Energy And Water Development And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, this amendment addresses the issue of district heating which has incredible potential as a force for sustainable energy. Specifically, what this amendment would do is provide $15 million in technical assistance grants to institutional entities such as municipal utilities, institutions of higher learning, public school districts, local government or a designee of any of these entities through section 399A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act as incorporated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. It would do this by directing $15 million within the $100 million for the DOE industrial technologies program to be directed toward district energy and combined heat and power.

This Nation has a huge opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, and provide reliable energy for heating and cooling and electricity by moving toward district energy and combined heat and power. District energy systems provide heating and cooling to two or more buildings or facilities through underground pipes. These systems can efficiently meet the heating and cooling needs of towns and cities. Much of Copenhagen, for example, is now heated through district heating. It can provide electricity and heating for college campuses, for hospitals, public buildings, and other facilities.

Combined heat and power refers to the production of both electricity and thermal energy. You are creating electricity and heat from the same powerplant. Combined heat and powerplants can provide thermal energy for district energy systems.

In my city of Burlington, VT, where I had the honor of being mayor for 8 years, we built the largest wood chip burning plant in the State of Vermont. This plant has a 50-megawatt capacity that runs on wood chips and wood waste. Roughly 60 percent of the energy produced by this plant is lost as wasted heat. Burlington, similar to other cities around the country, could capture that waste heat and use it to provide heating and cooling to multiple buildings downtown.

According to a 2008 Department of Energy report, combined heat and power systems, particularly in coordination with district energy systems, could make a huge impact in meeting our energy needs while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 40 percent of our energy consumption is for heating and cooling of our buildings as well as industrial process heat. Combined heat and power represents roughly 9 percent of our electric power capacity today. If we can move to 20 percent combined heat and power by 2020, we could, according to the DOE, create more than 1 million new jobs and avoid more than 800 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This would avoid more than 60 percent of the projected growth in carbon dioxide emissions between now and 2030. In other words, this is a big deal. We are talking about real technology that is deployable today, not 50 years in the future. It is here today, ready to be utilized.

In Copenhagen, district energy provides clean heating to 97 percent of the city. This has saved energy, reduced fossil fuel consumption, and avoided greenhouse gas emissions. In our own country, in St. Paul, MN, district energy and combined heat and power provide 65 megawatts of thermal energy and 25 megawatts of electricity from renewable urban wood waste. That is an extraordinary development. This heats more than 185 buildings, 300 homes, and cools an additional 95 buildings. This has reduced emissions and provided exceedingly reliable energy for St. Paul. Same story, smaller scale, Jamestown, NY.

I offer amendment No. 1903, which will provide $15 million for technical assistance grants under a program authorized in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. These grants will help with engineering studies and feasibility studies. The grants do require a match of between 25 and 60 percent so we are leveraging Federal dollars wisely. These grants were authorized but have never received funding. In fact, we have long neglected district energy and combined heat and power systems. We should be providing Federal support for these efficient technologies.

Interestingly, according to the Biomass Resource Center and the International District Energy Association, there are hundreds of shovel-ready projects that need capital for infrastructure to go forward right now. We are on the verge of putting people to work, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, making these systems more energy efficient. We also have many programs around the country that are in need of money for feasibility studies. By providing for technical assistance grants, we are taking an important step to move these projects forward.

I ask the chairman of the committee, I have offered this amendment. How does he suggest we proceed?

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