Greenhouse Gas Technology News 

April 2004 NEWSLETTER Issue 9 

Published by the Greenhouse Gas Technology Center 

An Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Organization Sponsored by the U.S.


Environmental Protection Agency and Partners from Industry, Government, and Academia


New Technologies Verified Across Several Economic Sectors


Since the last issue of Greenhouse Gas Technology 

News, four new performance verifications were 

completed on technologies applicable to the 

transportation, oil and gas, and electric power sectors. 

Reassembling truck axle during 

the ConocoPhillips lubricant test 

In the transportation 

sector, the GHG Center 

independently verified 

the performance of a 

new gear lubricant on a 

light-duty truck, one of 

the most widely used 

passenger vehicles in 

the United States. 

ConocoPhillips developed the lubricant in 

partnership with axle manufacturer Visteon Corporation. 

The product is marketed as a fuel-efficient, highperformance, multi-grade lubricant, and according to 

ConocoPhillips, consists of a lower viscosity, syntheticbase lubricant with optimized fluidity and friction 

modifiers when compared to standard axle lubricants. 

Independent performance verification of the lubricant 

was conducted by the GHG Center using a 2002 Ford 

F-150 pick-up truck at the light-duty vehicle testing 

facilities at the Southwest Research Institute. “Compared 

to using standard lubricants, we measured a 1% 

improvement in the fuel efficiency of our test truck," said 

Tim Hansen, manager of the verification test. "Although 

that sounds small, if the lubricant is used in all Ford 

vehicles that Visteon supplies axles to, we estimate the 

fuel savings would be equivalent to removing about 

23,000 F-150 pick-ups from the road. That’s a lot of air 

pollution reduced for little or no cost, and the fuel savings 

for consumers will add up over the life of a vehicle." In 

addition to fuel economy, emission rates of air pollutants 

and greenhouse gases from the test vehicle were also 

verified. 

In the oil and gas sector, natural gas extracted from the 

ground often contains excess water vapor at the 

wellhead. This water must be removed to avoid pipeline 

corrosion and solid hydrate formation. Glycol dehydration 

is the most widely used natural gas dehumidifica

process. In the process, glycol is typically used to abs

water from natural gas in a contactor vessel, but it a

absorbs natural gas (mostly methane), volatile orga

compounds (VOCs), and hazardous air polluta

(HAPs). Gas dehydration is the third largest meth

emission source in the natural gas production indus

and dehydrators also cause over 80 percent of 

industry’s annual HAP and VOC emissions. N

technology for dehydrating natural gas with lo

emissions has been developed by Engineered Conce

LLC, of Farmington, NM. The new technology, refe

to as the Quantum Leap Natural Gas Dehydra

(continued on page 2, see New Technologies) 

Stakeholders Confirm Center’s 

Technology Focus 

New Technology Areas and Collaboration

Identified 

The first meeting of the Advanced Energy Stakeho

Group was held on November 6, 2003, at the H

Monaco in Washington, D.C. A full agenda, mee

notes, and meeting roster are available on the Cent

web site (www.sri-rtp.com). About 35 participa

attended the one-day meeting - 28 Advanced Ene

Stakeholder Group members, several observers, 

four GHG Center staff. The day began with a pane

experts discuss

technical, pol

and other iss

relevant to us

and vendors 

advanced ene

technologie

Speakers includ

Bruce Poole, O

of Markets, Tar

and Rates-Fed

Energy Regula

Stakeholder meeting session 

(continued on page 3, see Stakeholders) 

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New (continued from page 1) Technologies 

Technology (QLT), was tested in the field by the GHG 

Center in April 2003. Testing consisted of a seven-day 

operational performance monitoring period followed by 

one day of environmental performance testing. 

According to Robert Richards, the verification test 

manager, "the QLT is effective, efficient, and has an 

environmental impact that’s lower than most standard 

technology. While it dehydrates natural gas to pipeline 

quality standards, it fuels its own process with entrained 

vapors, requiring little or no external fuel gas supply. 

Also, it either burns recovered waste gases or condenses 

them into salable 

products, while 

conventional dehydrators often emit 

them to the atmosphere in large 

quantities as greenhouse gas and air 

toxic pollution." In the 

electrical power 

area, the focus was 

on distributed electrical generation (DG) 

technologies. The 

GHG Center, in collaboration with the 

New York State 

Energy Research 

and Development Authority Robert Richards of the GHG Center 

sampling QLT process streams 

(NYSERDA), 

evaluated the performance of a Capstone 60 kWmicroturbine combined heat and power (CHP) system 

installed at a 57,000-ft2 Waldbaum’s supermarket in 

New York state. The heat recovered from the unit was 

used to provide supplemental space heat and 

dehumidification for the store’s HVAC system. The 

classes of verification parameters evaluated included heat 

and power production performance (including energy 

efficiency), emissions performance (NOx, CO, THC, CO2, 

and CH4), and power quality performance (e.g., harmonic 

distortions). Estimated NOx and CO2 emissions 

reductions for the CHP system were also estimated by 

comparing measured emission rates (lb/kWh) with 

corresponding emission rates for Waldbaum’s baseline 

power and heat production systems (i.e., local utility grid 

and the facility’s natural gas-fired boilers). "The NOx 

emissions per unit electrical power output at full load were 

well below the average levels reported for the regional 

grid" said Bill 

Chatterton, the 

Center ’ s 

verification test 

manager . 

"Interestingly, the 

average CO2 

emissions for the 

regional grid were 

nearly identical to 

the emission rate 

for the Capstone 60. After 

including the emission reductions attributed 

the system’s heat recovery, average annual emiss

reductions were estimated to be 17 percent for NOx an

percent for CO2." 

Quantum Leap Natural Gas Dehydrati

Technology (QLT) at a Colorado gas 

processing facility 

A second DG technology was verified - the Plug Po

proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell (mo

SU1). Verification of the SU1 was conducted at a priv

residence (2,060 ft2

) in Lewiston, New York. The S

fuel cell is not a load-following system, but is configu

to operate at nominal power outputs of 2.5, 4.0, or 

kW. Testing commenced on April 10, 2003, and 

same performance parameters evaluated for 

Capstone microturbine were quantified here. "Th

an early version of 

Plug’s residential fuel 

cell and it does not 

have heat recovery" 

said Chatterton, the 

Center’s verification 

test manager. "It is 

essentially a greenhouse gas-neutral 

technology. Although 

the estimated average 

CO2 emission rate for 

combustion and other 

power generators used 

to feed the regional grid 

is slightly higher than the CO2 emission rate for the S

methane emissions, although not extreme, are highe

the SU1." 

Power Plug field test site 

in New York 

Complete results for these and other technolog

verified by the GHG Center can be downloaded at 

Center’s web site — www.sri-rtp.com. 

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Stakeholders (continued from page 1) 

Commission (FERC); Tom Basso, NREL/IEEE SCC21 

Standards Coordinating Committee; Roger Ballentine, 

President, Green Strategies, Inc; Bob Simon, Democratic 

Staff Director for the Senate Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources; Steven Greenberg, RealEnergy; and 

Andy Skok, FuelCell Energy, Inc. 

The GHG Center facilitated a series of sessions to focus 

the group on important Center business issues. 

A technology area prioritization exercise was held, the 

results of which were intended to help guide the Center’s 

technology focus for several years to come. The results 

of that prioritization (see graph) confirmed the Center’s 

focus on key advanced energy technology areas — six of 

the 12 top-rated technology areas are already active at 

the GHG Center. The prioritization also identified new 

technology areas the Center should consider. These 

included bio-fuels (e.g., diesel and bio-diesel blends), 

small gas turbines with and without CHP, and biomass 

gasification.A session was also held to prioritize 

technology performance measurement protocols and 

general testing strategies for advanced energy 

technologies. 

Following these exercises, the remainder of the day was 

spent interacting with senior managers of advanced 

energy technology 

demonstration 

programs. The theme 

was to seek collaborative 

relationships, and a 

wide range of 

technologies and 

experiences were 

discussed by 

speakers, including 

Richard Drake — 

New York State 

Energy Research 

and Development 

Authority (NYSERDA); John Holt — National R

Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA); Rich

Handley — Northeast Regional Biomass Program (NR

of CONEG (Coalition of Northeastern Governo

Ed Lewis — Colorado Governor’s Office of Ene

Management and Conservation; and John Shea — N

England Governor’s Conference, Inc. (NEGC). A fol

up coordination with CONEG began soon after 

meeting to seek biomass-related technologies 

candidates for verification testing by the Center. 

Roger Ballentine, President of Gree

Strategies and former Clinton 

Administration official addresses 

Stakeholders 

Technology Voting Results - Ranked by "Best Candidates for ETV Testing" 

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Stakeholder Technology Voting Results 

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Three Major Scientific Studies Expand the GHG Mitigation Debate


Duke University Scientists Say Trees May NASA Studies Soot Impacts on Global 

Absorb Less Excess CO2 Warming 

Researchers from Duke 

University’s Nicholas School 

of the Environment and Earth 

Sciences recently announced 

that their Free Air Carbon 

Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) 

experiment may not support 

the notion that trees can 

absorb much extra CO2 by growing faster. FACE is being 

conducted in a forest ecosystem located in North Carolina 

where competition between organisms, resource 

limitations, and other real world factors exists and can 

influence how forests respond to increased CO2 

concentrations. For about seven years, several 

forest plots have been exposed to elevated levels of CO2 

to gauge how they may respond to future levels of CO2 

compared to adjacent plots exposed to current levels of 

CO2 (see photo). 

In May 1999, Duke researchers reported in Science 

journal that early results from FACE suggest about a 25% 

increase in net primary production occurred with elevated 

CO2 — clearly a stimulated growth in the dominant 

species (loblolly pine). The researchers estimated that 

such an increase could fix about 50 percent of the 

anthropogenic CO2 projected to be released into the 

atmosphere by 2050. However, as the FACE experiment 

progressed, more detailed trends and influences became 

apparent. Duke has found that, although the trees have 

boosted their annual growth rates by between 10 and 25 

percent, the highest responses have been in the driest 

years and the effect of elevated CO2 has been much less 

in normal and wet years. 

According to Duke, these counterintuitive findings 

suggest that nitrogen deficiencies common to forest soils 

in the southeastern U.S. may limit the abilities of loblolly 

pine forests to use the extra CO2 to produce more 

tissues as they take in more of the gas. "I’d be surprised 

if the forests of the world will take up more than one-third 

of the carbon dioxide from fossil fuel emissions in the 

year 2050, which is what our experiment simulates," said 

Duke professor and Nicholas School Dean William 

Schlesinger. When asked what this could mean for the 

mission of Southern’s GHG Center, Dr. Schlesinger said, 

"This places an even greater burden on strategies that 

reduce greenhouse gas emissions at their source. 

Perhaps your Center should expand its efforts to identify 

and evaluate alternatives to current fossil fuel use 

technologies". 

Contact: Duke University, website http://www.duke.edu. 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) rece

reported to EIN Publishing’s Global Warming Today t

a team of NASA scientists conducted new modeling a

other research that suggests emissions of black s

may alter the way sunlight reflects off snow and 

retention of heat in the atmosphere, altering the clim

system more than previously thought. "Black carb

reduces the amount of energy reflected by snow back 

space, thus heating the snow surface more than if there were 

black carbon," said NASA Goddard researcher Jim Hanse

GSFC computer simulation indicates that black soo

potentially responsible for 25 percent of observed glo

warming over the past century. Soot can absorb more 

the sun’s energy and warmth than a snowy w

background, so it is hypothesized that soot in areas w

snow and ice may play an important role in clim

change. Additionally, GSFC said that if snow- and 

covered areas begin melting, the warming effect increases 

the soot becomes more concentrated on the snow surface 

the snow gets dirtier. Hansen also indicated soot’s effect 

snow "albedo," or solar energy reflected back to spa

(continued on page 5, see NASA) 

Study Indicates Iron Fertilization Impracti

as CO2 Removal Strategy 

Recent oceanographic studies have focused on 

feasibility of iron fertilization of phytoplankton as a met

of removing excess CO2 from the atmosphere. One st

in the Southern Ocean, for example, led by Kenn

Coale of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) 

Ken Johnson of Monterey Bay Aquarium Resea

Institute revealed that iron added to surface wa

caused massive phytoplankton blooms that consum

more than 30,000 tons of CO2 . MLML feels these find

suggest iron fertilization causes billions of tons of car

to be removed annually from the atmosphere. Th

results, according to MLML, show that iron supply to 

Southern Ocean may have controlled the Earth’s clim

during past ice ages. MLML noted that sim

observations were reported and presented separately 

recent issue of the Science journal by Ken Buessle

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Jim Bisho

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, concluding 

much of the consumed CO2 sank to the ocean bottom

This iron fertilization concept was, however, rece

refuted by Philip Boyd of the University of Otago (N

Zealand) in a published article for Nature magazine. 

concept seemed promising to Boyd in 1999 after 

research team spread about 8000 kilograms of an 

solution in the Southern Ocean, creating a five-

(continued on page 5, see Iron Fertilization) 

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Center Focuses on Human and Animal Waste Utilization Technologies


While maintaining an emphasis on advanced energy 

production systems, most of the technologies currently 

being verified involve the expanding practice of 

producing and using biogas from the anaerobic digestion 

of hog, diary cow, and human waste. Electricity and 

process heat are usually the primary products. 

The Center is currently evaluating six technologies 

involved with biogas - two biogas cleaning technologies 

and four combined heat and power (CHP) systems that 

use biogas to make electric power and heat. The two 

different biogas cleaning technologies, one offered by 

Dairy farm test site in New York state 

U.S. Filter and the 

other by The NATCO 

Group, remove 

hydrogen sulfide from 

biogas, sweetening 

the gas and reducing 

potentially large quantities of air pollution 

that would occur with 

its combustion. The 

advanced energy 

technologies being verified span a range of CHP 

systems: one 70 kW-engine CHP (Martin Machinery), 

two different 30 kW-microturbine CHPs (Capstone 30 

with Unifin heat recovery and a Capstone 30 with Cain 

HRSG heat recovery), and one 250 kW-fuel cell 

CHP (United Technologies Corporation). A seventh 

technology, Bio-Regen, is an animal waste additive 

offered by Microganics LLC of Southlake, Texas. 

Microganics withdrew it’s product from verification 

shortly before testing could begin. 

The technology verifications above are occurring at 

farms and wastewater treatment facilities located across 

the U.S. — Colorado, 

Iowa, and New York


state. Performance 

chara c t e r i s t i c s 

evaluated for the two 

biogas cleaning 

technologies include 

contaminant removal 

efficiency, air emissions, and waste 

generation features. 

For the three different CHP systems, the Center will 

characterize a standard suite of performance 

parameters contained in the Center’s published testing 

protocols for CHP systems (air emissions, energy 

efficiency, energy output, and power quality). Final 

Verification Reports should be completed during the 

spring and summer of 2004. 

UTC fuel cells at wastewater 

treatment plant test site in Brooklyn 

5 

"Interest in animal and 

human waste technologies 

has grown significantly 

during 2003", said Stephen 

Piccot, GHG Center 

Director, "and it shows no 

sign of letting up. 

I anticipate signing on 

several new vendors this 

year, vendors that offer 

technologies ranging from 

waste additives that may accelerate biogas productio

completely different strategies for handling th

wastes." 

NATCO test site at Ceda

Rapids wastewater treatm

facility 

NASA (continued from page 4

may be contributing to early springs in the North

Hemisphere, thinning of Arctic sea ice, melting 

glaciers and permafrost, and other impacts. 

Black carbon or soot is generated from indust

processes, outdoor fires, burning of coal and biom

fuels, use of diesel fuels, and other processes. "If 

impact is as significant as the GSFC study suggests, 

GHG Center may indeed start addressing technolog

that mitigate soot air pollution" said Stephen Picc

GHG Center Director. "We already work in some 

these areas, such as diesel engines and electric pow

but our focus has been on everything except s

emissions, and some strategies to control greenho

gases and criteria pollutants can actually increase s

emissions. We plan to follow this closely." 

IRON FERTILIZATION 

(continued from page 4) 

increase in phytoplankton blooms. Scientists hoped 

these blooms could consume excess atmospheric C

supplies. 

However, a subsequent study by Boyd in the Gul

Alaska could not produce results supporting th

previous studies in the Southern Ocean. Boyd’s resea

team concluded that the addition of iron is only part of 

equation for increasing phytoplankton blooms 

reducing CO2 levels — large quantities of silicate m

also be added for the phytoplankton levels to gr

Unfortunately, the silicate demand would be so great 

five-thousand times as much silicate would need to 

combined with the iron solution to see an effect 

atmospheric CO2 levels, demonstrating the impractic

of iron fertilization for CO2 removal. 
gy 

Transportation Verifications Start to Roll 

The Center has started its second transportation-related 

technology verification. Testing will occur in the spring of 

2004 using a heavy-duty diesel engine typical of those 

used in long-haul 18-wheel trucks. The vendor, Universal 

Cams of Stuart, Florida, indicates the technology is 

applicable to gasoline and other engines, and is capable of 

producing large fuel economy and emissions 

improvements. 

Advertised as an after-market retrofit device, 

the Universal Cams technology involves 

replacing an engine’s existing camshaft with a 

redesigned camshaft and cam sprocket. 

Special engine tuning and other modification 

may also be required. Phase 1 of the 

verification test will address how the 

technology changes the emissions and fuel 

economy of a heavy-duty diesel engine. If 

Phase 1 is successful, Phase 2 will address 

long-term performance and reliability issues. 

"Over the past few months we’ve talked with no fewer t

10 vendors that have technologies they claim will b

about fuel economy and other transportation techno

improvements" said Piccot. "These guys all n

independent performance data to prove their fuel econo

and other claims, and they represent a surprisingly w

range of different approaches from fuel additives 

pre-combustion fuel catalysis filters to engine ret

devices and constant velocity transmission systems. 

reported in our last newsletter that transporta

technologies may be a new focus for the Center and 

seems to be occurring, especially in the heavy-duty di

market where industry is poised to make signific

technology improvements over the next few yea

In March, the Center entered into an agreement 

EnviroFuels L.P., to evaluate the performance o

microfilm-based fuel additive on the fuel economy 

emissions of a diesel locomotive. Testing should begin l

in 2004. 

ETV Web Site Activity Spikes 

GHG Center Pages Among Highest Rated 

The GHG Center operates under U.S. EPA’s 

Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program. 

It is one of six Centers that verify technologies in the 

environmental and homeland security areas. 

EPA maintains a web site for the ETV Program wh

historically, has been among the most accessed area

EPA’s overall web site. The ETV site experienced o

240,000 hits in the third quarter of 2003, the highest le

experienced to date (see gra

Pages devoted to GHG Ce

activities within the ETV site w

among the top 10 pages access

"That ’ s great", said Da

Kirchgessner, EPA’s Proj

Officer for the GHG Center. "It s

we’re working in the right are

areas of great interest to the pu

This is exactly what the E

Program is supposed to do". 

Of the top 10 ETV Program w

pages accessed, three belong 

the GHG Center. All three w

focused on advanced ene

technologies, each provid

results or testing proto

documents for distributed genera

technologies including microturbin

fuel cells, engine generators 

combined heat and power (C

technologies. 

Contact the Greenhouse Gas Technology Center by calling Stephen Piccot at Southern Research Institute (919/806-3456), 

or David Kirchgessner at the U.S. EPA (919/541-4021). Additional information can be viewed on the GHG Center web site at 

www.sri-rtp.com or the U.S. EPA ETV web site at www.epa.gov/etv. 

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