Final Report on the Clean Energy/Air Quality Integration Initiative Pilot Project of the U.S. Department of Energy's Mid-Atlantic Regional Office
This report publicizes the results of a pilot project that attempts to use renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to obtain credits nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission reductions under the Clean Air Act.
The following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader
- Full report (PDF 2.4 MB)
- Executive summary (PDF 1.8 MB)
- Appendix 1: Methodology and Calculations for Avoided NOx Emissions (PDF 268 KB)
- Appendix 2: Photovoltaic Systems Installed through CORE Program (PDF 262 KB)
- Appendix 3: New Jersey Clean Energy Protocols (PDF 1.5 MB)
- Appendix 4: Comparison of Alternative Methodologies to Calculate Avoided NOx Emissions (PDF 232 KB)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in Fiscal Year 2005 initiated the Clean Energy/Air Quality Integration Initiative to facilitate state efforts to improve air quality and increase the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. The initiative also seeks to facilitate the development of new state policies to further these objectives. This report summarizes the results of one of the four pilot projects supported by the initiative in FY 2005: the DOE Mid-Atlantic Regional Office pilot project.
The pilot project represents the first effort in the country to seek to obtain credit under a Clean Air Act State Implementation Plan for nitrogen oxide emission reductions. The project came about because of state-funded incentive programs and projects for renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE). Specifically, the pilot project focuses on the New Jersey State Implementation Plan and efforts to facilitate attainment of the new, 8-hour ozone standard under Clean Air Act by implementing selected categories of RE and EE programs and projects funded by the New Jersey Clean Energy Program of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The project is significant because of the broad scope of the RE and EE programs and projects considered, including EE projects in new construction and retrofits of commercial and industrial and residential buildings, Energy Star® air-conditioning and lighting, high-efficiency central air-conditioning and ground source heat pumps, and solar photovoltaic projects.
The project expanded methodologies to evaluate the amount of electricity savings, the summer component of the electricity savings, and the NOx emission reductions. Also, approaches were developed to integrate various elements of the federal and state regulatory framework to ensure that RE and EE programs result in real emission reductions. Moreover, the analytical and policy framework developed during the pilot project provides many valuable lessons to other states. During the course of the project, the project team resolved challenges in estimating reductions in emissions of NOx, a pollutant that is subject to emissions trading (cap and trade) regulations in New Jersey and most eastern states. Thus, the team needed to integrate elements of: (1) EPA's requirements for crediting NOx emission reductions in State Implementation Plans; and (2) the implementation of New Jersey regulations that govern NOx emissions trading, including provisions to establish an RE and EE set-aside of NOx allowances for the summer ozone season.
The work accomplished during the pilot project has already proven useful to other states in developing new NOx emissions trading programs that are required under EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule. Such work should help states achieve the full air quality benefits of their RE and EE programs.
This report contains a detailed list of lessons learned that other states can replicate. The pilot project has facilitated the resolution of numerous analytical and policy issues, and provides direction for other states to follow.
DOE report number: DOE/GO-102006-2354; August 2006.