81 FR 7778 - Request for Information: Accounting Conventions for Non-Combustible Renewable Energy Use
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 30 (February 16, 2016)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 30 (February 16, 2016)
| Page Range | 7778-7779 | |
| FR Document | 2016-03118 |
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 16, 2016)] [Notices] [Pages 7778-7779] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2016-03118] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Request for Information: Accounting Conventions for Non- Combustible Renewable Energy Use AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy (DOE). ACTION: Notice of Request for Information (RFI). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of a Request for Information: ``Accounting Conventions for Non-Combustible Renewable Energy Use'' regarding using an alternative methodology for calculating source energy from non-combustible renewable resources in analysis that informs DOE, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) products, reports, and standards--such as the Home Energy Score. The current approach uses the equivalent average heat rate of fossil fuels to convert renewable electricity to source energy (approximately 9,500 BTU/kWh), while the proposed approach would use the heat content of electricity (3,412 BTU/kWh). This proposed change would better represent the lack of fuels used in generating renewable electricity, and would result in a slightly lower site-to-source ratio than the current approach. DATES: Written comments and information are requested on or before March 14, 2016, no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET). ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments, which must be submitted electronically to [email protected]. Please visit https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ for the full RFI and to ask and view responses to questions regarding this RFI. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information may be sent to Steve Capanna, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: 202-586-7367. Email: [email protected]. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background EERE publishes reports, tools, and standards that include analyses that examine the impact of energy efficiency measures on total energy savings, and that compare energy savings between different types of technologies. A commonly used methodology for this is to convert the ``site energy'' into source energy (or ``primary energy'') using a site-to-source ratio. For electricity, this essentially converts the energy used in a building (in kilowatt-hours, kWh) into the equivalent amount of fuel required to generate that electricity (typically in British Thermal Units, BTU). The site-to-source ratio accounts for the useful energy lost in converting, transmitting, and distributing energy carriers. As a result, the source energy can be three times the size of the equivalent site energy, depending on location and electricity generation technology used. The benefit of using source energy as a metric for determining the impact of energy efficiency measures and technologies is that it is a more equitable ``apples-to-apples'' comparison of energy use than looking at site energy alone. Typically, analyses use electricity energy data provided by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in their Monthly Energy Review to calculate a site-to-source ratio. Using this EIA document, the total energy content of fuels used to generate electricity is divided by the total amount of electricity consumed by end users to calculate the site-to-source ratio. Accounting for the total source energy of electricity produced from combustible fuels (e.g., coal, natural gas, oil) is relatively straightforward as the energy content of these fuels is known. However, for non-combustible renewable resources (i.e., wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal) because there is no ``fuel'' used, a choice must be made to determine how to account for the primary energy of electricity generated from these sources. The current ``fossil fuel equivalency'' accounting convention used by the EIA to calculate the reported source energy number, assumes that non-combustible renewable electricity (RE) generation has the same source energy per kWh as the average of fossil fuel electricity. This factor, equivalent to a heat rate, represents the average amount of fossil fuel energy required to produce a kWh of electricity. Alternatively, the factor can be thought of as the amount of fossil energy displaced by a kWh of RE. The most recent value reported by EIA in Table A6 of the Monthly Energy Review is 9,541 BTU/kWh, which is equivalent to a generation efficiency of roughly 36%. The ``captured energy'' alternative convention accounts only for the energy output from a non-combustible generator. This assumes that the conversion from energy resource (e.g. sunlight, wind, water, etc.) into electricity is 100% efficient. The energy content of electricity generated from a non-combustible source using this accounting convention is 3,412 BTU/kWh, which is a unit conversion. An example comparison of the two methods of calculating source energy and site-to-source ratios using 2014 data is presented in the table below. Using the captured energy approach decreases the site-to- source ratio from 2.98 to 2.77 as compared to the fossil fuel equivalency approach. Comparison of Different Methodologies of Non-Combustible Renewable Energy Accounting on Site-to-Source Ratios, Using 2014 Data \a\ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversion Non-RE source Method RE gen. (TWh) factor (BTU/ RE source energy (quad) Total source End use Site-to-source \b\ kWh) energy (quad) \c\ energy (quad) (quad) \d\ ratio \e\ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fossil Fuel Equivalency................. 475 \f\ 9,541 4.53 35.21 39.74 13.32 2.98 [[Page 7779]] Captured Energy......................... 475 \g\ 3,412 1.62 35.21 36.83 13.32 2.77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \a\ 2014 data from December 2015 edition of EIA's Monthly Energy Review (http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly) Tables 7.1, 7.2a, 7.3a, and A6. 1 Quad = 10\15\ BTU. \b\ Includes wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal, and hydro generation \c\ Coal, petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear generation from Table 7.2a is converted to Quads using the heat contents from Table A6. Wood, waste, other gases, and other generation source energy used as reported in Table 7.3a. \d\ End use energy is calculated as net generation of electricity (13.97 Quads) plus imports (0.16 Quads) minus transmission & distribution losses (0.82 Quads), as reported in Table 7.1 and converted to Quads using 3,412 BTU/kWh. \e\ Note that ratios reported here were calculated without independent rounding. \f\ As reported in Table A6. \g\ A constant unit conversion, Table A6. The fossil fuel equivalency approach to calculating RE source energy may be sufficient when the level of RE generation is small. However, with generation from RE resources increasing due to the continued trend of de-carbonizing the grid, the importance of the RE source energy accounting methodology also increases. EERE believes that using the ``captured energy'' approach most accurately reflects how RE generation differs from other types of conventional generation, and is therefore the best way to include it when accounting for the benefits of energy efficiency measures and standards. Purpose The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to the proposed modification to the accounting of RE source energy. EERE proposes to replace the fossil- fuel equivalency approach with the alternative captured energy approach presented above. This would impact the site-to-source ratios used in analyses that inform EERE reports, standards, and evaluations. This methodological choice is important as renewable generation continues to grow and accounts for more significant portions of the nation's electricity production. This is not announcing a proposed rule or policy change at this time, and is solely an effort to gather information from stakeholders to help inform EERE on whether a change to the source energy calculation should be proposed. Request for Information Categories and Questions 1. Describe your organization and its relationship to any EERE products, analyses, or standards. 2. Please provide comment on the proposed change in methodology from the current ``fossil fuel equivalency'' (e.g. 9,541 BTU/kWh) to the ``captured energy'' approach (e.g. 3,412 BTW/kWh) discussed in the background section. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How might it affect you/your organization? 3. Please describe any alternative methodology not discussed in the background section that you think merits consideration, along with the advantages and disadvantages. 4. Please describe any other important aspects of primary energy and site-to-source ratio methodologies for EERE to consider. What are these aspects and why are they important? Request for Information Response Guidelines Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on March 14, 2016. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 20 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted. Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question or topic if applicable. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they wish. EERE will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. Respondents are requested to provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI:Company/institution name; Company/institution contact; Contact's address, phone number, and email address. Confidential Business Information Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via email two well marked copies: One copy of the document marked ``confidential'' including all the information believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non- confidential'' with the information believed to be confidential deleted. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential status of the information and treat it according to its determination. Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat submitted information as confidential include: (1) A description of the items; (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is generally known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the information has previously been made available to others without obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the competitive injury to the submitting person that would result from public disclosure; (6) when such information might lose its confidential character due to the passage of time; and (7) why disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest. Issued in Washington, DC, on February 9, 2016. Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2016-03118 Filed 2-12-16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
![7778 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 16, 2016 / Notices
Program for such projects. The notice is March 14, 2016, no later than 5:00 p.m. content of fuels used to generate
available at http://energy.gov/eere/ (ET). electricity is divided by the total
femp/downloads/request-comments- ADDRESSES: Interested persons are amount of electricity consumed by end
including-onsite-renewable-energy- encouraged to submit comments, which users to calculate the site-to-source
generation-under-energy. must be submitted electronically to ratio.
FEMP invites all interested parties to EERE.Analysis@ee.doe.gov. Please visit
submit in writing by March 2, 2016, Accounting for the total source energy
https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ for of electricity produced from
comments and information on matters the full RFI and to ask and view
addressed in the notice. combustible fuels (e.g., coal, natural gas,
responses to questions regarding this
oil) is relatively straightforward as the
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 3, RFI.
energy content of these fuels is known.
2016. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: However, for non-combustible
Hayes Jones, Requests for additional information may renewable resources (i.e., wind, solar,
Operations Supervisor, Federal Energy be sent to Steve Capanna, U.S.
Management Program.
hydro, and geothermal) because there is
Department of Energy, Office of Energy no ‘‘fuel’’ used, a choice must be made
[FR Doc. 2016–03103 Filed 2–12–16; 8:45 am] Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 1000 to determine how to account for the
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P Independence Avenue SW., primary energy of electricity generated
Washington, DC 20585–0121.
from these sources.
Telephone: 202–586–7367. Email:
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Steve.Capanna@hq.doe.gov. The current ‘‘fossil fuel equivalency’’
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: accounting convention used by the EIA
Office of Energy Efficiency and to calculate the reported source energy
Renewable Energy Background number, assumes that non-combustible
Request for Information: Accounting EERE publishes reports, tools, and renewable electricity (RE) generation
Conventions for Non-Combustible standards that include analyses that has the same source energy per kWh as
Renewable Energy Use examine the impact of energy efficiency the average of fossil fuel electricity. This
measures on total energy savings, and factor, equivalent to a heat rate,
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and that compare energy savings between represents the average amount of fossil
Renewable Energy, Department of different types of technologies. A fuel energy required to produce a kWh
Energy (DOE). commonly used methodology for this is of electricity. Alternatively, the factor
ACTION: Notice of Request for to convert the ‘‘site energy’’ into source can be thought of as the amount of fossil
Information (RFI). energy (or ‘‘primary energy’’) using a energy displaced by a kWh of RE. The
site-to-source ratio. For electricity, this most recent value reported by EIA in
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy essentially converts the energy used in
(DOE) gives notice of a Request for Table A6 of the Monthly Energy Review
a building (in kilowatt-hours, kWh) into is 9,541 BTU/kWh, which is equivalent
Information: ‘‘Accounting Conventions the equivalent amount of fuel required
for Non-Combustible Renewable Energy to a generation efficiency of roughly
to generate that electricity (typically in
Use’’ regarding using an alternative 36%.
British Thermal Units, BTU).
methodology for calculating source The site-to-source ratio accounts for The ‘‘captured energy’’ alternative
energy from non-combustible renewable the useful energy lost in converting, convention accounts only for the energy
resources in analysis that informs DOE, transmitting, and distributing energy output from a non-combustible
Office of Energy Efficiency and carriers. As a result, the source energy generator. This assumes that the
Renewable Energy (EERE) products, can be three times the size of the conversion from energy resource (e.g.
reports, and standards—such as the equivalent site energy, depending on sunlight, wind, water, etc.) into
Home Energy Score. The current location and electricity generation electricity is 100% efficient. The energy
approach uses the equivalent average technology used. The benefit of using content of electricity generated from a
heat rate of fossil fuels to convert source energy as a metric for non-combustible source using this
renewable electricity to source energy determining the impact of energy accounting convention is 3,412 BTU/
(approximately 9,500 BTU/kWh), while efficiency measures and technologies is kWh, which is a unit conversion.
the proposed approach would use the that it is a more equitable ‘‘apples-to-
heat content of electricity (3,412 BTU/ apples’’ comparison of energy use than An example comparison of the two
kWh). This proposed change would looking at site energy alone. methods of calculating source energy
better represent the lack of fuels used in Typically, analyses use electricity and site-to-source ratios using 2014 data
generating renewable electricity, and energy data provided by the Energy is presented in the table below. Using
would result in a slightly lower site-to- Information Administration (EIA) in the captured energy approach decreases
source ratio than the current approach. their Monthly Energy Review to the site-to-source ratio from 2.98 to 2.77
DATES: Written comments and calculate a site-to-source ratio. Using as compared to the fossil fuel
information are requested on or before this EIA document, the total energy equivalency approach.
COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT METHODOLOGIES OF NON-COMBUSTIBLE RENEWABLE ENERGY ACCOUNTING ON SITE-TO-
SOURCE RATIOS, USING 2014 DATA a
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Non-RE
Conversion RE source Total source
RE gen. source End use Site-to-source
Method factor energy energy
(TWh) b energy (quad) d ratio e
(BTU/kWh) (quad) (quad)
(quad) c
Fossil Fuel Equivalency 475 f 9,541 4.53 35.21 39.74 13.32 2.98
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![Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 16, 2016 / Notices 7779
COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT METHODOLOGIES OF NON-COMBUSTIBLE RENEWABLE ENERGY ACCOUNTING ON SITE-TO-
SOURCE RATIOS, USING 2014 DATA a—Continued
Non-RE
Conversion RE source Total source
RE gen. source End use Site-to-source
Method factor energy energy
(TWh) b energy (quad) d ratio e
(BTU/kWh) (quad) (quad)
(quad) c
Captured Energy .......... 475 g 3,412 1.62 35.21 36.83 13.32 2.77
a 2014 data from December 2015 edition of EIA’s Monthly Energy Review (http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly) Tables 7.1, 7.2a, 7.3a,
and A6. 1 Quad = 1015 BTU.
b Includes wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal, and hydro generation
c Coal, petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear generation from Table 7.2a is converted to Quads using the heat contents from Table A6. Wood,
waste, other gases, and other generation source energy used as reported in Table 7.3a.
d End use energy is calculated as net generation of electricity (13.97 Quads) plus imports (0.16 Quads) minus transmission & distribution
losses (0.82 Quads), as reported in Table 7.1 and converted to Quads using 3,412 BTU/kWh.
e Note that ratios reported here were calculated without independent rounding.
f As reported in Table A6.
g A constant unit conversion, Table A6.
The fossil fuel equivalency approach 2. Please provide comment on the • Company/institution name;
to calculating RE source energy may be proposed change in methodology from • Company/institution contact;
sufficient when the level of RE the current ‘‘fossil fuel equivalency’’
generation is small. However, with (e.g. 9,541 BTU/kWh) to the ‘‘captured • Contact’s address, phone number,
generation from RE resources increasing energy’’ approach (e.g. 3,412 BTW/kWh) and email address.
due to the continued trend of de- discussed in the background section. Confidential Business Information
carbonizing the grid, the importance of What are the advantages and
the RE source energy accounting disadvantages of each? How might it Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any
methodology also increases. EERE affect you/your organization? person submitting information that he
believes that using the ‘‘captured 3. Please describe any alternative or she believes to be confidential and
energy’’ approach most accurately methodology not discussed in the exempt by law from public disclosure
reflects how RE generation differs from background section that you think should submit via email two well
other types of conventional generation, merits consideration, along with the marked copies: One copy of the
and is therefore the best way to include advantages and disadvantages. document marked ‘‘confidential’’
it when accounting for the benefits of 4. Please describe any other important including all the information believed to
energy efficiency measures and aspects of primary energy and site-to- be confidential, and one copy of the
standards. source ratio methodologies for EERE to document marked ‘‘non-confidential’’
consider. What are these aspects and with the information believed to be
Purpose why are they important? confidential deleted. DOE will make its
The purpose of this RFI is to solicit Request for Information Response own determination about the
feedback from industry, academia, Guidelines confidential status of the information
research laboratories, government and treat it according to its
Responses to this RFI must be determination.
agencies, and other stakeholders on submitted electronically to
issues related to the proposed EERE.Analysis@ee.doe.gov no later than Factors of interest to DOE when
modification to the accounting of RE 5:00 p.m. (ET) on March 14, 2016. evaluating requests to treat submitted
source energy. EERE proposes to replace Responses must be provided as information as confidential include: (1)
the fossil-fuel equivalency approach attachments to an email. It is A description of the items; (2) whether
with the alternative captured energy recommended that attachments with file and why such items are customarily
approach presented above. This would sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed treated as confidential within the
impact the site-to-source ratios used in (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. industry; (3) whether the information is
analyses that inform EERE reports, Responses must be provided as a generally known by or available from
standards, and evaluations. This Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to other sources; (4) whether the
methodological choice is important as the email, and no more than 20 pages in information has previously been made
renewable generation continues to grow length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. available to others without obligation
and accounts for more significant Only electronic responses will be concerning its confidentiality; (5) an
portions of the nation’s electricity accepted. explanation of the competitive injury to
production. This is not announcing a Please identify your answers by the submitting person that would result
proposed rule or policy change at this responding to a specific question or from public disclosure; (6) when such
time, and is solely an effort to gather topic if applicable. Respondents may information might lose its confidential
information from stakeholders to help answer as many or as few questions as character due to the passage of time; and
inform EERE on whether a change to the they wish. EERE will not respond to (7) why disclosure of the information
source energy calculation should be
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
individual submissions or publish would be contrary to the public interest.
proposed. publicly a compendium of responses. A Issued in Washington, DC, on February 9,
Request for Information Categories and response to this RFI will not be viewed 2016.
Questions as a binding commitment to develop or
Kathleen Hogan,
pursue the project or ideas discussed.
1. Describe your organization and its Respondents are requested to provide Deputy Assistant Secretary.
relationship to any EERE products, the following information at the start of [FR Doc. 2016–03118 Filed 2–12–16; 8:45 am]
analyses, or standards. their response to this RFI: BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014 22:15 Feb 12, 2016 Jkt 238001 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 9990 E:\FR\FM\16FEN1.SGM 16FEN1](https://thefederalregister.org/doc/81_FR_7808/page/2.svg)
Document Created: 2016-02-13 03:13:22
Document Modified: 2016-02-13 03:13:22
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Notices | |
| Action | Notice of Request for Information (RFI). | |
| Dates | Written comments and information are requested on or before March 14, 2016, no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET). | |
| Contact | Requests for additional information may be sent to Steve Capanna, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585-0121. Telephone: 202-586-7367. Email: [email protected] | |
| FR Citation | 81 FR 7778 |
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