The skyline of downtown Pittsburgh.
Shell Chemical has signed an option to lease land in western Pennsylvania for a possible “world-scale” petrochemical complex including an ethane cracker that would use abundant natural gas from the Marcellus Shale field to make ethylene and other components for plastics. Keep reading →
This file picture taken on February 28, 2012 shows workers walking at the emergency operation center of the stricken Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture.
At the first anniversary of the March 11, 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, the nuclear industry outside Japan and central Europe is largely continuing as before the accident, says a World Energy Council report. Keep reading →
Former Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (L) and Energy Secretary Steven Chu (R) held a media availability following a White House meeting to advance Smart Grid development at the White House.
Like the utility industry itself, the Department of Energy has long operated in siloed departments. Some months ago, several of them developed a shared vision of the US electricity system in 2035. Although the DOE originally developed the vision for internal use, it has decided to take the show on the road and pitch it to external stakeholders. The first stop on the tour was to state utility regulators at their 2012 National Electricity Forum. Keep reading →
Men with Cabot Oil and Gas work on a natural gas valve at a hydraulic fracturing site on January 18, 2012 in South Montrose, Pennsylvania.
The oil and gas industry is facing a traffic jam of federal regulators rushing to regulate hydraulic fracturing, and industry representatives says the Obama administration needs to do more to consolidate new rulemaking. Keep reading →
I work in the basement of my senior year dormitory. This is a lot cooler than it sounds, though – just a few months after graduating from Columbia last spring in Environmental Engineering, I found myself working for a small energy consulting firm that counts my Alma Mater as one of its clients. Before heading back to graduate school to study policy next fall, I am spending time working to better understand real world operational structures and logistical constraints of addressing energy challenges. My job with a small energy consulting firm allows me to see the impact of New York energy policies on our clients’ operations and decision-making processes.
One policy, or rather set of policies, stands out: Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, in particular the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan. In my experience dealing with the energy portfolios of Columbia and our other clients (mostly hospitals) I see it succeeding for a few reasons – 1) that its requirements are ambitious, yet both achievable and desirable 2) it spurs innovation and creates new opportunities for self-sustaining growth, and 3) it is part of a broader, long-term vision for sustainability in NYC. Emphasizing a strong impact on building energy use is essential given that buildings are responsible for 75% of energy use in the city. Keep reading →
Imagine a government as efficient as the highest-performing private sector companies, delivering critical services to millions across the nation. CIOs and citizens alike want and expect this type of government. Cloud computing is at the heart of government’s potential to achieve significant operational efficiencies, and the speed at which cloud platforms are deployed is a big reason why. Without IT infrastructure, cloud computing makes it possible to deploy new systems, applications, platforms and more at previously unheard of rates. Instead of months and years, it can take as little as a few weeks to launch effective cloud applications.
Monitoring shale gas drilling has been a central technology question for oil and gas companies seeking to take advantage of huge potential reserves in the US.
“A technology to remotely monitor conditions at energy-rich Marcellus Shale gas wells to help insure compliance with environmental requirements has been developed through a research partnership funded by the US Department of Energy,” the department announced today. Keep reading →
The United States has taken an important step toward efficiently meeting the country’s rising electricity demand by ensuring a greater supply of clean, safe nuclear power.
With plans in place in Georgia for the construction of the next generation of nuclear energy facilities, this industry expansion will promote economic prosperity and continued development of a sustainable clean energy source. We need a cost-efficient, low-carbon solution to the nation’s increasing electricity demand- projected to rise 24 percent by 2035. Expanding nuclear energy as part of the mix of electricity generation options is necessary to meeting our nation’s growing power needs cleanly and cost-effectively. Keep reading →
Federal safety officials voted 4-to-1 to approve the first nuclear reactor construction permit in almost 35 years, overriding US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Greg Jaczko. The commission’s vote on Thursday will allow Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power to expand operations at its plant in eastern Georgia, paving the way for the construction of two new nuclear power reactors at its Vogtle site. The last such project to be approved was in 1978. Chairman Jaczko in his dissenting vote cited concerns stemming from Fukushima, underscoring long-standing tensions on the commission over the regulatory response to Japan’s 2011 nuclear power disaster.
Stan Wise, Chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, welcomed today’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission vote as bringing “certainty” to a project that is “$2 billion in the ground and $13 billion to go.”
The project structure Georgia Power and its parent, Southern Company, have set up, with Shaw as constructor and Westinghouse as nuclear vendor under contracts specifying schedule and budget, is vital to ensuring there are no cost overruns as there were in the 1980s when Georgia Power built Vogtle-1 and -2, he said. Keep reading →
