Briefly Noted ... Other Energy

- The World Summit on Sustainable Development will be held, as planned, in South Africa next September, despite concerns since last month's terrorist attacks in the U.S., say organizers. Two hundred world leaders, including President George Bush, are expected at the environmental conference, with 6,000 official delegates and 3,000 journalists. Another 65,000 participants will hold a parallel NGO summit. The scheduled conclusion of the Summit may be changed because it is due to end on September 11, which will be the first anniversary of the attacks on New York and Washington. The conference will be held ten years after the environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro, and is expected to be the largest conference ever staged in South Africa.

- There are two weeks left to submit projects to the Energy Globe Award 2002, the international award for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Winners will receive Euro 10,000 in prize money for each category, to be celebrated at an awards ceremony on March 6 in Austria.

- A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would allocate US$2 billion each year to patrol and protect pipelines, oil refineries and electronic transmission lines in the country. The legislation would safeguard energy supplies from potential attacks, and money would come from the annual royalty payments made by oil and natural gas companies for drilling on federal offshore leases. The government collected $4 billion in royalty payments last year. Most oil, gas and power companies have increased security measures since the terrorist attacks last month, in light of concerns about vulnerability of nuclear reactors, natural gas pipelines and oil refineries.

- Despite re-injection, production of steam from a geothermal field in the Philippine province of Albay is declining. The plant has been subsidizing local electricity prices through taxes, and residents now are concerned that power rates may rise.

- One of the world's largest earth energy systems is being installed at the Zürich airport in Switzerland. A passenger terminal will be illuminated with natural daylight, and a ground source heat pump will use an underground lake to provide seasonal thermal storage. The heat exchange will be conducted through 400 foundation piles that have been drilled 20 m into the ground. The piles will yield 790 MWh of heat and 610 MWh of cooling. The cost for the foundation system was US$650,000 and the annual energy bill will be reduced by $55,000.

- The California Energy Commission is awarding a US$2.5 million consumer awareness campaign contract to encourage residents to cope with the current power crisis by purchasing renewable power. The 18-month campaign will focus on alleviating dependency on conventional methods of power supply.

- Adkins Energy LLC has started construction of a US$70 million ethanol plant in Stephenson County, near Lena, Illinois. The plant is expected to start production next year and will produce 40 million gallons a year of ethanol using 13 million bushels of corn as a feedstock and 100,000 tons of dried distillers grain for use as a livestock feed. It will also produce 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide for sale as a by-product.

- The Mexican city of Monterrey wants to turn its waste into energy and has chosen an international consortium, Bioenergia de Nuevo Leon, to carry out a waste-to-energy pilot project. A British company, Combined Landfill Projects, Costa Rica's Saret Group and Mexico's Sistemas de Energia Internacional, comprise the consortium which was the top ranked of seven pre-qualified bidders.

- Energy security will be a main topic at the World Energy Engineering Congress, to be held October 24 in Atlanta, Georgia. "Energy Security strategies are now in the forefront as the nation focuses attention on reducing consumption of oil," says Albert Thumann, executive director of the Association of Energy Engineers. More than 58 percent of oil consumed in the U.S. is imported and 28 percent came from OPEC countries. "The need for a balanced energy policy which promotes energy efficiency technologies and production of domestic oil capacity is a must."

- Non-traditional power was a spotlight of world engineers at an international conference in the Crimea. Sessions examined geothermal and wind power, sun heat and cold supply systems, use of environmental energy, bio-energy, and ecological and economic aspects of non traditional power engineering.

- The Canadian government will pay up to C$1 million for a review of Atomic Energy of Canada. The solicitation was issued by Finance Canada and the Treasury Board, to examine AECL's activities and resources, including an activity-based analysis of its revenues and costs in a manner that provides for a clear delineation between commercial and non-commercial (ie public policy) activities.