Energy Research at DOE WAS IT WORTH IT? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Research 1978 to 2000 Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Board on Energy and Environmental Systems Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences National Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W Washington, DC 20418 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance This report and the study on which it is based were supported by Contract No DE-AM0199PO80016, Task Order DE-AT01-00EE10735.A000, from the U.S Department of Energy Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily reflect the view of the agency that provided support for the project International Standard Book Number: 0-309-07448-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2001093513 Available in limited supply from: Board on Energy and Environmental Systems National Research Council 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W HA-270 Washington, DC 20418 202-334-3344 Additional copies are available for sale from: National Academy Press 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W Box 285 Washington, DC 20055 800-624-6242 or 202-334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area) http://www.nap.edu Copyright 2001 by the National Academy of Sciences All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America National Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine National Research Council The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters Dr Bruce M Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers Dr Wm A Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education Dr Kenneth I Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine Dr Bruce M Alberts and Dr Wm A Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council COMMITTEE ON BENEFITS OF DOE R&D ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND FOSSIL ENERGY ROBERT W FRI, National Museum of Natural History, Chair WILLIAM AGNEW, NAE,1 General Motors Research Laboratories (retired) PETER D BLAIR, National Academy of Sciences RALPH CAVANAGH, Natural Resources Defense Council UMA CHOWDHRY, NAE, DuPont Engineering Technology LINDA R COHEN, University of California, Irvine JAMES CORMAN, Energy Alternative Systems Inc DANIEL A DREYFUS, National Museum of Natural History (retired) WILLIAM L FISHER, NAE, University of Texas, Austin ROBERT HALL, CDG Management, Inc GEORGE M HIDY, Envair/Aerochem DAVID C MOWERY, University of California, Berkeley JAMES DEXTER PEACH, Ellicott City, Maryland MAXINE L SAVITZ, NAE, Honeywell JACK S SIEGEL, Energy Resources International, Inc JAMES L SWEENEY, Stanford University JOHN J WISE, NAE, Mobil Research and Development Company (retired) JAMES L WOLF, consultant, Alexandria, Virginia JAMES WOODS, HP-Woods Research Institute Committee Subgroup on Energy Efficiency Committee Subgroup on Benefits Framework MAXINE L SAVITZ, Co-chair JAMES L WOLF, Co-chair WILLIAM AGNEW PETER D BLAIR RALPH CAVANAGH UMA CHOWDHRY LINDA R COHEN DAVID C MOWERY JAMES WOODS JAMES L SWEENEY, Chair LINDA R COHEN DANIEL A DREYFUS ROBERT W FRI DAVID C MOWERY Liaison from the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems WILLIAM FULKERSON, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Committee Subgroup on Fossil Energy JACK S SIEGEL, Chair JAMES CORMAN WILLIAM L FISHER ROBERT HALL GEORGE M HIDY JAMES DEXTER PEACH JOHN J WISE 1NAE Project Staff RICHARD CAMPBELL, Program Officer and Study Director JAMES ZUCCHETTO, Board Director DAVID FEARY, Senior Program Officer, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources (BESR) ROGER BEZDEK, consultant ANA-MARIA IGNAT, Senior Project Assistant = Member, National Academy of Engineering iv BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS ROBERT L HIRSCH, RAND, Chair RICHARD E BALZHISER, NAE,1 Electric Power Research Institute (retired) DAVID BODDE, University of Missouri PHILIP R CLARK, NAE, GPU Nuclear Corporation (retired) WILLIAM L FISHER, NAE, University of Texas, Austin CHRISTOPHER FLAVIN, Worldwatch Institute HAROLD FORSEN, NAE, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, D.C WILLIAM FULKERSON, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired) and University of Tennessee, Knoxville MARTHA A KREBS, California Nanosystems Institute GERALD L KULCINSKI, NAE, University of Wisconsin, Madison EDWARD S RUBIN, Carnegie Mellon University ROBERT W SHAW, JR., Arete Corporation JACK SIEGEL, Energy Resources International, Inc ROBERT SOCOLOW, Princeton University KATHLEEN C TAYLOR, NAE, General Motors Corporation JACK WHITE, Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions (ASERTTI) JOHN J WISE, NAE, Mobil Research and Development Company (retired), Princeton, New Jersey Staff JAMES ZUCCHETTO, Director RICHARD CAMPBELL, Program Officer ALAN CRANE, Program Officer MARTIN OFFUTT, Program Officer SUSANNA CLARENDON, Financial Associate PANOLA GOLSON, Senior Project Assistant ANA-MARIA IGNAT, Senior Project Assistant SHANNA LIBERMAN, Project Assistant NAE = Member, National Academy of Engineering v Acknowledgments The Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy wishes to acknowledge and thank the staffs of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Fossil Energy for their exemplary cooperation during the course of this project The committee called on these offices for extensive data, analyses, and presentations, which added significantly to their already heavy workload The committee also wishes to express appreciation to a number of other individuals and organizations for providing important background information for its deliberations Loretta Beaumont of the U.S House Appropriations Committee briefed us on the congressional origins of this study Members of the committee visited the General Electric Company and Babcock & Wilcox, whose cooperation and openness are greatly appreciated Other organizations that briefed the committee at one or more of its public meetings include the Ford Motor Company, the Gas Research Institute, Wolk Integrated Services, the Foster Wheeler Development Corporation, International Fuel Cells, Siemens Westinghouse, the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, the U.S General Accounting Office, Avista Laboratories, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the Peabody Group, CONSOL Energy Incorporated, and SIMTECHE The committee is grateful for the facts and insights that these briefings provided Importantly, the committee recognizes the contribution of Roger Bezdek, whose analytic support and keen advice were essential to the completion of its work Finally, the chair is acutely aware of the extraordinary efforts of the members of the committee and of the staff of the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems of the National Research Council (NRC) Every member of the committee contributed to the analysis of the case studies that form the foundation of this report and to the deliberations on the report itself The staff, led by Richard Campbell, man- aged a very complicated and voluminous process in accordance with the highest standards of the NRC What the committee was able to accomplish of the ambitious agenda set by Congress is entirely due to the efforts of these persons This report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council Report Review Committee The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Joel Darmstadter, Resources for the Future; Clark W Gellings, Electric Power Research Institute; Robert L Hirsch, RAND; John Holdren, John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; James J Markowsky, American Electric Power Service Corporation (retired); John McTague, Ford Motor Company (retired); Glen R Schleede, consultant; Frank J Schuh, Drilling Technology, Inc.; and Lawrence Spielvogel, Lawrence Spielvogel, Inc Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release The review of this report was overseen by Harold Forsen of the National Academy of Engineering Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution vii Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION A Brief History of Federal Energy R&D, Origin and Scope of This Study, 10 Organization of This Report, 12 Reference, 12 FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY Overview, 13 The Setting, 13 The Framework, 14 Conduct of the Study, 18 Assessment of the Methodology, 18 Reference, 19 13 EVALUATION OF THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS Introduction, 20 Selection of the Case Studies, 22 Buildings: Lessons Learned from the Case Studies, 27 Industry: Lessons Learned from the Case Studies, 30 Transportation: Lessons Learned from the Case Studies, 32 Findings and Judgments, 36 Recommendations, 41 References, 42 20 EVALUATION OF THE FOSSIL ENERGY PROGRAMS Introduction, 44 Selection of the Case Studies, 44 Lessons Learned from the Case Studies, 47 Findings, 57 Recommendations, 61 References, 61 44 OVERALL FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Benefits of DOE’s RD&D in Fossil Energy and Energy Efficiency, 63 DOE’s Approach to Evaluating Its RD&D Programs, 65 Portfolio Management, 66 Reference, 69 62 ix 210 APPENDIX F TABLE F-33 Benefits Matrix for the Seismic Technology Programa Realized Benefits/Costs Options Benefits/Costs Knowledge Benefits/Costs Economic benefits/costs DOE R&D costs: $106 millionb Industry cost share: $3 millionc Benefits of $600 milliond Produced incremental oil and natural gase None Knowledge base of reservoir propertiesf Knowledge base of seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretationg R&D on 3D/3C and 4D seismich,i Algorithm development Environmental benefits/costs Fewer wells drilled, reducing potential environmental impacts and reduced water production from drilling None Development of technology to reduce environmental impact and costs of future oil exploration and drilling Near-surface and deeper seismic imaging may be applied to resolve environmental problems Security benefits/costs Reduced oil imports As technologies are shared with other nations, oil supplies and reserves could be increased, prices stabilized, and U.S oil imports diversified None None aUnless otherwise noted, all dollar estimates are given in constant 1999 dollars through 2000 funds were distributed to industry ($4.9 million), universities and colleges ($5.6 million), the national laboratories ($32.6 million), and the Class Reservoir program ($62.5 million) cThe cost shares were industry, $850,000; universities and colleges, $2.2 million; the DOE laboratories, $29.1 million; and the Class Reservoir program, $76.8 million dFE estimated that the cumulative program benefits through 2005 total $27.3 billion, with a public sector return of $8.3 billion FE utilized a four-step process to estimate these benefits First, actual project results were used to determine the benefit of new technologies Second, the portions of the benefits attributable to DOE R&D and to industry R&D were estimated, and three estimates were modeled: no new technology, industry technology only, and DOE and industry technology from R&D The incremental benefits of the DOE programs were estimated by subtracting the industry-only benefits from the DOE + industry benefits Third, estimated benefits due to DOE R&D were estimated for oil production, natural gas production, and dollars saved owing to increased efficiency Finally, the total program benefits and public sector return were estimated Total program benefits were based on oil and gas production times oil and gas price tracks, and include cost savings from improved efficiencies for exploration, production, and refining operations Public sector benefits were estimated using average effective federal, state, and production and severance tax rates However, FE’s benefits estimates are probably much too high, especially since private industry discounts the importance of the FE seismic R&D program Nevertheless, the benefits of this program were large and greatly exceeded the R&D costs A net benefit of $600 million is assigned to DOE based on a benefit to cost ratio of 2.4 to 4.9 eFE estimates incremental production of 360 million bbl of crude oil, 113 million bbl of natural gas liquids, and 780 Bcf of natural gas fDerived from seismic to target exploration and field development potential gThe program provided a strong national knowledge base, aggregated the technical expertise of domestic industry to improve efficiency, and made it available to all of industry hThe research related 3D/3C and 4D seismic more directly to reservoir rock and fluids distributions through attribute analysis in order to more accurately image the reservoir and high-potential regions iThe 3-Component (3C) Vibratory Borehole Source technology is a powerful, nondestructive, fieldable vibratory seismic source used as a high-force, widebandwidth, three-axis seismic source Resolution of the tool is about 10 times greater than conventional technology The technology is currently commercial and is used for cross-well, reverse vertical seismic profiles, and single-well seismic surveys This technology may capture a large share of the potential U.S borehole seismic technology market, which is estimated to be $1.45 billion bThe An advanced three-component, multistation borehole seismic receiver was introduced in 1992 and is available through OYO-Geospace or as a service through Bolt Technology New seismic processing algorithms have been written to help resolve some of the problems inherent in 3D subsalt imaging In addition, 4D seismic technology developed through Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory is now marketed by Baker Hughes In addition, DOE support of seismic technology in various field projects has led to better reservoir characterization and improved oil production Benefits and Costs DOE estimates the overall benefit to industry of seismic technology to be $6 billion per year Industry spending on seismic applications and technical services is high, although there is some spending for R&D Of the total estimated benefit from seismic technology, DOE calculates its contribution in the range of to percent based on modeling analysis Industry spends about $1.5 billion per year on all research, and DOE estimates that the industry spends about $180 million per year on basic and long-term research DOE 211 APPENDIX F funding for seismic projects has averaged $5 million per year (exclusive of Field Demonstration projects), or percent of industry’s spending on long-term research On this basis, the DOE contribution to seismic technology has a benefit of $2.2 to $4.4 billion The investment in the program is $161 million, which would yield a gross return on investment between 14:1 and 28:1 Applying the 17.5 percent net to gross revenue ratio that was applied to other resource-based programs, the DOE Seismic Technology program would have a benefit/cost ratio of between 2.4 and 4.9 That gives a benefit of about $600 million (Table F-33) In another calculation of benefit/cost ratios, DOE credited the Seismic Technology program with percent of total domestic oil production and percent of total domestic natural gas production With an average net revenue at 17.5 percent of sales revenues, a realized economic benefit of $4145 million (1999 dollars) was calculated using a benefit/cost ratio of 39 The range 2.4 to 4.9 is more nearly consistent with calculated ratios of other resource-based programs and yet represents a very good return on investment for the program Lessons Learned The principal lesson learned from the DOE Seismic Technology program is that even with a technology in which the private industry has invested massively, federal government funding geared to certain niche areas—for instance, crosswell seismic, utilization of special expertise and facilities such as the high-performance computing capabilities of the national laboratories, or the support of seismic surveying for independent operators with the capability of processing seismic data—is a useful adjunct to a major private sector activity WESTERN GAS SANDS PROGRAM Program Description and History The early 1970s recorded peak production of natural gas in the United States at a time when demand had been increasing significantly for 20 years After peaking, most projections showed conventional gas production to decline steadily The Natural Gas Policy Act, which Congress passed in 1977, restricted or prohibited certain uses of natural gas With the widespread view that conventional sources of natural gas were dwindling, attention turned to so-called nonconventional sources—natural gas from coal beds, methane dissolved in geopressured waters, and natural gas in lowpermeability, or tight, formations Heretofore, these occurrences of natural gas were not included in estimates of the U.S natural gas resource base The Western Gas Sands program was designed to accelerate the development of domestic gas resources It was di- rected at the development of new and improved techniques for recovering gas from low-permeability (tight) gas reservoirs that at the time of initiation of the program could not be economically produced The purpose of the program was to encourage and supplement industry efforts to develop technology and demonstrate the feasibility of producing from tight reservoirs The initial federal effort to explore the potential of lowpermeability sands was undertaken by the Bureau of Mines in 1974 with a Single Well Test program to deploy massive hydraulic fracturing of tight sands Fracturing was generally successful in uniform, blanket sands but poor in lenticular reservoirs, whose character was not understood Congress established the Western Gas Sands program in 1978, and the initial effort was to better characterize the lowpermeability formations through an extensive coring and mapping program This led to the Multiwell Experiment (MWX), conducted from 1981 to 1988 in the Piceance Basin in western Colorado, aimed at characterization of reservoirs The goal was to investigate how fracturing technology could be deployed in the context of a characterized reservoir Previous experiments had been conducted on 640- or 320-acre spacing of wells, appropriate if the reservoir was uniform but too widely spaced to evaluate the continuity of lenticular reservoirs The MWX experiment was designed with a closely spaced three-well pattern (110- to 125-ft spacing) and was the basis for better understanding hydraulic fracture growth and gas production mechanics in lenticular sands, where most of the western U.S resource occurred Once the MWX was in place, the Western Gas Sands program focused on resource assessments establishing the reservoir properties of the massive volumes of gas in place in the basin-centered formations; reliable hydraulic fracture diagnostics technology; and technology for predicting and finding the naturally fractured “sweet spots” in tight gas reservoirs Funding and Participation DOE expenditures in the Western Tight Gas Sands program from 1978 through 1999 amounted to $185 million (1999 dollars) (see Table F-34) The program peaked in 1981, when the annual budget was $20.8 million (1999 dollars) and was the lowest in 1992 at $3.6 million; since it then has averaged a little over $5 million annually From 1983 to 1988, most of the budget was used to fund basic research and sample analysis through the national laboratories When the project emphasis changed from basic research to applied research in 1989, more funds were directed to actual procurements with private research companies and industry Prior to 1992, the program was funded entirely by DOE As the program became more product-oriented, a larger percentage of funding came from industry By the late 1980s, most of the research money was being spent in actual field demonstration projects In the basic and applied stages of the program, DOE expenditures led industry by to l; in the 212 APPENDIX F TABLE F-34 Benefits Matrix for the Western Gas Sands Program (WGSP)a Realized Benefits/Costs Options Benefits/Costs Knowledge Benefits/Costs Economic benefits/costs DOE R&D costs: $185 million Industry costs: $9 millionb Benefits: DOE made substantial contribution to $800 million in increased net revenues, royalties, and cost savingsd Incremental natural gas produced from the five Rocky Mountain foreland basinsf Potential for large volumes of marginal resources to be added to the resource base Development of new and improved techniques for future gas recovery from low-permeability (tight) gas reservoirse R&D on tight gas science, technology, and development Theoretical work on natural gas fracturesc Improved characterization and extraction technology Tailoring of well spacing to specific reservoir geometriesg Characterizations of basin-centered accumulations throughout the western United States Advanced the understanding of complex, lenticular reservoirs and how fracturing is deployed in such reservoirs Environmental benefits/costs Reduction in the number of wells required to produce a given gas supplyh None None Security benefits/costs None None None aUnless otherwise noted, all dollar estimates are given in constant 1999 dollars through 2000 bPrior to 1992, the program was funded entirely by DOE, but as it became more product-oriented, a larger percentage of funding came from industry By the late 1980s, most of the research money was being spent on field demonstration projects In the basic and applied stages of the program, DOE expenditures led industry by to l; in the demonstration stage, industry led DOE by nearly to l In addition, FE acknowledges analogous R&D efforts by GRI and private industry over the time period in question but provides no information on these efforts cProvided the foundation for the emerging natural fracture detection and prediction methodology dFE estimates $1626 million in increased net revenues and cost savings to gas producers in the Rockies; inclusion of the industry cost share in the program would reduce the benefits credited to DOE FE further estimates $591 million from royalties on federal lands and from increased state severance taxes due to displacement of imports, and it credits 70 percent of the increased gas production in the Rocky Mountain gas basins since l987 to WGSP The basis for estimating the realized economic benefits for the WGSP is the enabling of production of natural gas at prices that would not have been possible without the program Overall, WGSP is credited with developing technology and stimulating 35 percent of the tight gas produced from the Rockies from 1978 to 2005 With a 35 percent DOE share, a net benefit of about $800 million is assigned to DOE The remaining 65 percent is assigned to industry, GRI, and Section 29 tax credits eFuture application of WGS technology in emerging plays and basins will substantially enlarge this part of the resource base By 2005, production should approach 800 Bcf In addition to increased production, the program has significantly advanced understanding of complex lenticular reservoirs and how fracturing is deployed in them, and a much larger part of the vast in-place resource in the basin-centered gas formations of the Rocky Mountain basins is economically accessible fWGSP has contributed increased gas supplies at lower cost Tight gas production from the Rocky Mountain gas basins was only 162 Bcf in 1978, at the start of the program; 10 years later it stood at 224 Bcf, and in 2000 exceeded 700 Bcf gWGSP demonstrated the importance of tailoring development of well spacing to the specific geometries of reservoir heterogeneity related to natural fracturing in tight gas sands hThe application of resource assessments, natural fracture detection and prediction technology, and advanced drilling and stimulation will enable less than half as many wells to be drilled in the future to yield the same volume of reserves demonstration stage, industry led DOE by nearly to l (OFE, 2000t) Results The Western Gas Sands program has contributed increased gas supplies at lower cost Tight gas production from the Rocky Mountain gas basins was only 162 Bcf in 1978 at the start of the program; 10 years later it stood at 224 Bcf and in 2000 production exceeded 700 Bcf, a fourfold increase By 2005, production should approach 800 Bcf In addition to increased production, the program has significantly ad- vanced understanding of complex, lenticular reservoirs and how fracturing is deployed in them A much larger part of the vast in-place resource in the basin-centered gas formations of the Rocky Mountain basins is now considered economically accessible Benefits and Costs DOE credits 70 percent of the increased gas production in the Rocky Mountain gas basins since l987 to the Western Gas Sands program Overall, the program is credited with developing technology and stimulating 35 percent of the APPENDIX F tight gas produced from the Rockies from 1978 to 2005 The remaining 65 percent is assigned to industry’s activity, GRI’s R&D program, and Section 29 tax credits In return for a DOE R&D investment of a little over $180 million (1999 dollars) to date and $200 million through 2005, DOE calculates $1626 million (also in 1999 dollars) in increased net revenues and cost savings to gas producers in the Rockies, with a benefit to cost ratio of 8.9; inclusion of the industry cost share in the program would reduce that ratio somewhat DOE further calculates $591 million (1999 dollars) from royalties on federal lands and from increased state severance taxes due to displacement of imports With a 35 percent DOE share, a net benefit of about $800 million is assigned to DOE (see Table F-34) Future application of tight gas sand technology in emerging plays and basins will substantially enlarge this part of the resource base Tight gas production in the Rockies should reach 950 Bcf in 2010, providing an environmentally clean fuel and greater domestic supply The application of resource assessments, natural fracture detection and prediction technology, and advanced drilling and stimulation, means that less than half as many wells will need to be drilled to yield the same volume of reserves Lessons Learned A significant part of the success of the Western Gas Sands program was its successful transition from a basic research program supported entirely by government to an applied research and demonstration program in which industry took over increasing support of the program Coupled with governmental tax credit incentives under Section 29 of the Natural Gas Policy Act, this targeted research program brought an important source of natural gas into the national supply stream earlier and cheaper than it would otherwise have been brought in REFERENCES Bloomberg Press Release 2000 ExxonMobil, BP and Phillips Plan Alaska Gas Pipeline Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards 1998 Study of Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions from Electric Steam Generating Units: Final Report to Congress EPA-453/ R-98-004a Washington, D.C.: EPA Galloway, W.E., et al 1983 Atlas of Texas Major Oil Reservoirs: Bureau of Economic Geology University of Texas at Austin Special Publication Austin, Tex.: University of Texas National Energy Technology Laboratory 1999 Vision 21 Program Plan: Clean Energy Plants for the 21st Century Morgantown, W.Va.: National Energy Technology Laboratory National Research Council (NRC) 1990 Fuels to Drive Our Future Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press Office of Fossil Energy (OFE), Department of Energy 2000a OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) Technology Area, December 11 OFE 2000b OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Ben- 213 efits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Gas-toLiquids Technology, December OFE 2000c OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Indirect Coal Liquefaction Program, December OFE 2000d OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: IGCC Technology Area, December 20 OFE 2000e OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Flue Gas Desulfurization Program, December OFE 2000f OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: NOx Control Program, December OFE 2000g OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Mercury and Other Air Toxics Program, December OFE 2000h OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Waste Management/Utilization (Coal Combustion Byproducts) Program, December OFE 2000i OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Turbine Systems Technology Area, November 22 OFE 2000j OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Stationary Fuel Cells Program, December OFE 2000k OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Enacted Appropriations for the Stationary Fuel Cells Program, November 11 OFE 2000l OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Magnetohydrodynamics Program, November 27 OFE 2000m OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Drilling, Completion, and Stimulation Program, December OFE 2000n OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Downstream Fundamentals Area Research, December OFE 2000o OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Summary of Benefits and Costs of DOE/NETL’s Eastern Gas Shales Program, December OFE 2000p OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Enhanced Oil Recovery Program, December 18 OFE 2000q OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Field Demonstrations of Technology and Processes, December OFE 2000r OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Oil Shale Technology, December 12 OFE 2000s OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Seismic Technologies, December OFE 2000t OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: NETL Gas Supply Projects Division, Western Gas Sands Technology Area, December OFE 2001a OFE Letter Response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Coal Preparation Program January 25 OFE 2001b OFE Letter Response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Direct Coal Liquefaction January OFE 2001c OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Ben- 214 efits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Coal-bed Methane Program, January 10 Spencer, D 1995 A Screening Study to Assess the Benefit/Cost of the U.S DOE Clean Coal R/D/D Program SIMTECHE, informal report for the Office of Fossil Energy Washington, D.C.: Department of Energy Robert, Wright, DOE, e-mail communication, January 4, 2001 BIBLIOGRAPHY Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory 2000 Response to the National Research Council Questionnaire Fluidized-Bed Combustion (FBC) Technology Area, November 22 Office of Fossil Energy (OFE) 2000 OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Reservoir Efficiency Processes, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Production Research, December OFE 2000 OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Ben- APPENDIX F efits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Fossil Energy Congressional Budget Request and Enacted Appropriations, November 27 OFE 2000 OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Technology Area, December OFE 2000 OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Overview of Accomplishments and Benefits of DOE R&D Programs in Oil and Natural Gas, December OFE 2000 OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Attachment 1: Individual Program Summaries, December 18 OFE 2001 OFE Letter response to questions from the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D in Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy: Coal Preparation Program (update), Successful Results of the DOE Coal Preparation/Solid Fuels and Feedstocks R&D Program February G Glossary AFBC: Atmospheric fluidized-bed combustion greatly reduces sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from coal-burning power plants while increasing combustion efficiency The result is that power plant engineers can obtain more power from a given amount of coal A key feature of Illinois coal is its high energy content Unfortunately, it has a high sulfur content as well Fluidized-bed combustion neutralizes the process by which sulfur is converted to SO2 then emitted into the atmosphere tors, commercial water heaters, and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems It also allowed for the future development of standards for many other products The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for establishing the standards and the procedures that manufacturers must use to test their models atmospheric pressure: The pressure of the air at sea level; one standard atmosphere at 0°C is equal to 14.695 psi (1.033 kg/cm2) avoided cost: The incremental cost to an electric power producer of generating or purchasing a unit of electricity or capacity or both alternative fuels: A popular term for nonconventional transportation fuels derived from natural gas (propane, compressed natural gas, methanol, etc.) or biomass materials (ethanol, methanol) baseload: Baseload is the minimum amount of power required during a specified period at a steady state anthracite: Highest rank of economically usable coal, almost pure carbon, with a heating value of 15,000 Btu/lb, a carbon content of 86 to 97 percent, and a moisture content of less than 15 percent It is a hard, jet black substance with a high luster It is primarily mined in northeastern Pennsylvania battery: An energy storage device composed of one or more electrolyte cells bbl: A barrel is the standard unit of measure of liquids in the oil industry; it contains 42 U.S standard gallons biomass: Organic material of a nonfossil origin (living or recently dead plant and animal tissue), including aquatic, herbaceous, and woody plants, animal wastes, and portions of municipal wastes anthracite culm: Waste product produced when anthracite is mined and prepared for market Primarily rock and some coal appliance standards: Standards established by Congress for energy-consuming appliances in the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) of 1987, as amended in the National Appliance Energy Conservation Amendments of 1988 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) NAECA established minimum standards of energy efficiency for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, freezers, room air conditioners, fluorescent lamp ballasts, incandescent reflector lamps, clothes dryers, clothes washers, dishwashers, kitchen ranges and ovens, poll heaters, television sets (withdrawn in 1995), and water heaters The EPAct added standards for some fluorescent and incandescent reflector lamps, plumbing products, electric mo- bituminous coal: Type of coal most commonly used for electric power generation, with a heating value of 10,500 Btu per pound, a carbon content of 45 to 86 percent, and a moisture content of less than 20 percent It is soft, dense, and black with well-defined bands of bright and dull material It is mined chiefly east of the Mississippi River black liquor gasification: Black liquor gasification offers pulp and paper mills the most efficient method for converting biomass energy to electric power, with thermal efficiencies of 74 percent compared with 64 percent in modern recovery boilers Black liquor gasification also has environmental benefits, such as fewer CO2 emissions 215 216 and wastewater discharges, the potential for self-generation of power, and the potential for improved pulping operations bottoming cycle: A means to increase the thermal efficiency of a steam electric generating system by converting some waste heat from the condenser into electricity The heat engine in a bottoming cycle would be a condensing turbine similar in principle to a steam turbine but operating with a different working fluid at a much lower temperature and pressure Btu: A British thermal unit is a standard unit for measuring the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of lb of water by 1°F CAFE requirements: Corporate average fuel economy is a sales-weighted average fuel mileage calculation, in terms of miles per gallon, based on city and highway fuel economy measurements performed as part of federal emissions test procedures CAFE requirements were instituted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 and modified by the Automobile Fuel Efficiency Act of 1980 For major manufacturers, CAFE levels in 1996 were 27.5 miles per gallon for light-duty automobiles CAFE standards also apply to some light trucks The Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988 allowed for an adjusted calculation of the fuel economy of vehicles that can use alternative fuels, including fuel-flexible and dual-fuel vehicles catalytic converter: An air pollution control device that removes organic contaminants by oxidizing them into carbon dioxide and water through a chemical reaction using a catalyst, which is a substance that increases (or decreases) the rate of a chemical reaction without being changed itself; required in all automobiles sold in the United States and used in some types of heating appliances CCT: Clean coal technology is a new way to burn or use coal that significantly reduces the release of pollutants and offers greater environmental protection and, often, better economic performance than older coal technologies CFL: Compact fluorescent lamps are four to five times more efficient than incandescent lamps CFLs are now widely used in commercial buildings in many applications that traditionally used incandescent lamps, for example, in recessed downlights The primary barrier to widespread penetration of the CFL in the residential sector is the cost and bulk of the ballast Unitized lamp-ballast products minimize bulk but tend to be expensive because both the lamp and the ballast are replaced when the product wears out CH4: Methane is a colorless, odorless gas that is the most simple of the hydrocarbons formed naturally from the decay of organic matter Each methane molecule contains a carbon atom surrounded by four hydrogen atoms It is the principal component of natural gas APPENDIX G CO: Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless but poisonous combustible gas It is produced in the incomplete combustion of carbon and carbon compounds such as fossil fuels (i.e., coal and petroleum) and their products (e.g., liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline) and biomass CO2: Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced when animals (including humans) breathe or when carbon-containing materials (including fossil fuels) are burned coal-bed methane: In general terms, coal-bed gas is formed by biochemical and physical processes during the conversion of plant material into coal Methane accounts for most of the gases created during the conversion process, and the term “coal-bed methane” has been used by industry for gas from this source Coal-bed methane is similar to conventional natural gas but is produced from low-pressure underground coal formations rather than from underground sandstone or carbonate rock formations It is mainly composed of methane but, like other conventional natural gases, it may contain very small quantities of other paraffin series hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane Coal-bed methane has been referred to as a sweet gas because it typically contains very few impurities such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide normally found in natural gas In some cases, it can be input directly into natural gas pipelines or other gathering systems with little processing However, in other cases, the few impurities present must be removed before being input into a gathering system coal preparation: The treatment of coal to reject waste In its broadest sense, preparation is any processing of mined coal to prepare it for market, including crushing and screening or sieving the coal to reach a uniform size, which normally results in removal of some noncoal material The term “coal preparation” most commonly refers to processing, including crushing and screening, passing the material through one or more processes to remove impurities, sizing the product, and loading it for shipment Many of the processes separate rock, clay, and other minerals from coal in a liquid medium; hence the term “washing” is widely used In some cases, coal passes through a drying step before loading combined cycle: An electric generating technology in which electricity is produced from otherwise lost waste heat exiting from one or more gas (combustion) turbines The exiting heat is routed to a conventional boiler or to a heatrecovery steam generator for utilization by a steam turbine in the production of electricity Such designs increase the efficiency of the electric generating unit combustion turbine: A gas turbine is a heat engine that uses high-temperature, high-pressure gas as the working fluid Part of the heat supplied by the gas is converted directly APPENDIX G into mechanical work—high-temperature, high-pressure gas rushes out of the combustor and pushes against the turbine blades, causing them to rotate In most cases, hot gas is obtained by burning a fuel in air, which is why gas turbines are often referred to as combustion turbines Because gas turbines are compact, lightweight, and simple to operate, they are widely used in jet aircraft and for electricity generation Gas turbines are also used in university and industrial settings to produce electricity and steam In such cases, simple-cycle gas turbines convert a portion of input energy to electricity and use the remaining energy to produce steam in a steam generator For utility applications, which require maximum electric power, a combined-cycle steam turbine is added to convert steam to electricity Advanced turbines being developed now use natural gas as the fuel but will later be designed for use with fuels derived from coal, biomass, and other energy resources The ATS program goal is to produce more-fuelefficient, cleaner, and lower-cost electricity turbines crude oil: Unrefined petroleum that reaches the surface of the ground in a liquid state DCS: The goal of DOE’s drilling, completion, and stimulation program is to conduct R&D that will help reduce drilling costs, minimize formation damage, lower environmental impacts, and improve federal lands Well drilling, completion, and stimulation account for the great bulk of industry’s capital costs for developing oil and natural gas and provide a rich target for cost reductions and improved practices direct liquefaction: In direct liquefaction, coal is liquefied by reacting it with hydrogen under pressure and temperature in a process-derived solvent This technology has not been commercially practiced except in Germany during the Second World War to produce mostly aviation gasoline using inefficient, very-high-pressure technologies At the end of the war, the U.S government had a demonstration program to assess those early, first-generation direct liquefaction technologies The fuels were found to be much too expensive, particularly in comparison to crude oil from the newly opened Middle Eastern oil fields The U.S government’s interest was rekindled in the 1960s, starting with limited research and development programs sponsored by the Department of the Interior (Office of Coal Research, Bureau of Mines) The program was stepped up significantly with the oil embargo of 1973 DOE-2: DOE-2 is a computer program that helps evaluate the energy performance and associated operating costs of buildings through computer simulations The computer program can also be used to evaluate the performance of new technologies and to guide research by estimating the impact of alternative R&D Such information helps architects and developers to design and construct energy-efficient buildings in a cost-effective manner 217 downstream fundamentals program: The goal of the downstream fundamentals area of research is to develop and publish fundamental scientific data on thermodynamics, crude oil characterization, and refinery process improvements Of particular emphasis is to provide this information to companies, universities, and laboratories that not have internal capacity to develop the data individually DSM: Demand-side management programs are instituted by utilities They include schemes such as rebates to customers for installation of energy-efficient appliances and reduced rates for nonpeak-load use of electricity to encourage customers to reduce electricity consumption overall or at certain periods Eastern Gas Shales Project: The Eastern Gas Shales Project’s technology and information have achieved significant cost reductions in gas shale development and production The reductions have helped revitalize gas shale drilling in the Appalachian Basin and foster new activity in other gas shale basins Today, gas shales provide over 400 Bcf per year of natural gas production from numerous basins, up from 70 Bcf in 1978 Through its basic R&D, the project discovered and demonstrated that adsorption is the main gas storage mechanism and that natural fractures provide the essential flow paths in gas shales The project also developed a series of high-value products that are now widely used by the private gas shale industry, including foam and massive hydraulic fracturing technology, oriented coring and fractigraphic analysis, and well logging in air-filled holes electronic ballasts: A fluorescent lamp ballast is an electrical device required for starting and operating a fluorescent lamp The ballast provides the high voltage needed to start the lamps by initiating its discharge and then limits the current to a safe value when the discharge is established An electronic ballast improves lighting energy efficiency by 25 percent compared with conventional magnetic ballasts Each electronic ballast saves 20 W by replacing an 80-W magnetic ballast/lamp combination consuming 60 W In addition, electronic ballasts are lighter and easier to install They eliminate the flicker or hum that is sometimes experienced with magnetic ballasts emission control technologies: Combustion processes produce emissions that can be reduced by emission control technologies These technologies are designed to adjust emissions from burning fuels by applying control factors such as electrostatic precipitators and filters, or combustion modification processes Environmental Technology: The Environmental Technology Program sponsors research on technologies that reduce the costs of environmental compliance for the oil and natural gas industry In addition, the program pro- 218 vides scientific data for identifying lower cost options for formulating or implementing regulations EOR: Several techniques for enhanced oil recover include the injection of steam, polymers, surfactants, carbon dioxide, and other agents into the oil-bearing formation The objective of the Enhanced Oil Recovery Program is to develop technology that is capable of improving the recovery of oil beyond that recoverable by conventional methods Conventional primary and secondary recovery operations often leave two-thirds of the oil in the reservoir at the time of abandonment Enhanced oil recovery methods have the potential for recovering much of the remaining oil However, the challenges are great because the remaining oil is often located in regions of the reservoir that are difficult to access and is also bound tightly into the pores by capillary pressures FBC: Fluidized-bed combustion is an advanced way of burning crushed coal (or other fuels) by suspending the coal on an upward stream of hot air In the fluid-like mixing process, limestone can be injected into the “bed” (floating layer) of coal to absorb sulfur pollutants before they can escape out of the smokestack The mixing process also lowers the temperature of the burning coal below the point where nitrogen oxides, another pollutant, are formed APPENDIX G fluorescent lamp: A tubular electric lamp that is coated on its inner surface with a phosphor and that contains mercury vapor whose bombardment by electrons from the cathode provides ultraviolet light, which causes the phosphor to emit visible light either of a selected color or closely approximating daylight Forest Products IOF: The goal of the Forest Products Industries of the Future program is to improve the energy efficiency, productivity, and environmental performance of the forest, wood, and paper industry by better aligning R&D resources and technical assistance with industry problems and priorities The industry itself leads the process fossil fuel: Any naturally occurring fuel of an organic nature formed by the decomposition of plants or animals; includes coal, natural gas, and petroleum fenestration: In simplest terms, windows or glass doors Technically fenestration is described as any transparent or translucent material plus any sash, frame, mullion, or divider This includes windows, sliding glass doors, French doors, skylights, curtain walls, and garden windows fuel cell: A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that produces electric power from a fuel It has some components and characteristics similar to those of a battery But, unlike a battery, it continually produces power as long as a fuel and an oxidant are supplied to its electrodes It does not need to be recharged Fuel (usually a hydrogen-rich gas) is continuously supplied to the anode (negative electrode), and the oxidant (oxygen from air) is continuously supplied to the cathode (positive electrode) The electrodes are separated by an electrolyte that conducts ions The fuel is converted directly to electrons without any intervening steps of combustion, rotary motion, or reciprocating action FGD: Flue gas desulfurization reduces the SO2 output concentration to acceptable levels FGD technology can be used with many kinds of coal gasification: A group of processes that turn coal into a combustible gas by breaking apart the coal using heat and pressure and, in many cases, hot steam field demonstration: The goal of the Field Demonstration Program is to accelerate the field application of technology developed by industry and DOE In the near term, the objective is to transfer technology that will enable the industry to recover 15 billion bbl of mobile oil, using currently available and proven technologies, before these resources and fields are abandoned The midterm objective is to prove and demonstrate advanced enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies that will enable the industry to recover an additional 61 million bbl An essential feature of the program is the transfer of information and technology from specific projects to industry, particularly the independent segment of the industry gas-to-liquids: The gas-to-liquids technology program is part of the Natural Gas Processing and Utilization Program, which has the goal of supporting the development of advanced gas upgrading and conversion processes to bring low-grade gas up to pipeline standards and to convert remote gas to more readily transportable high-value liquid fuels and feedstocks The gas-to-liquids portion of this program has the primary objective of lowering the cost of converting natural gas to liquid hydrocarbons Fischer-Tropsch process: The catalytic conversion of synthesis gas into a range of hydrocarbons flue gas: Gas that is left over after fuel is burned and which is disposed of through a pipe or stack to the atmosphere greenhouse gases: Gases such as water vapor, carbon monoxide, tropospheric ozone, nitrous oxide, and methane, which are transparent to solar radiation but opaque to longwavelength radiation; their action is similar to that of glass in a greenhouse heat pump: An air-conditioning unit that is capable of heating by refrigeration, transferring heat from one (often cooler) medium to another (often warmer) medium, and APPENDIX G which may or may not include a capability for cooling This reverse-cycle air conditioner usually provides cooling in summer and heating in winter hybrid vehicle: Usually a hybrid electric vehicle, a vehicle that employs a combustion engine system together with an electric propulsion system Hybrid technologies expand the usable range of all-electric vehicles using batteries only hydrocarbons: A class of compounds containing hydrogen and carbon formed by the decomposition of plant and animal remains These compounds include coal, oil, natural gas, and other substances occurring in rocks IGCC: Integrated gasification combined-cycle technology uses a coal gasifier in place of the traditional combustor, coupled with a key enabling technology—the advanced gas turbine—to produce clean, efficient electric power In an IGCC plant, coal is combined with steam and oxygen to produce a synthesis gas that is cleaned of particulate and sulfur impurities and used to produce power in a gas turbine Waste heat from the process is used in a steam turbine to generate more electricity Integrating gasifier technology with a combined cycle in this way offers high system efficiencies, low costs, and ultralow pollution levels indirect coal liquefaction: In indirect coal liquefaction, coal is first gasified to produce a synthesis gas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide), which is cleaned to remove acid gases (hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide) This synthesis gas is then converted either to oxygenates and chemicals or to a range of hydrocarbon products using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis R&D for the production of the clean synthesis gas from coal is the responsibility of the Gasification Technologies Program The Indirect Liquefaction Program is responsible for R&D that deals with the synthesis of the products, their characterization and testing, and their upgrading in situ processing: The extraction of a product such as shale oil or bitumen from the ore while it is in its original location underground life-cycle costs: The total costs of an energy device Total costs from procurement operation, maintenance, and disposal at end of life are considered for comparison using present dollars life extension: Life extension is achieved by maintaining or improving the operating status of an electric power plant within acceptable levels of availability and efficiency, beyond the originally anticipated retirement date liquefaction: Processes that convert coal into a liquid fuel similar in nature to crude oil and/or refined products 219 longwall mining: An automated form of underground coal mining characterized by high recovery and extraction rates, feasible only in relatively flat-lying, thick, and uniform coalbeds A high-powered cutting machine is passed across the exposed face of coal, shearing away broken coal, which is continuously hauled away by a floor-level conveyor system Longwall mining extracts all machineminable coal between the floor and ceiling within a contiguous block of coal, known as a panel, leaving no support pillars within the panel area Panel dimensions vary over time and with mining conditions but currently average about 900 feet in width (coal face width) and more than 8000 feet in length (the minable extent of the panel, measured in the direction of mining) Longwall mining is done under movable roof supports that are advanced as the bed is cut The roof in the mined-out area is allowed to fall as the mining advances lost foam casting: Lost foam casting has significant cost and environmental advantages and enables metal casters to produce complex parts often not possible using other methods The process allows designers to reduce the number of parts, reduce machining, and minimize assembly operations It also allows foundries to reduce solid waste and emissions The lost foam process consists of first making a foam pattern having the geometry of the desired finished metal part The pattern is dipped into a water solution containing a suspended refractory The refractory material coats the foam pattern, leaving a thin, heat-resistant layer that is air-dried When drying is complete, the coated foam is suspended in a steel container that is vibrated while sand is added to surround the coated pattern The sand provides mechanical support to the thin refractory layer Molten metal is then poured into the mold, and the molten metal melts and vaporizes the foam The solidified metal leaves a nearly exact replica of the pattern that is machined as required to produce the desired finished shape low-e: A special coating that reduces the emissivity of a window assembly, thereby reducing the heat transfer through the assembly low-e windows: Low-emission windows save heating and cooling loads in residential and commercial buildings They reflect the infrared back into the room instead of absorbing and transmitting it to the outside Mcf: One thousand cubic feet of natural gas, having an energy value of million Btu A typical home might use Mcf in a month mercury and air toxics: Mercury and other air toxics (chlorine, sulfur, ash, etc.) are defined as hazardous by-products from the combustion of fossil fuels The DOE Mercury Measurement and Control Program developed as a result of findings from the comprehensive assessment of 220 hazardous air pollutant studies conducted by DOE from 1990 through 1995, with some efforts through 1997 The overriding finding of these studies was that mercury is not effectively controlled in coal-fired utility boiler systems EPA also concluded that a plausible link exists between these emissions and adverse health effects The ineffective control of mercury by existing coal technologies was due to a number of factors, including variation in coal composition and resulting variability in the form of the mercury in flue gases The volatility of mercury was the main reason for less removal In addition, it was determined that there was no reliable mercury specification method to accurately distinguish between the elemental and oxidized forms of mercury in the flue gas, which act differently with respect to their removal by the air pollution control devices utilized by the coal-fired utility industry MHD: Magnetohydrodynamics is a means of producing electricity directly by moving liquids or gases through a magnetic field natural gas: A mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons, composed primarily of methane and occurring naturally in the earth, often among petroleum deposits It is used as fuel NOx: Oxides of nitrogen; a mix of nitrous oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) NOx control: Techniques for reducing NOx emissions from fossil-fuel-fired boilers can be classified into two categories: combustion controls and postcombustion controls Combustion controls reduce NOx formation during the combustion process, while postcombustion controls reduce NOx after is has been formed O3: Ozone is a bluish, toxic gas with a pungent odor It is formed by three oxygen atoms rather than the usual two Ozone occurs in the stratosphere and plays a role in filtering out ultraviolet radiation from the sun’s rays At ground level, ozone is a major component of smog OAPEC: The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries was established in 1968 with permanent headquarters in Kuwait It is an instrument of Arab cooperation whose objective is to provide support to the Arab oil industry Its activities are developmental in nature, and its membership is restricted to Arab countries with oil revenues that constitute a significant part of their GNPs OPEC: The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, founded in 1960 to unify and coordinate the petroleum policies of the members The headquarters is in Vienna, Austria oxy-fueled glass furnace: The glass industry is a large user of energy in furnaces to produce glass containers, float glass for windows in construction and automobiles, fiber glass insulation, and other specialty products The high temperatures required for glass manufacture and the raw APPENDIX G materials used in glass result in significant emissions of NOx and particulates The oxy-fuel furnace substitutes oxygen for air in the combustion process This change in the process significantly reduces NOx emissions, reduces the amount of energy required per ton of glass produced, reduces levels of other gases, and reduces the capital costs for furnace regenerators and emissions control equipment P-4: The Programmable Powdered Preform Process is a way of fabricating a preform that is essentially the fibrous skeleton of a composite structure Chopped reinforcement fibers and resin powder are simultaneously sprayed onto a heated screen mandrel by robots that control the placement, depth, and orientation of the fibers The resin powder melts, causing the fibers to stick together enough for the preform to be removed whole from the mandrel The preform is placed in a mold, where it is infused with more resin, compressed, and heat-cured to form the final product P-4 is highly automated and results in finished parts with good dimensional stability, strength, and corrosion and wear resistance It is also much faster than most composite preform processes peak load: Peak load (usually in reference to electrical load) is the maximum load during a specified period of time Peak periods during the day usually occur in the morning hours from to A.M and during the afternoons from P.M to about or P.M The afternoon peak demand periods are usually higher, and they are highest during summer months when air-conditioning use is the highest PEM fuel cell: A PEM (proton exchange membrane, also called polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cell uses a simple chemical process to combine hydrogen and oxygen into water, producing electric current in the process PFBC: Pressurized fluidized-bed combustion is one of several advanced approaches for substantially improving the efficiency of coal-fired power systems while significantly reducing emissions In contrast to the atmospheric fluidized-bed combustion (AFBC) system, in a PFBC system, the boiler, cyclones, and other associated hardware are encapsulated in a pressure vessel This compact “boiler in a bottle” is about one-fourth the size of a pulverized coal boiler of similar capacity PFBC units are intended to give an efficiency value of over 40 percent and low emissions, and developments of the system using more advanced cycles are intended to achieve efficiencies of over 45 percent PNGV: Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles was established in September 1993 as a collaboration between the federal government and the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), which represents DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors The PNGV’s goal is to develop technologies for a new generation of energy efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles 221 APPENDIX G psi (psig): Pounds per square inch (psig indicates gauge pressure, that is, pressure above atmospheric pressure) enormous cost and logistic difficulty of introducing an entirely new type of engine pyrolysis: Thermal decomposition of a chemical compound or mixture of chemical compounds Stirling engine: An external combustion engine that converts heat into usable mechanical energy (shaftwork) by the heating (expanding) and cooling (contracting) of a captive gas such as helium or hydrogen rank: Variety of coal; the higher the rank of coal, the greater its carbon content and heating value R&D: Research is the discovery of fundamental new knowledge Development is the application of new knowledge to develop a potential new service or product RD&D: Research, development, and demonstration repowering: Repowering is achieved by investments made in a plant to substantially increase its generating capability, to change generating fuels, or to install a more efficient generating technology at the plant site SCR: Selective catalytic reduction; postcombustion NOx control with the use of catalysts seismic technology: Seismic technologies are geophysical techniques used to image oil reservoirs, the associated rock and fluids from the earth’s surface and/or from nearby boreholes The application of seismic technology in oil exploration and development has increased ultimate recovery and reduced risk and costs by identifying barriers and pathways of fluids movement through the reservoir, thus allowing for more effective targeting of well placement and management of enhanced oil recovery projects SFC: Synthetic Fuels Corporation shale oil: A type of rock containing organic matter that produces large amounts of oil when heated to high temperatures SOx: Oxides of sulfur SO2: Sulfur dioxide Subbituminous coal: Coal with a heating value of 8,300 to 11,500 Btu/lb, a carbon content of 35 to 45 percent, and a moisture content of 20 to 30 percent syngas: Synthetic natural gas made from coal synthesis gas: Mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen and other liquid and gaseous products Synthetic Fuels Corporation: Organization established by the Energy Security Act of 1980 to facilitate the development of domestic nonconventional energy resources tax credits: Credits established by the federal and state government to assist the development of the alternative energy industry turbine: A machine that has propeller-like blades that can be moved by flowing gas (such as steam or combustion gases) to spin a rotor in a generator to produce electricity 21st Century Truck Program: Multiagency and industry partnership designed to cut fuel use and emissions by buses and trucks, while enhancing their safety, affordability and performance It was created as a response to U.S climate change policy waste management: Waste products from the combustion of fossil fuels for power generation include by-product materials from scrubbers and fly ash The Waste Management Utilization Program is oriented toward providing improved methods of waste characterization and handling, advances in resource recovery and reutilization techniques, and sound management and/or disposal of combustion and other fossil wastes in compliance with environmental regulations Steel IOF: The Industries of the Future partnership between DOE and the U.S steel industry is oriented toward improving the productivity, energy efficiency, and environmental performance of the steel industry by aligning the R&D resources of industry and government well: A hole drilled or bored into the earth, usually cased with metal pipe, for the production of gas or oil Also, a hole for the injection under pressure of water or gas into a subsurface rock formation Stirling automotive engines: Engines with very high efficiency, operating on nearly any type of fuel, requiring little maintenance, smooth, and quiet This engine is well suited to automobiles, but the auto industry has so much plant and equipment devoted to the manufacture, service, and sale of gasoline and diesel engines that incremental improvements in competing technologies not justify the Western Gas Sands: The Western Gas Sands Program has enabled industry to commercially develop the geologically complex, high-cost tight gas resource in the Rocky Mountains Today, annual tight gas production from Rocky Mountain gas basins is over 700 Bcf, up from 160 Bcf in 1978 and 220 Bcf in 1987, when the R&D program is judged to have begun having a significant impact H Acronyms and Abbreviations AC AFBC AGA APSE ARI ASHRAE ATS BACT bbl Bcf BLAST BPD BTS Btu DERD DOC DOD DOE DOT DPCA EV CAA CAAA CAFE CCB CCT CDIF CFCs CFFF CFL CHP CIDI CO CO2 CPS CRADA fluidized-bed combustion Fuel Cell Energy fuel cell vehicle fossil energy Federal Energy Administration Federal Energy Management Program flue gas desulfurization free-piston Stirling engine GAO GDP GM GNP GOM GPRA GTCC General Accounting Office gross domestic product General Motors gross national product Gulf of Mexico Government Performance and Results Act gas turbine combined cycle EGSP EIA EOR EPA EPAct EPRI ERDA Clean Air Act Clean Air Act Amendments corporate average fuel economy (standards) coal combustion waste clean coal technology component development and integration facility chlorofluorocarbons coal-fired flow facility compact fluorescent lamp combined heat and power compression-ignition direct-injection carbon monoxide carbon dioxide Office of Coal and Power Systems cooperative research and development agreement DC DCS Exxon donor solvent energy efficiency Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Eastern gas shale program Energy Information Administration enhanced oil recovery Environmental Protection Agency Energy Policy Act Electric Power Research Institute Energy Research and Development Administration electric vehicle FBC FCE FCV FE FEA FEMP FGD FPSE best available control technology barrel billion cubic feet buildings loads analysis and systems thermodynamics barrels per day Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs British thermal unit directed exploratory R&D Department of Commerce Department of Defense Department of Energy Department of Transportation Distributed Power Coalition of America EDS EE EERE alternating current atmospheric fluidized-bed combustion American Gas Association advanced production Stirling engine Advanced Refrigeration Institute American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers advanced turbine systems direct current drilling, completion, and stimulation 222 223 APPENDIX H GTL Gas Technology Institute (formerly Gas Research Institute (GRI)) gas-to-liquids HAP HCFCs HSTF HTI HVAC Hz hazardous air pollutant hydrochlorofluorocarbons high-sulfur test facility Hydrocarbon Technologies, Inc high-voltage alternating current hertz IAQ IAQI&V ICE IEA IFC IGCC IGT IOF IPST indoor air quality indor air quality, infiltration, and ventilation internal combustion engine International Energy Agency International Fuel Cells integrated gasification combined cycle Institute for Gas Technology Industries of the Future Institute of Paper Science and Technology kW kWh kilowatt kilowatt hour LBNL LDV LEW LNG Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory light-duty vehicle low-emissivity window liquefied natural gas MCFC MHD MMBtu MMTCE MOU mpg MRI MTG MW MWX molten carbonate fuel cell magnetohydrodynamics million British thermal units millions of tons of coal equivalent memorandum of understanding miles per gallon magnetic resonance imaging (equipment) methanol-to-gasoline (technology) megawatt Multiwell Experiment NAECA NASA NBSLD National Appliance Energy Conservation Act National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Bureau of Standards Load Determination New Energy Development Organization (Japan) National Energy Strategy natural gas combined cycle Office of Natural Gas and Petroleum Technology National Institutes of Health nickel metal hydride National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research National Institute of Standards and Technology NEDO NES NGCC NGPT NIH NiMH NIPER NIST NMHCs NMOGs NOx NRC NSF nonmethane hydrocarbons nonmethane organic gases oxide of nitrogen National Research Council National Science Foundation OAAT OIT OPEC OPT ORNL OTT Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies Office of Industrial Technologies Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Office of Power Technologies Oak Ridge National Laboratory Office of Transportation Technologies PAFC PDC PEM PFBC PM PNGV P4 ppm phosphoric acid fuel cell polycrystalline diamond compact (drilling bit) proton exchange membrane/polymer electrolyte membrane pressurized fluidized-bed combustion particulate matter Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles Programmable Powdered Preform Process parts per million Q GTI quad RCRA R&D RD&D RDD&D ROI Resource Conservation and Recovery Act research and development research, development, and demonstration research, development, demonstration, and deployment return on investment SCR SFC SHGC SIDI SMES SNCR SO2 SOFC SRC-II STM SUV SWPC selective catalytic reduction Synthetic Fuels Corporation solar heat gain coefficient spark-ignited, direct-injection superconductivity magnetic energy storage selective noncatalytic reduction sulfur dioxide solid oxide fuel cells solvent-refined coal Stirling thermal motors sport utility vehicle Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation TBC Tcf T&D TORIS tpd thermal barrier coatings trillion cubic feet transmission and distribution total oil recovery information system tons per day UGR ULEV UPS unconventional gas resources ultralow-emission vehicle uninterruptible power supply 224 USABC USAMP USCAR APPENDIX H United States Advanced Battery Consortium United States Automotive Materials Partnership United States Council for Automotive Research VOCs VPSA volatile organic compunds vacuum-pressure swing adsorption WGSP Western gas sands program .. .Energy Research at DOE WAS IT WORTH IT? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Research 1978 to 2000 Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Board on Energy and. .. straightforward It ENERGY RESEARCH AT DOE: WAS IT WORTH IT? would require adding up the total benefits and costs of research conducted since 1978, determining what proportion of each is attributable to DOE. .. of DOE? ??s 28 ENERGY RESEARCH AT DOE: WAS IT WORTH IT? that any affordable substitutes would further increase electricity needs The refrigerator story is one of industry and government cooperation,