Book Description

DOE prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to review the potential for impacts to the human and natural environment of its Proposed Action-providing financial assistance to EnerG2 under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the EDV industry in an effort to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. More specifically, DOE's objective is to accelerate the development and production of various EDV systems by building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components. DOE's program will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. Under the terms of this cooperative agreement, DOE would provide approximately 75 percent of the funding for EnerG2 to establish a commercial-size manufacturing plant for fine-grained carbon powder (also known as electrode carbon) having a high degree of purity, a high surface area per unit mass, and an improved pore structure. The plant would be setup inside an existing warehouse currently owned by Oregon Freeze Dry, Inc. and located in Albany, Oregon. If successful, the plant would help meet the growing needs of domestic and global producers of EDVs and HEVs. The production capacity would be enough to support building at least 60,000 EDVs per year. Additionally, the project would create approximately 50 temporary construction jobs and approximately 35 permanent jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes, although minor, to result from EnerG2's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: air quality and greenhouse gas, noise, geology and soils, vegetation and wildlife, solid and hazardous wastes, utilities, transportation and traffic, and human health and safety. No significant environmental effects were identified in analyzing the potential consequences of these changes.