Korean engineers may have found a way to allow electric vehicle batteries to recover and reuse energy from braking. “These guys have built high-performance supercapacitors out of graphene that store almost as much energy as a lithium-ion battery, can charge and discharge in seconds and maintain all this over many tens of thousands of charging… Keep reading →
The failed nomination of Ron Binz to be the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which was formalized with his withdrawal from consideration last month, was unprecedented in Washington. The role of FERC has never been the subject of public of political interest – and I’d argue that few people (in Congress or otherwise)… Keep reading →
The latest U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published on Sept. 27 paints a grave message about the planet’s carbon budget and things are not looking good from a climate change mitigation perspective. Arresting global temperature increases in order to prevent potential catastrophe means countries cannot burn all their fossil fuel resources, according… Keep reading →
Ken Silverstein does a nice overview of the debate about whether natural gas helps or hurts climate change mitigation efforts. US carbon dioxide emissions are down, but “inexpensive [natural gas] deposits coupled with the relative ease of building new gas plants has come at a price — the foregoing of other fuels.” [Forbes] Large energy… Keep reading →
As the United States moves closer to imposing an economic cost on carbon dioxide emissions in the form of emissions limits on power plants, there will be a shift in the ranking of fuels that are most economic for power generation. And while nuclear’s future is looking more promising, it is not certain that it… Keep reading →
A regulatory framework that penalizes carbon dioxide emissions would improve nuclear’s competitiveness in the US, but greater policy clarity may be required for new nuclear investments to replace shuttered facilities like San Onofre and Yankee. Nuclear is not without its detractors, which have a laundry list of concerns, ranging from potential for terrorist attacks to… Keep reading →
California Air Resources Board has announced issuance of the first carbon offset credits for cap-and-trade program compliance. On September 17, 2013, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced issuance of 600,000 compliance-grade carbon offset credits for use in the cap-and-trade program. The offset credits will be issued through the Compliance Instrument Tracking System for state-issued carbon… Keep reading →
Policy matters. Whether in one of the world’s richest countries or one of its poorest, access to clean and secure energy supplies relies on clear and reliable policy and regulatory signals, the results of a recent ranking of 129 nations by the World Energy Council and Oliver Wyman indicate. But given room to comment in… Keep reading →
Supporters of coal have called the planned new rules from the EPA on CO2 emissions from coal-fired power generation a war on coal and have pledged to fight the rule-making process. It is true that there will almost certainly not be a new coal-fired electric generating station built in the U.S. for at least the… Keep reading →
The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its proposal for Clean Air Act standards to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants on Friday. The agency also announced that it has begun coordinating with state and local governments, industries and non-profit organizations to establish carbon dioxide emissions standards for existing power plants. “Power plants are the… Keep reading →
