshops and exhibit displays.

Project R.O.S.E. goals are conserving energy, preserving a valuable natural resource, and protecting the environment. To accomplish its purpose, Project R.O.S.E. educates the public about recycling used oil, helps establish used oil recycling programs, and offers used oil collection, recycling, technical, and regulatory assistance.

The Project R.O.S.E. program began in 1977 with two pilot programs in Tuscaloosa. Since then, the program has expanded to more than 300 used oil collection sites across the state. More than one-half billion gallons of used motor oil have been collected and recycled to date. Project R.O.S.E. is a nonprofit energy conservation program funded by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Science, Technology, and Energy Division and sponsored by the University of Alabama.

Contact: Sheri Powell, (205) 348-4878

Iowa
Iowa Governor Chairs Governor's Ethanol Coalition
As governor of the largest corn-producing state, Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad has taken the reins of the Governor's Ethanol Coalition. The coalition consists of 21 state governors whose purpose is to coordinate national legislative activities, marketing and promotional campaigns, and research and development activities that will increase the use of ethanol. The six-year-old organization has created the National Ethanol Research Institute, coordinated the purchase of high blend ethanol vehicles, developed an infrastructure for high blend ethanol vehicles, and lately has embarked on an international initiative that will help develop export markets for ethanol and ethanol by-products.

Contact: Sharon Tahtinen, (512) 281-7066

Kentucky
Northern Kentucky Included in Clean City Area
Two years of preparatory work culminated on January 29 with the designation of the Tri-State region - Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeastern Indiana - as a Clean City by USDOE. The Clean Cities Program promotes the use of alternative fuels for vehicles to reduce pollution. Speakers at the designation ceremony in Cincinnati, Ohio, included Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls, Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Stephen Henry, and USDOE's Brian Castelli, who is the Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Twenty-four organizations signed the Memorandum of Understanding pledging their cooperation in support of alternative fueled vehicles.

Contact: Geoffrey Young, (502) 564-7192

Fax number correction
This is a reminder that the fax number listed in the November Conservation Update is incorrect. Please fax your submittals to (502) 564-7484.

Louisiana
Louisiana's Colleges And Universities to Receive Funds for
Energy Conservation Programs
The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources' Energy Section will begin allocating funds for the state's colleges and universities to promote and investigate energy efficiency and awareness. Twenty-six institutions in Louisiana will receive contracts from the department to study various energy management and conservation issues and to educate their students, the public, and industries on ways to conserve energy. The allocation of funds will be based on school enrollment. Individual program funding and acceptance will depend on a school's ability to adhere to the guidelines established by the department and their ability to develop innovative approaches to tailor programs to their local energy needs. Under this new program, every energy-consuming practice from farming in north Louisiana to commercial fishing along the Gulf of Mexico may be investigated, and methods to conserve energy may be developed.

By utilizing the state's higher education system, the Energy Section is ensuring that Louisiana's college students will have the opportunity to become familiar with all types of energy (such as biomass, fuel cells, alternative fuels, solar, wind, and geothermal) and ways to properly manage and implement these new technologies while conserving our nonrenewable resources.

Contact: Anthony Cross, (504) 342-1298

North Carolina
Television Program Helps with Weather-Related Emergencies
As part of a continuing effort to help state residents during weather-related emergencies, the North Carolina Energy Division kicked off 1997 with a one-hour television program on emergency preparations. Energy officials sponsored the television program to give viewers basic information on how to prepare for emergencies. Panelists on the program included representatives of the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. Viewers called in during the program to ask questions on preparedness, the state building code, residential construction, and other related issues.

The emergency preparedness program was developed to help residents cope with emergencies such as the heavy ice storms and hurricanes that hit the state last year, leaving millions of residents without power for days. Other television programs scheduled for later this year include topics on energy efficiency in school construction, industrial competitiveness, and alternative fuel vehicles.

Contact: Juan Santos, (919) 733-1922

South Carolina
South Carolina Project Recognized by USDOE
The South Carolina Energy Office's Manufactured Housing Efficiency program was honored recently by the USDOE's 1996 National Awards for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The Manufactured Housing Efficiency program increases the percentage of energy-efficient manufactured homes sold in South Carolina. These homes save energy, reduce power plant emissions, and save money for low-income consumers. Tax incentives and consumer disclosure notices are used to encourage the sale of these homes.

Contact: Reneé Daggerhart, (803) 737-8030

South Carolina Energy Office Participates In Home Shows
The South Carolina Energy Office will be sponsoring booths this March at three builder's home shows in Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville. These home shows, targeted toward those interested in building or renovating a home, provide an excellent forum in which to present information to the public on new energy technologies and construction practices. With a total attendance of 77,000 people in 1996, the Energy Office made direct contact with over 6,000 people by discussing available literature, showing displays, and answering the many questions from "do-it-yourselfers." Based on the booth visitation and information distributed, it was estimated that the energy savings generated by the home shows last year was 6,604.5 million Btu. The total value of the energy savings to consumers exceeded $66,000. Just imagine what the savings would be if all South Carolinians put forth the effort to conserve energy.

The Charleston Home Show will be March 7-9 at the Graillard Municipal Auditorium; the Columbia Home Show will be March 14-16 at the State Fairgrounds; and the Greenville Home Show will be March 6-9 at the Palmetto International Exposition Center.

Contact: Reneé Daggerhart, (803) 737-8030

Texas
State Agencies' Directors Meeting on Efficiency and Conservation
The Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) hosted a January meeting of Executive Directors of all the state agencies in Texas to discuss how implementing energy efficiency and conservation strategies can help agencies save money. More than 150 people representing over 100 agencies throughout the state attended.

The executive directors learned the advantages of sustainable building design, installing energy-efficient equipment, including renewables, and instituting efficient building operational procedures to generate positive cash flow. They heard presentations from building energy experts from the University of Texas and Texas A & M University. A representative from the Office of the Attorney General discussed the future effects of utility deregulation on the state. Other topics discussed were the value of energy retrofits, renewable energy, building codes standards, and details concerning the state's overall utility usage.

The energy bill for these agencies was over $260 million last year. This does not include the $450 million energy bill for Texas schools, which also had representatives in attendance. If these executive directors and educators are successful in mobilizing their personnel to cut their consumption by just 10%, that would represent over $70 million in savings in just one year.

Meeting participants left with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and motivation to improve energy efficiency in their workplace.

Contact: Karen Raven, (512) 463-1890

Wisconsin
Governor Awards Renewable Energy Grants
Governor Tommy Thompson recently announced that 22 Wisconsin businesses, organizations, and municipalities will share $346,315 in state grants to evaluate and implement projects using renewable resources to produce energy. The technical assistance and construction grants are part of the Renewable Energy Assistance Program, administered by the Wisconsin Energy Bureau. Among the 14 technical assistance grants, five are related to solar energy, two deal with wind power, three will evaluate wood residues for fuel, one will assess turning acid cheese whey into ethanol, and one will evaluate heat recovery from geothermally heated water. The eight construction grants include five to help wood products companies utilize wood residues as fuel, one to a municipality planning to install a utility-scale wind turbine, one to install a landfill gas electric generating system at a county landfill, and one to add a process line to a cheese whey-to-ethanol plant to enable it to process potato wastes from nearby processing plants.

Contact: Dan Moran, (608) 266-1067

Madison Power Plant Demonstrates Switchgrass to Electricity
Madison Gas & Electric Co. has become the first utility in the United States to experiment with burning large amounts of native perennial grasses mixed with coal in a utility boiler to produce electricity. Over a five-day period in early October, the utility burned 53 tons of switchgrass, similar to hay, in its Madison power plant. This co-firing project is part of an experiment being conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in cooperation with the Electric Power Research Institute, the Great Lakes Biomass Energy Program, and others to evaluate the technical and economic aspects of using locally grown biomass to produce electric power. The advantages of using biomass for energy production are primarily for energy diversity and environmental and employment benefits. Using biomass in power plants instead of coal decreases Wisconsin's dependence on fossil fuels. Using marginal land to grow grass rather than row crops such as corn also reduces soil erosion and provides good ground cover for wildlife. Using a locally produced renewable fuel creates jobs in planting, harvesting, and transporting the biomass fuels.

Contact: Don Wichert, (608) 266-7312

New State Program Promotes Use Of Photovoltaics
Photovoltaic energy will soon have its chance to shine in Wisconsin with a new program designed to demonstrate feasible applications for this renewable energy source. The project is part of a larger national program that aims to install PVs in parks and other locations to increase the demand for PV cells, increase manufacturing efficiencies, and reduce the costs to produce and install systems. Wisconsin's program is being coordinated by the Wisconsin Energy Bureau. The Wisconsin program was initiated to identify and take advantage of cost-effective applications for PVs across the state and to gain experience using PV systems. One part of the program, Park Power, was unveiled recently at the Wisconsin State Parks Conference. The Energy Bureau has identified numerous opportunities in Wisconsin's parks to use photovoltaics cost effectively or to supply or increase needed electrical services at the parks. Opportunities include lighting for signs, water pumping, communications, environmental monitoring, and ventilation. The Energy Bureau is providing information and feasibility studies and will assist the parks in locating financing to pay for the equipment.

Contact: Don Wichert, (608) 266-7312

CONSERVATION UPDATE is a free monthly publication prepared by the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, Division of Energy, with funding from the United States Department of Energy, to facilitate the transfer of current State Energy Program (SEP) and technical information among the states and territories. Please submit short articles that describe successful programs, solicit ideas, share reports, studies or evaluations, or announce new publications, personnel changes, office address changes, conferences, seminars and workshops. Submittals are due by the seventh of each month. Please send submittals, address corrections, or name changes to: CONSERVATION UPDATE, Division of Energy, 663 Teton Trail, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, phone (502) 564-7192, facsimile (502) 564-7484, email: landry@nrepc.nr.state.ky.us. Past issues are available upon request. For more information, contact Karen W. Landry, Editor, or John M. Stapleton, Director.

Visit the Division's Web site at www.nr.state.ky.us/nrepc/dnr/energy/dnrdoe.html

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