Energy In-depth: Feds form partnership to accelerate growth of electric vehicles

ENERGY DEPARTMENT FORMS PARTNERSHIP TO ACCELERATE GROWTH OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American Public Power Association (APPA) to pursue collaborative efforts to electrify personal and fleet transportation in public power communities throughout the U.S. The partnership builds on President Obama’s goal and the Energy Department’s EV Everywhere Grand Challenge to develop plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) by 2022 that are as affordable as a 2012 gasoline-powered vehicle.

The MOU advances mutual interests to increase the economic, environmental, and national security benefits of using electricity as a transportation fuel and expanding the electric vehicle (EV) market by bringing utilities directly into the fold. Through this agreement, the Energy Department and APPA will pursue collaborative efforts to advance EV adoption and charging infrastructure deployment for private vehicles, commercial fleets, transportation for passengers and commerce, and other efforts that will help displace petroleum with grid-sourced electricity as a transportation fuel.

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INTERIOR SECRETARY BREAKS GROUND ON RECLAMATION PROJECT TO REVITALIZE COAL COUNTRY
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined federal, state and community leaders in the western Pennsylvania town of Ehrenfeld to break ground on an inaugural coal mine reclamation project to help restore job opportunities for former coal miners, while also eliminating safety hazards and air and stream pollution from abandoned coal mines.

The Ehrenfeld Abandoned Mine Reclamation Project is the first of dozens of similar reclamation initiatives with direct economic benefits that will be carried out in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky under the Abandoned Mine Lands Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Pilot Program. The $90 million federally-funded AMLER program brings together federal, state and local partners to develop abandoned mine land reclamation projects while creating jobs and community green space in areas that have long suffered under the burden of dangerous, polluting abandoned coal mines.

U.S. ETHANOL PLANT CAPACITY INCREASES FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
Fuel ethanol production capacity in the U.S. was nearly 15 billion gallons per year, or 973,000 barrels per day (b/d), at the beginning of 2016, according to EIA’s most recent U.S. Fuel Ethanol Plant Production Capacity report. Total capacity of operable ethanol plants increased by more than 500 million gallons per year in January 2016 compared with January 2015.

The majority of the 195 ethanol plants, and most of the U.S. fuel ethanol production capacity, are located in the Midwest region. Total nameplate capacity in the Midwest was 13.5 billion gallons per year (883,000 b/d), an increase of more than 500 million gallons compared with 2015.

Of the top 13 fuel ethanol-producing states, 12 are located in the Midwest. To see the report, go here.