1～2月，我国电力设备制造业运行依然较为疲软：受国内经济增长势头趋缓影响，电力设备制造企业投资动力不足，行业固定资产投资增速较上年同期下降2.24个百分点；行业市场竞争依然激烈，大部分产品价格上升乏力，在中国机械工业联合会统计的电力设备制造业22个小类行业中，价格指数低于100的行业有18个，高于100的仅有4个。与此同时，大部分发电设备产量受上年同期基数较低影响，实现了较快增长，成为前两个月行业运行中难得的亮点。预计2014年1季度，电力设备制造业大部分主要产品产量将实现增长，行业出口形势将有所改善，但主要产品价格仍将低位徘徊，行业投资依然增长乏力。

国家能源局4月18日下发《关于做好2014年风电并网消纳工作的通知》（以下简称《通知》），力图解决风电并网消纳问题。《通知》提出要着力保障重点地区的风电消纳、加强风电基地配套送出通道建设、大力推动分散风能资源的开发建设、优化风电并网运行和调度管理等要求。

报告从行业环境、太阳能、风能、生物质能、新能源汽车等几个方面进行了分析及评论。

A smart water network is an integrated set of products, systems, and solutions that help water utilities to monitor and diagnose problems related to water distribution networks. Smart water networks can help in leak detection, pressure management, network operation, and water quality monitoring. It can also reduce the overall capital expenditure of the water utilities by providing real-time data based on the water consumption and customer meter readings.

Thermo-economic model has been built and validated for prediction of project economics of Enhanced Geothermal Projects. The thermo-economic model calculates and iteratively optimizes the LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) for a prospective EGS (Enhanced Geothermal) site. It takes into account the local subsurface temperature gradient, the cost of drilling and reservoir creation, stimulation and power plant configuration. It calculates and optimizes the power plant configuration vs. well depth. Thus outputs from the model include optimal well depth and power plant configuration for the lowest LCOE. The main focus of this final report was to experimentally validate the thermodynamic properties that formed the basis of the thermo-economic model built in Phase 2, and thus build confidence that the predictions of the model could be used reliably for process downselection and preliminary design at a given set of geothermal (and/or waste heat) boundary conditions.

The overall objective of this project was to quantify the energy, environmental, and economic performance of industrial facilities that would coproduce electricity and transportation fuels or chemicals from a mixture of coal and biomass via co-gasification in a single pressurized, oxygen-blown, entrained-flow gasifier, with capture and storage of CO(sub 2) (CCS). The work sought to identify plant designs with promising (Nth plant) economics, superior environmental footprints, and the potential to be deployed at scale as a means for simultaneously achieving enhanced energy security and deep reductions in U.S. GHG emissions in the coming decades. Designs included systems using primarily already-commercialized component technologies, which may have the potential for near-term deployment at scale, as well as systems incorporating some advanced technologies at various stages of R&D. All of the coproduction designs have the common attribute of producing some electricity and also of capturing CO(sub 2) for storage. For each of the co-product pairs detailed process mass and energy simulations (using Aspen Plus software) were developed for a set of alternative process configurations, on the basis of which lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, Nth plant economic performance, and other characteristics were evaluated for each configuration. In developing each set of process configurations, focused attention was given to understanding the influence of biomass input fraction and electricity output fraction. Self-consistent evaluations were also carried out for gasification-based reference systems producing only electricity from coal, including integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and integrated gasification solid-oxide fuel cell (IGFC) systems. The reason biomass is considered as a co-feed with coal in cases when gasoline or olefins are co-produced with electricity is to help reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for these systems. Storing biomass-derived CO(sub 2) underground represents negative CO(sub 2) emissions if the biomass is grown sustainably (i.e., if one ton of new biomass growth replaces each ton consumed), and this offsets positive CO(sub 2) emissions associated with the coal used in these systems. Different coal: biomass input ratios will produce different net lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for these systems, which is the reason that attention in our analysis was given to the impact of the biomass input fraction.

Turning organic waste into resources like bio-fuels and other valuable products, in addition to recovering stable carbon and nutrients, promotes economic vitality and aides in the protection of the environment. This creates robust markets and sustainable jobs in multiple sectors of the economy and facilitates closed-loop material management where a by-product from one process becomes feedstock for another with no or minimal waste generated. The objective of this review is to describe existing technologies to create clean, non-polluting pyrolysis units for the production of energy, fuels and valuable by-products. The Department of Ecology and Washington State University provide this publication to help the public understand and take advantage of existing technologies to handle and pre-treat biomass resources that will be converted via fast or slow pyrolysis into liquid transportation fuels, bio-chemicals and biochar. Another goal of this project is to identify what new technologies need to be developed or what hurdles need to be overcome to convert organic waste resources available in Washington State into valuable products. This review does not represent an endorsement of the processes described and does not intend to exclude any technology or company offering similar services which, due to time and space limitations, was not cited in this report.

Combustion of biomass has been used by industry to produce steam and power for many years, but new technologies are being introduced to better recover the energy from biomass as well as to produce a synthetic gas (syngas) that can be used as a starting point in the production of automotive and diesel fuels as well as higher value chemicals. It is of significance that operating temperatures in combustion and gasification systems are often restricted by materials limitations resulting from the degradation of materials in the highest temperature areas. For systems recovering heat and/or generating steam, operating limits are often imposed by degradation of the superheater tubes that recover heat from the combustion gases at the highest temperatures. The steam temperature of biomass fueled boilers is limited by high temperature corrosion of superheater alloys in the ash deposit/flue gas environment. During visits with European researchers and boiler manufacturers and operators, it was learned that advanced European biomass boilers combine design modifications, process changes and corrosion resistant alloys to achieve substantially higher steam temperatures and efficiencies than U.S. biomass boilers. Design modifications to reduce superheater corrosion include adding an empty pass between the furnace and the superheater, installing cool tubes to trap low melting temperature chlorine deposits ahead of the superheater, heating the final superheater in the recirculated fluidizing medium of a circulating fluidized bed boiler, operating with a slagging superheater, designing superheaters for quick replacement, raising the superheater temperature above the dew point of the most corrosive deposits and installing an external superheater fired by a less-corrosive fuel. Process changes include diluting corrosive biomaterials with less-corrosive fuels, adding high sulfur fuels to convert alkali chlorides to lower melting temperature sulfates before they reach the superheater, washing chlorides out of agricultural residues and adding chemicals that convert alkali chlorides to aluminosilicates.

Within this project, Eaton undertook the task of bringing about significant impact with respect to sustainability. One of the major goals for the Department of Energy is to achieve energy savings with a corresponding reduction in carbon foot print. The use of a coupled induction heat treatment with high magnetic field heat treatment makes possible not only improved performance alloys, but with faster processing times and lower processing energy, as well. With this technology, substitution of lower cost alloys for more exotic alloys became a possibility; microstructure could be tailored for improved magnetic properties or wear resistance or mechanical performance, as needed.

The current preferred method of making unitized aluminum aircraft structure is to machine it from a solid plate of material. This approach can be very wasteful in terms of material and energy, as much of the starting material is usually removed to create the final required part geometry. Nearer-net starting product forms, such as die forgings, require special dies, which have high costs, long lead times, and limited lifetimes. The forging process generally results in significant residual stresses in forgings, which can lead to production issues related to distortion when material is removed via machining to final part geometries. What is needed are ways to make tailored, near-net shape machining blanks, without expensive dies, and low residual stresses. A major objective of this project was to identify the energy benefits of combining a variety of solid state joining techniques, which are geometry independent, in order to produce high performance aluminum structures, while enabling the achievement of manufacturing benefits of lower-cost, faster cycle-time, and highly efficient joined structural assemblies. A further objective was to produce an energy consumption prediction model, which was capable of calculating the total energy consumption, solid waste burden, acidification potential, and CO2 burden in producing a starting product form, and then calculating the further energy consumption and environmental impacts of fabricating a final part configuration from the starting configuration. Yet another objective was to be able to utilize the model to compute and compare, on an individual part/geometry basis, multiple possible manufacturing pathways, to identify the best balance of energy consumption, environmental impact, and costs. Finally, another project goal was to help enable Solid State Joining (SSJ) technologies become better characterized, better utilized, and considered as mainstream processes, especially replacing/supplanting the energy intensive arc-welding/ fusion processes of joining such as gas-tungsten arc welding.

Cellulosic and woody biomass can be directly converted to hydrocarbon gasoline and diesel blending components through the use of integrated hydropyrolysis plus hydroconversion (IH2). The IH2 gasoline and diesel blending components are fully compatible with petroleum based gasoline and diesel, contain less than 1oxygen and have less than 1 total acid number (TAN). The IH2 gasoline is high quality and very close to a drop in fuel. The DOE funding enabled rapid development of the IH2 technology from initial proof-of-principle experiments through continuous testing in a 50 kg/day pilot plant. As part of this project, engineering work on IH2 has also been completed to design a 1 ton/day demonstration unit and a commercial-scale 2000 ton/day IH2 unit. These studies show when using IH2 technology, biomass can be converted directly to transportation quality fuel blending components for the same capital cost required for pyrolysis alone, and a fraction of the cost of pyrolysis plus upgrading of pyrolysis oil. Technoeconomic work for IH2 and lifecycle analysis (LCA) work has also been completed as part of this DOE study and shows IH2 technology can convert biomass to gasoline and diesel blending components for less than $2.00/gallon with greater than 90reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. As a result of the work completed in this DOE project, a joint development agreement was reached with CRI Catalyst Company to license the IH2 technology.

Beginning in 2008, two pairs of energy-saver houses were built at Wolf Creek in Oak Ridge, TN. These houses were designed to maximize energy efficiency using new ultra-high-efficiency components emerging from ORNLs Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) partners and others. The first two houses contain 3713 square feet of conditioned area and are designated as WC1 and WC2; the second pair consists of 2721 square feet conditioned area with crawlspace foundation and theyre called WC3 and WC4. This report documents the annual energy performance of WC3 and WC4, and how they compare against a builder standard house (BSH) of a similar footprint. WC3 and WC4 are both designed to be about 55-60more efficient than traditional new construction. Each house showcases a different envelope system: WC3 is built with advanced framing featuring cellulose insulation partially mixed with phase change materials (PCM); and WC4 has cladding composed of an exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS). The two houses are also equipped with ENERGY STAR rated appliances, or high-efficiency products for categories that are not yet ENERGY STAR certified. WC3 and WC4 are both on crawlspaces with the designs intended to provide a definitive comparison of a vented crawlspace to an insulated and sealed crawlspace in a mixed humid climate. The builder standard house is a computer model based on a builder house, one of three houses, built at the Campbell Creek subdivision in Knoxville, TN. The Campbell Creek research project supported the retrofit residential housing goals of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (Christian et al., 2010). The builder house is representative of a standard, IECC 2006 code-certified, all-electric house built around 20052008. This report presents data collected from WC3 and WC4 from December 1, 2010 to November 30, 2011. The outcome of this research program will contribute to efforts by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to meet their strategic goals of deferring 1,400 MW of additional capacity and reducing growth in energy consumption by 4.3 million MWh per year by 2012, and in the longer term, to transform how homes are built and retrofitted.

The goal of the study is a practical framework to help local governments within the Appalachian Region assess, plan, and finance energy efficiency infrastructure and facility improvements. Chapter 1 identifies institutions and the tools they offer for implementing energy and water efficiency. To select the ones most valuable for local governments, tools had to meet four criteria: longevity (established track record and adequate future funding); credible content evolving in response to user needs; customer assistance and partnership potential; and low- or no-cost status. Each of these criteria is explained more fully at the beginning of the chapter. Chapter 2 provides examples of eight energy conservation measures (ECMs)--with documented costs and financial returns--being implemented in or near the Appalachian Region. Cost savings for each ECM are also extrapolated to reflect potential savings across the Appalachian Region if local governments adopted, to some degree, each ECM.

Cryogenics is globally linked to energy generation, storage, and usage. Thermal insulation systems research and development is an enabling part of NASA's technology goals for Space Launch and Exploration. New thermal testing methodologies and materials are being transferred to industry for a wide range of commercial applications.

This project provides critical innovations and fundamental understandings that enable development of an economically-viable process for catalytic conversion of biomass (sugar) to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). A low-cost ionic liquid (Cyphos 106) is discovered for fast conversion of fructose into HMF under moderate reaction conditions without any catalyst. HMF yield from fructose is almost 100on the carbon molar basis. Adsorbent materials and adsorption process are invented and demonstrated for separation of 99pure HMF product and recovery of the ionic liquid from the reaction mixtures. The adsorbent material appears very stable in repeated adsorption/regeneration cycles. Novel membrane-coated adsorbent particles are made and demonstrated to achieve excellent adsorption separation performances at low pressure drops. This is very important for a practical adsorption process because ionic liquids are known of high viscosity. Nearly 100conversion (or dissolution) of cellulose in the catalytic ionic liquid into small molecules was observed. It is promising to produce HMF, sugars and other fermentable species directly from cellulose feedstock. However, several gaps were identified and could not be resolved in this project. Reaction and separation tests at larger scales are needed to minimize impacts of incidental errors on the mass balance and to show 99.9ionic liquid recovery. The cellulose reaction tests were troubled with poor reproducibility. Further studies on cellulose conversion in ionic liquids under better controlled conditions are necessary to delineate reaction products, dissolution kinetics, effects of mass and heat transfer in the reactor on conversion, and separation of final reaction mixtures.