sustainability news (continued) 36The Military Engineer ? July-August ? 2010 DRIVE PRODUCTS FROM PROTOTYPES TO PRODUCTION PARTS FASTER WITH REDEYE. SAVE TIME. CUT COSTS. GET MORE MATERIALS AND OPTIONS. RedEye delivers the entire digital manufac-turing experience on demand: functional prototypes, ?xtures and assembly tools, low- volume parts production. Online, on your schedule. Just upload your CAD ?le and go. Start with a free quote at: RedEye, a businessss un it of Stratasys. ©2010 RedEye. All rights reeserved. Images courtesy of Autodesk, Inc. Designn byy Nino Caldarola. www.redeyeondemand.com/tm3 and strategic foresight required to meet the needs of the 21st century energy industry. The ENSE program will include research topics such as fossil fuel power generation ef?ciency improvement, carbon capture and storage, high-capacity renewable power generation and aerospace propulsion. (Contributed by Arleene Barrios, UTEP) Vice President Announces New Energy-Efficiency Effort Vice President Joseph Biden announced in April the selection of 25 communities for up to $452 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to ramp-up energy ef?ciency building retro?ts. Under the Department of Energys (DOE) Retro?t Ramp-Up initiative, communities, govern- ments, private-sector companies and non- pro?t organizations will work together on pioneering and innovative programs for concentrated and broad-based retro?ts of neighborhoods and towns—and eventually entire states. These partnerships will sup- port large-scale retro?ts and make energy ef?ciency accessible to hundreds of thou- sands of homeowners and businesses. The models created through the program are ex- pected to save households and businesses about a $100 million annually in utility bills, while leveraging private-sector resources, to create what funding recipients estimate at about 30,000 jobs across the country during the next three years. In addition to the $452 million Recovery Act investment, the 25 projects announced will leverage an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources over the next three years to retro?t hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country. Overall, the program funding was eight times over- subscribed, with more than $3.5 billion in applications received for the just over $450 million in Recovery Act funds available. This is indicative of the signi?cant demand for investment in energy-saving and job-creat- ing projects like these. Grantees will employ innovative ?nanc- ing models to make these savings accessible, for example by offering low- and no-interest loans that are repaid through property tax and utility bills. In implementing these proj- ects, grantees will deliver veri?ed energy sav- ings and incorporate sustainable business models, to ensure that buildings will contin- ue to be retro?tted after Recovery Act funds are spent. DOE will use lessons learned from these programs to develop best-practice guides to comprehensive retro?t programs that can be adopted and implemented by other communities across the country. The Retro?t Ramp-Up projects, which are part of the overall $80 billion Recovery Act investment in clean energy and energy ef- ?ciency, complement the Obama adminis- trations Recovery through Retro?t initiative, which lays the groundwork for a self-sus- taining and robust home energy ef?ciency industry. The awards are the competitive portion of DOEs Energy Ef?ciency and Con- servation Block Grant program, which was funded for the ?rst time under the Recovery Act to help state, local, and tribal communi- ties make strategic investments in improv- ing energy ef?ciency, reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions. For more information regarding the speci?c project awards, visit www.energy.gov/news/documents/Retro- ?tRamp-UpProjectList.pdf. (Contributed by The White House, Of?ce of the Press Secretary) EPA, NREL Partner to Develop Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Sites The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DOEs National Renewable En- ergy Laboratory (NREL) are evaluating the feasibility of developing renewable energy production on Superfund, brown?elds and former land?ll or mining sites. Superfund sites are the most complex, uncontrolled, or abandoned hazardous waste sites identi?ed by EPA for cleanup due to the risk they pose to human health or the environment. Brown?elds are proper- ties at which expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence of contaminants. EPA is investing more than $650,000 for the project, which pairs EPAs expertise on contaminated sites with the renewable en- ergy expertise of NREL. The project is part of the RE-Powering Americas Land initiative, which aims to decrease the amount of green space used for development, reduce green- house gas emissions and provide health and economic bene?ts to local communities. The project will analyze the potential development of wind, solar, or small hydro development at 12 sites. The analysis will include determining the best renewable
If you would like to view publication without flash plugin, please click on link below
