Colorado Projects Funded by Its 2006 Formula Grant from DOE's State Energy Program
Colorado used U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds from its State Energy Program (SEP) Formula Grant to implement the following project in 2006. For more information on energy projects in Colorado, see the Governor's Energy Office .
Buildings
The Rebuild Colorado Program increased awareness and implementation of energy efficiency in state and local government buildings, using a two-pronged strategy of education followed by professional technical support (serving state departments, colleges, universities, community colleges, school districts, cities, counties, and special districts). It used performance contracting to finance building upgrades, designed high performance buildings, and managed energy.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
Energy Education
The Public Information Activity determined outreach needs; helped develop outreach tools and activities, provided information to the public; maintained a Web site; produced and helped distribute OEMC publications and an electronic newsletter, collected media coverage; and developed and distributed press releases and press materials for programs and projects.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
Industry
The Woody Biomass Program replaced traditional fuels with biomass. It supported biomass efforts to use woody wastes from forest thinnings and urban weather destruction events; other agricultural wastes such as plant remains after harvests; animal wastes (manure and body parts) from slaughter facilities and farming operations; and grown-for-energy-conversion plantings. It brought together all member groups within targeted industries to form coalitions or working groups to further biomass use plans. It employed demonstrations using off-the-shelf material and devices to showcase energy possibilities. It prepared, published, and disseminated comprehensive reports on the efforts.
The GEO Digester Project demonstrated the use of an anaerobic digester, combined with a geoexchange heating and cooling system, to realize an optimally energy-efficient animal feeding operation. It determined and demonstrated the technology. It identified and assessed the subject operation, identified, assessed, and installed optimal digester and technology, and applied digester powered geoexchange heat pumps to farm and barn uses. Two farms implemented the concept of a geodigester whereby each would incorporate a geoexchange.
The Stirling Engine Demonstration Project purchased, delivered, and commissioned an engine at Colorado Pork (CP) near Lamar, Colorado. CP has the only anaerobic digester on a farm in Colorado and the Stirling engine used methane gas from the digester. The unit is one of first of STM Power's production line. The targeted audience was made aware of the demonstration via comments made by the general audience, by attending media outlets, and by inquiries from those seeking more information and indicating the desire to use the technologies. A protocol for the study was generated. Information was also presented at workshops and a virtual video tour of the unit in operation was produced.
The Wetlands Project finalized the monitoring and evaluation of the constructed wetland treating wastewater from the brewery operation and developed an understanding of energy savings compared to using a typical wastewater treatment facility. Educational signage was constructed and put in place. The construction and planting of the two test cells were completed. A report was written to determine a real world estimate of how much energy is saved through the use of wetlands in place of any or all stages of typical municipal wastewater treatment plants. The report also determined a real world estimate of how much energy and water are saved by remediating or restoring streamside wetlands and stream banks by removing invasive plants, doing stream bank stabilization and revegetation and revegetating damaged or destroyed wetlands. The report also determined a sliding scale of cost with respect to percentage of destruction to streamside or wetland areas before restoration or remediation is undertaken.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
- Agriculture
- Bioenergy and Biobased products
- Water Systems
Policy, Planning, and Energy Security
The Energy Emergency Planning Project met with key personnel at companies throughout Colorado in fuel supply and consulted with industry associations. It persuaded these entities to give more thought to how they would respond in an energy emergency and encouraged them to make low-cost improvements to their operations to enable them to better respond to an energy emergency. The project sought additional funding from Homeland Security grants. It ensured the private sector is prepared to deliver fuel in any type of energy emergency.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
- Energy Emergency Planning
Transportation
The E85 Dispersion Project converted 10 fueling pumps from straight gasoline to 10 E85 fueling pumps. It prepared and disseminated education materials geared to specific population subsets that can most quickly adopt energy habits necessary to make the transition to sustainable energy precepts. It planned educational and informational events and news announcements to maximize exposure to targeted groups and worked with specific facilities such as filling stations to disperse energy to the public. It conducted feasibility studies and formulated business plans on select sites and projects to prove concepts and to employ as possible future energy demonstration sites. The project conducted evaluations of the overall emission reductions from using significant amounts of E85 in urban-based vehicles.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
See SEP grants to Colorado for:
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