Publications

• Combined Heat and Power: Effective Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future (PDF 2.53MB)
  Primary Author: Anna Shipley, Sentech, Inc.
  
  On December 1, 2008, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) released “Combined Heat and Power: Effective Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future”, a report highlighting Combined Heat and Power (CHP) as a realistic solution to help the United States enhance energy efficiency, ensure environmental quality, promote economic growth, and foster a robust energy infrastructure.  The report provides an in-depth discussion of the current opportunities and challenges to more widespread national CHP deployment and sets the stage for future policy dialogue aimed at promoting this clean energy solution.The report asks “What if 20% of generating capacity came from CHP?” and discusses technology, market, and policy options to achieve this goal by 2030.  Under these conditions, benefits would include:
  
  
  • A 60% reduction of the projected increase in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 2030 – the equivalent of removing 154 million cars from the road
  • Fuel savings of 5.3 quadrillion Btu annually - the equivalent of nearly half the total energy currently consumed by US households
  • Economically viable application throughout the nation in large and small industrial facilities, commercial buildings, multi-family and single-family housing, institutional facilities and campuses
  • The creation of 1 million new highly-skilled, competitive "green-collar" jobs through 2030 and $234 billion in new investments throughout the United States
  This report is a joint effort between the Department of Energy’s Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and involved substantial input and review by a range of industry, association, and non-governmental stakeholders. 
  
  
• Analysis of Geothermally Produced Hydrogen on the Big Island of Hawaii:  A Roadmap for the Way Forward (PDF 5.41MB)
  
  The State of Hawaii relies on imported oil for more than 90% of its energy needs and 78% of its electricity generation needs.  This reliance continues to leave Hawaii’s economy and citizens at risk.  Increasing the utilization of Hawaii’s vast renewable resources is key to decreasing the demand for imported oil and helping to stabilize the cost of electricity and transportation fuel.  To this end, the potential use of the state’s extensive geothermal resources to produce renewable hydrogen for transportation purposes has become a topic of increased interest and support. In fact, Hawaii’s legislature passed SB 2957 CD1 in 2006, subsequently signed by Governor Linda Lingle as Act 240, establishing the Hawaii Renewable Hydrogen Program to encourage the achievement of a renewable hydrogen economy.
  
  Sentech analysts have developed a Roadmap to support the renewable hydrogen goals of the State of Hawaii and the U.S. Department of Energy by delineating the most prudent pathways for the development of hydrogen energy infrastructure based on the geothermal resources of the Big Island of Hawaii through 2025.  Results of this analysis indicate that hydrogen is a potential transportation fuel for the Big Island of Hawaii; however, a concerted effort by the state’s leaders and policy makers will be necessary for hydrogen to become a significant transportation fuel before 2025. 
  
  This publication and others can be accessed at the State of Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism site.
• Using Multi-Criteria Decision Making and Linear Programming to Improve Federal Fleet Acquisition Strategies (PDF 173KB)
  Kristin Deason, Sentech, Inc.
  
  To reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy, address climate change, and improve environmental quality, the U.S. government requires federal agencies to take a leadership role in purchasing alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), using alternative fuel, and reducing petroleum consumption. These requirements, while serving as an important component of the overall U.S. energy strategy, create challenges for federal fleet managers, many of whom oversee large, geographically dispersed fleets that perform a diverse array of functions.
  
  SENTECH, Inc. has developed and piloted a methodology to help agencies address these challenges. This methodology uses a structured approach to develop strategies for complying with federal fleet requirements while using agency resources as efficiently as possible. Specifically, the methodology employs multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods to identify and quantify agency priorities, in combination with a linear programming model to optimize the purchase of fleet vehicles based on these priorities. This paper presents an overview of this methodology and its capabilities.
• Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies--Status, Challenges, and Future Opportunities (PDF 211KB)
  JoAnn Milliken, U.S. Department of Energy [DOE]; David Bogomolny, Sentech, Inc.; and Joseph Stanford, Sentech, Inc.
  
  Sentech analysts assisted in the writing of this paper for presentation at the "Hydrogen Technologies for the Developing World" Forum in Moscow, April 22-23, 2008. The paper summarizes the DOE strategy for overcoming the obstacles to the commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, and it provided key insights into the highly successful processes employed by DOE for involving stakeholders in all stages of its Hydrogen Program.
  
• Fuel Cell Sufficiency
  JoAnn Milliken, Hydrogen Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Joseph Stanford, Senior Analyst, Sentech, Inc.
  
  This article appeared in Issue 17 of "Freight Transport Review," a journal of PSCA International, Ltd., a firm that specializes in publications for public service professionals in the United Kingdom. It highlights what the Program views as the most significant potential benefits of fuel cells in a variety of sectors and how these relate to the development of the Program's strategy. It also documents some of the Program's key accomplishments and examples of progress to date.
• Renewable Hydrogen Production Around the Globe (June 2008) (PDF 148KB)
  Renewable hydrogen production technologies offer a promising way to reduce greenhouse gases and other emissions. Many countries have launched projects to demonstrate the feasibility of these technologies in complete systems, collect data, and educate the public. In association with the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE), Sentech, Inc. is conducting a survey of international renewable hydrogen production demonstration projects. The research will result in the publication of an educational report that is intended to be a valuable information source to policy makers, researchers, and the general public. This paper provides an overview of the project’s vision as well as preliminary findings.
• Montana Should Take Lead on Renewable Energy by Ted James, Sentech
  Article published in the Great Falls Tribune on May 2, 2008
  
  Green-collar jobs are growing, more renewable technologies are being commercialized, and there is a likely prospect of federal regulation of carbon in the next five years that will modify the business case for low-cost power generation. And Great Falls - a small community when compared to the juggernauts of energy use in America - is at a critical crossroads in the wider picture of influencing our country's energy future...
• Evaluation of Geothermal Hydrogen Production on the Big Island of Hawaii (2006)
  Sentech analysts and engineers were engaged in a project for U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Hydrogen and Geothermal Programs to perform an analysis to determine the quantity and cost of hydrogen that could be produced from known and forecast geothermal energy reserves on the Big Island of Hawaii. The project consisted of two phases: economic assessment and deployment planning.  To document the analysis, Sentech produced a report entitled “Economic Assessment of Hydrogen Generation for Transportation Applications Using Geothermal Energy on the Island of Hawaii” (PDF 1.53MB). Building on this analysis, in the second phase, an investigation was conducted to determine whether and under what circumstances renewable hydrogen could compete with conventional energy carriers.  Based on this evaluation, a deployment strategy was developed along with a report entitled “A Rational Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Scenario for the Island of Hawaii” (PDF 815KB). 
  
• 2006 Update of Business Downtime Costs (PDF 756KB)
  The objective of this paper — drafted for the Distributed Energy Program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and cited in the Energy Policy Act 2005-mandated DOE study on the potential benefits of distributed generation and cogeneration — was to assess the cost of power outages to businesses in the commercial and industrial sectors using the best and most current data available, short of surveying a statistically significant pool of building owners. Using existing studies, a compilation can be made of data that 1) applies to a wider set of “industry” types, 2) reflects more current downtime costs, 3) accounts for the time duration factor of power outages, and 4) includes the range of costs imposed by real-world outages in a well-defined market.
• Protecting Critical Energy Infrastructure and Helping Communities Recover from Disaster with Distributed Energy Assets (PDF 4.70MB)
  Following the terrorist attacks in 2001, the Northeast blackout in 2003, and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there is a new awareness of the need to protect critical infrastructure and facilities, to prepare for energy emergencies, and to have the capability to respond to emergencies and to help with the recovery of affected communities. Distributed energy assets (DEA) include onsite energy systems that are grid-integrated, standalone, deployable, dispatchable, and islandable. Examples of DEA cover a wide range of technologies: electric generators such as reciprocating engines, microturbines, turbines, fuel cells, Organic Rankin Cycle, Stirling engines, and solar photovoltaics (PV’s); combined heat and power (CHP) systems; solar thermal absorption cooling systems; electrical and thermal storage systems; and communications systems, smart local control systems, and demand response mechanisms for energy networks. These technologies can provide technically viable and economically feasible solutions that make America less vulnerable to energy emergencies caused by extraordinary events: natural disasters, accidents, and deliberate attacks.
• CHP in Food & Beverage Processing Industries
  This website was developed in conjunction with the U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association (CHP) and details the CHP opportunities, potential, market drivers, industry leaders, and relevant initiatives of cogeneration in nine food & beverage processing subsectors (by NAICS).
• Distributed Energy Case Study Database
  U.S. Department of Energy’s Distributed Energy Program searchable website with over 300 documented case studies from across the country.