Schatz Energy Research Center
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/41
2024-03-28T13:06:00ZHumboldt County Energy Element Background Technical Report
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/62
Humboldt County Energy Element Background Technical Report
Zoellick, Jim; Lehman, Peter; Chamberlin, Charles; Engel, Richard; Gopal, Anand; Rocheleau, Mark; Winkler, Michael; Carter, Dave; Jolley, Dustin; Williamson, George; Smith, Oona; Ihara, Dan
California state law requires each city and county to adopt and periodically update a general plan, which serves as a local blueprint for future physical development and guides most land use decisions. The Redwood Coast Energy Authority is assisting Humboldt County's Community Services Development Department in the preparation of an “Energy Element” as part of the County’s current General Plan update process.
The need for local energy planning is evident. This is particularly true for an area like Humboldt County that is somewhat remote and isolated from the rest of the energy grid. Uncertainty in the supply, reliability and affordability of energy, a shift toward decentralized electricity generation, and the associated land use, health, and safety issues all need to be considered by local planners. There is a close link between energy consumption and production and the physical development of land. Land use development policies strongly impact how much energy is consumed, and zoning and development strategies can affect the ability to develop and transport future energy resources. The development of an Energy Element for Humboldt County’s General Plan update can help ensure that policy decisions made now, which will guide the County for the next twenty years, take into account the region’s need for long-term energy sustainability.
Humboldt County has a number of unique features with respect to energy. It is isolated at the end of the electricity and natural gas transmission lines, and the capacity of these lines is not great enough to import all of the county’s required energy. Related to these capacity constraints is the fact that the county currently produces a large portion of its electricity locally and also supplies some of its own natural gas needs. Add to this the fact that the county has a tremendous amount of potential local energy resources, in the form of wind, wave, biomass, hydroelectric and solar power. And finally, there is a lot of local interest and expertise and a strong desire to develop long-term energy sustainability for the region.
What will a sustainable energy plan look like? It is likely to feature policies that will ensure energy supply continuity, reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency, and advance the use of clean, efficient and renewable energy resources, especially those that are local. If the county develops long-term energy sustainability plans for the community, the benefits will be significant.
2005-07-01T00:00:00ZThe Palm Desert Fuel Cell Vehicle Project
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/47
The Palm Desert Fuel Cell Vehicle Project
Lehman, Peter A.
For the past three years, the Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) has been involved in the development and production of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. During this time, we have: 1) built a fuel cell laboratory and production facility, 2) designed, constructed, and installed a 1.5 kW PEM fuel cell for use as a stand-by power source at the Schatz Solar Hydrogen Project, and 3) conducted research to improve power density and lower manufacturing costs of fuel cells. SERC has now turned its focus to the Palm Desert Fuel Cell Vehicle Project. The goal of this project is to develop a clean and sustainable transportation system for a community. The project involves a consortium which includes the City of Palm Desert, DuPont, SERC, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The goal will be accomplished by:
• Designing, building, and operating a fleet of personal utility vehicles (PUV's) and neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV's) powered by hydrogen fueled PEM fuel cells.
Various modes of on-board storage of hydrogen will be investigated in a companion project undertaken by Sandia National Laboratory (SNL).
• Designing, building, and operating a refueling infrastructure relevant to future hydrogen based transportation systems. This will include two hydrogen refueling stations. One station will be wind powered; the second will be solar powered.
• Conducting research into the details of PEM fuel cell production, with particular emphasis on developing materials and manufacturing techniques which will lower costs.
• Designing and constructing a PEM fuel cell service and diagnostic center. The center will be located in a refurbished building in the City of Palm Desert corporation yard and service personnel will be trained through this project. The center will serve as an incubator to attract fuel cell manufacturing industry to the City.
Major funding sources for the $4.1M project are expected to include the U.S. Department of Energy and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The City of Palm Desert and SERC, as well as industrial partners DuPont, Teledyne Brown Engineering, ASE Americas, and Wintec, will provide matching funds and/or in-kind donations.
Presented at the 6th Annual National Hydrogen Association Meeting, Alexandria, VA, 1995
1995-03-01T00:00:00ZField Testing of a PEM Fuel Cell in an Integrated Power System
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/46
Field Testing of a PEM Fuel Cell in an Integrated Power System
Lehman, Peter A.; Chamberlin, Charles E.; Chapman, Greg S.; Coleman, Nathaniel T.; Engel, Richard A.; McKay, Denise A.; Marshall, Marc W.; Reis, Antonio M.; Zoellick, James I.
For the past 12 years, the Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) has operated the Schatz Solar Hydrogen Project (SSHP). SSHP is a stand-alone renewable energy system that uses hydrogen as the energy storage medium and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell as the regeneration technology [1,2]. Recently, a new 36-cell, 140 cm2 PEM fuel cell was installed at SSHP. We report operating results, cell voltage decay rates, and general utility of the fuel cell in providing power in this integrated system.
Presented at the 2002 Fuel Cell Seminar, Palm Springs, CA, November 2002
2002-11-01T00:00:00ZFuel Cell/Photovoltaic Integrated Power System for a Remote Telecommunications Station
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/45
Fuel Cell/Photovoltaic Integrated Power System for a Remote Telecommunications Station
Chamberlin, Charles E.; Lehman, Peter A.; Zoellick, Jim I.; Engel, Richard A.; Rommel, David S.
The Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) has designed, built, and operated a PEM fuel cell power system that supplies back-up power to a remote radio-telephone repeater. The repeater, located within Redwood National Park in northwestern California, is part of the Yurok Indian
Reservation’s telecommunications system. A photovoltaic (PV) system with batteries provides primary power for the repeater. When solar insolation is insufficient to maintain battery state-ofcharge, the 100-Watt fuel cell system starts automatically and provides clean, quiet, reliable
power.
The system began unattended operation in November 1999. The original fuel cell stack logged 3239 hours of run time. In January 2001, SERC engineers refurbished the original fuel cell stack, incorporating improved membrane-electrode assemblies and gas diffusion media. The original resin-impregnated graphite was replaced with pyrosealed components and a temperaturecontrolled
fan switch was added to protect the stack from sudden temperature increases while minimizing parasitic loads. The system ran continuously though October 2001, accumulating 3836 hours of run time and completing 283 start-stop cycles.
The system and the original stack are described in detail in two earlier papers [1,2]. This paper will focus on the performance of the second stack used in the system.
Presented at the 2002 Fuel Cell Seminar, Palm Springs, CA, November 2002
2002-11-01T00:00:00Z