The National Renewable Energy Laboratory Research Participation Program-Student Internship

Transcription

1 The National Renewable Energy Laboratory Research Participation Program-Student Internship William S. Bagwell 1 and Donald J. Fournier, Jr., P.E. 1 Abstract The National Renewable Energy Laboratory offers student internships through its Research Participation Program in conjunction with the Federal Energy Management Program. Internship assignments are flexible to permit the student to develop technical skills within their interest areas. Student interns typically work within one or more of three major teams: the Utility team, the Energy Savings Performance Contracts team, and the Technical Assistance team. In addition to offering research and project experience related to renewable energy, internships are also designed to provide introductory experience in project management, government contracting and reporting. Introduction The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colorado, is the nation's premier research and development laboratory for renewable energy technology. Originally established in 1977 as the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), the laboratory was renamed in 1991 by President Bush to reflect its importance and expanded mission. NREL has approximately 800 people on staff and operates under an annual budget of about $175 million. NREL is contractor operated by Midwest Research Institute, Battelle, and Bechtel. NREL focuses on research, development and deployment of renewable energy in the areas of basic energy research, photovoltaics, wind energy, building technologies, biomass power, biofuels, superconductivity, fuels utilization, solar industrial technologies, solar thermal electric, solar hydrogen generation, fuel cells, geothermal power, economic and policy analysis of renewable energy technologies, and advanced vehicle technologies. These research activities support the ongoing efforts of the Department of Energy (DOE), as well as the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), to establish environmentally responsible energy production, usage, and distribution practices. In recent years, NREL has also gained international recognition for its role in supporting international development of renewable energy. (NREL Publication 1) Research Participation Program NREL is committed to fostering interaction between educational institutions, industry, and research organizations. NREL s Research Participation Program allows qualified university faculty, students, engineers, and scientists to participate in various laboratory research, development, and deployment programs, initiate new areas of research, and establish collaborative efforts among the participants. Program categories include 1 The University of Southern Mississippi, School of Engineering Technology, Box 5137, Hattiesburg, MS

2 student internships, postdoctoral research, research associates, sabbaticals, and senior research associates. Appointment periods, application procedures, and funding options vary with each category. Very often, participants develop expertise in various fields of renewable energy research for further application at their home institutions, or in their future professional endeavors. Student internships are designed for both undergraduate (sophomore, junior and senior standing) and graduate students of any U.S. university or college. Students are allowed to work full-time during the summer and part-time during the academic school year. U.S. residency and/or citizenship is required for all student internship position. Federal Energy Management Program NREL's Deployment Office administers some of its internship positions under the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). FEMP is a DOE program designed to assist government agencies to achieve national goals for efficient energy and water use at their facilities. The U.S. government is the largest consumer of electricity in the world, which makes FEMP a highly needed and beneficial program for reaching energy and environmental goals set forth by legislation and President Clinton in Executive Order FEMP provides assistance to federal facility energy managers responsible for quantifying energy use and offers suggestions for energy reduction strategies based upon improved efficiency, new technologies and renewable energy projects. FEMP provides contracting methods for project financing to facilitate an energy conservation/renewable energy project from conception through completion. The three contracting methods by which FEMP provides project financing are: Energy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPCs): Federal agencies contract with an energy service company (ESCO) that pays all up front costs in exchange for a portion of the long-term (up to 25 years) cost savings resulting from reduced energy use. Super ESPC: Awarded on a regional and/or technology specific basis, Super ESPC's are a streamlined version of an ESPC. Existing contracts for each technology and/or region makes the Super ESPC quicker to procure. Utility Contract: Federal agencies contract with their local utilities through existing Area Wide Contracts and Basic Ordering Agreements, thus avoiding a lengthy competitive procurement process. Utility contracts allow for the utility to pay up front project costs for a share of the longterm energy savings and usually have a quicker payback period (less than 10 years) than ESPC and Super ESPC contracts. (NREL Publication 2) To date, achievements by FEMP have been excellent. Federal energy costs have been cut by $3 billion from 1985 levels, saving taxpayers $400 million annually by the year 2000, and an estimated $1 billion by Typically, $4 of net savings can be expected for every $1 invested. Other notable accomplishments of FEMP include: Reducing cumulative emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide by 30 million metric tons by the year 2010; Stimulation of nearly 15,000 jobs per year, at a rate of 32 jobs per $1 million invested; Establishing the United States as a leader in energy conservation and environmental protection (NREL publication 3). NREL's FEMP Team The FEMP team at NREL consists of three major groups: the Utility team, the ESPC team, and the Technical Assistance (TA) team. The Utility team provides assistance to government facilities performing energy conservation projects in conjunction with their local utility. The ESPC team provides assistance to government facilities seeking to expand their energy conservation programs beyond the scope of programs offered by their local utility. The TA team specializes in projects involving renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaics, passive solar design and wind projects. It also provides educational assistance to government facilities about renewable energy technologies. 2

3 FEMP Internship FEMP interns work on both technical and management aspects of projects. In addition to experience gained through work on technical projects, interns also learn about project management and financing, contracting and government procurement. Interns are considered to be professional members of large team of specialized engineers and project facilitators. The NREL FEMP team makes the internship assignments flexible to permit the student to develop technical skills within their interest area. Typical assignments include collecting data for project proposals and database programs, and serving as a point of contact during project execution. One recently enrolled graduate student in The University of Southern Mississippi s School of Engineering Technology just completed a one-year internship at NREL where he worked within each of the three FEMP teams. Examples of typical assignments during the internship include: web-page trouble shooting writing basic guides to explain the power market in the deregulated utility industry researching state legislation to determine "renewable energy definitions" which exist in each state, and how state-by-state incentive programs affect the success of implementing renewable energy technology leading initial contact efforts among all federal facilities in Colorado to begin a "bulk power buy" of wind energy under the Windsource program offered by a state-wide utility collecting energy data from all federal facilities for the Windsource proposal serving as the primary contact for the Solarwall research project at the Environmental Protection Agency s Region VIII Laboratory writing project Statements of Work, Purchase Requests, and Operation and Management guidelines collecting technical information (i.e., fuel type, emissions, efficiency, purchase cost, and maintenance cost) for fuel cell, microturbine, and cogeneration gas turbines for eventual use in a customer information bulletin collecting and graphing data associated with ESPC, Super ESPC, and Utility Contracts for presentation by FEMP to Congress on the success of these projects collecting and entering data onto FEMPTracks, a national database depicting detailed case-by-case project information organizing and mediating project meetings In addition, as part of his internship, the graduate student attended the following conferences: Utility Energy Forum in California; FEMP Service Network Marketing and Sales Conference in Colorado; Implementing Renewable Energy Projects in Colorado; Utility Financing Workshop in Virginia; Federal Utility Partnership Working Group Meeting in Louisiana; Federal Utility Partnership Working Group Meeting in Maine. Conclusion 3

4 Internships at NREL administered through its Research Participation Program and FEMP permits students to develop both technical and management skills related to renewable energy. Students benefit from working with foremost experts in the field of renewable energy and experience the satisfaction of working with an organization that has far reaching impacts on energy conservation and environmental stewardship. Interns leave NREL with a heightened environmental awareness, along with an appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of renewable energy. References NREL Publication 1 (1998) "NREL's Research Participation Program", NREL Pamphlet, Department of Energy. NREL. NREL Publication 2 (1999) "FEMP Project Financing; Making it simple to save energy through the FEMP Service Network", NREL Pamphlet, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. NREL. NREL Publication 3 (1996) "Program Overview", What's New in Federal Energy Management?, Department of Energy. A revision of DOE/GO , DOE/GO , DOE NREL. 4

5 William S. Bagwell Shan Bagwell is a graduate student in the School of Engineering Technology at The University of Southern Mississippi. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Appalachian State University, with a concentration in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology in Building Science. He recently completed a one year internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Donald J. Fournier, Jr. P.E. Don Fournier is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering Technology at The University of Southern Mississippi. Mr. Fournier is a registered Professional Engineer and has ten years of industrial experience, primarily related to R&D, pollution control, combustion, and safety. Mr. Fournier received B.S. and M.E. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1986 and 1988, respectively. 5