Most people don’t know what goes on behind the scenes when a power blackout occurs. This informative video illustrates exactly how a real-life extreme weather event was handled by mid-continent transmission company ITC.
On April 26, 2009, high winds in Michigan blew down 40 utility poles, which then caused two major transmission lines to “trip out.” The video follows the power restoration process step-by-step and includes footage from inside the control room. Keep reading →
As US sanctions on Iran tighten and gas prices reach record levels, it is becoming more likely that a release of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is in the works. Yet analysts aren’t convinced tapping the SPR is a good idea. Administration officials said Friday that reserves from the SPR were taken into account when they determined that oil markets could handle the loss of Iranian oil. Even before the tighter sanctions were announced, there was talk the administration had been colluding with European countries on a coordinated withdrawal. The rumors have already pushed global oil prices down slightly, although they remain over $120 a barrel.
Misconception and myth hang over the entirety of the US energy sector, but with renewable energy equally likely to get bogged down in political wrangling over subsidy levels and climate change, getting to the truth remains a particular challenge.
Accounting firm Ernst & Young is accustomed to crunching data from a wide range of sources and sorting it into manageable categories. The company has taken an increasing thought-leadership profile in energy, and recently released an update to its substantial renewable energy attractiveness indices as part of that practice. Keep reading →
Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Gregory Jaczko delivers remarks at the Regulatory Information Conference on March 13, 2012 in Rockville, Maryland.
US nuclear safety goals are insufficient, and don’t address effects like those seen after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the head of the US nuclear regulator says. Keep reading →
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) staffs watch monitors of real time image of reactor buildings of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant at the emergency operation center of the stricken TEPCO nuclear power plant at Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan on February 28, 2012. TEPCO opened up its stricken Fukushima plant to foreign journalists for the third time, ahead of the anniversary of the March 11 disasters, and insisted the crippled complex was in cold shutdown.
Over the past few weeks, Breaking Energy has received and discovered literally dozens of leads to opinions, content, infographics and other kinds of internet content related to the anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. As a service to our community as they seek out more information, we wanted to highlight the best of what we’ve seen on the internet related to the Fukushima anniversary. This is an evolving list, and comments on other resources are welcome. Keep reading →
We have joined the #nuclear industry in implementing post-Fukushima lessons learned. Learn more: ow.ly/9wUDb progressenergy
US Experts Help and Learn at Fukushima – http://bit.ly/yeTYEl #nuclear N_E_I
The power industry can use information technology to handle the volatility of renewable energy resources rather than having to back up renewable generation with duplicative fossil fuel power.
“Don’t spend twice by building renewables and then building spinning natural gas reserves on top of that,” Honeywell Vice President of Global Energy Services Jeremy Eaton told Breaking Energy. “It’s a little more complicated than saying ‘just add renewables.'” Keep reading →
Fukushima Anniversary: The Road Ahead
By Peter GardettThere was no way for the nuclear industry to succeed at handling Fukushima. The disastrous and poorly-managed shutdown of a nuclear reactor built too close to shore, hit by an earthquake and an even-more-devestating tsunami, gave birth to a year’s worth of images and heartbreak no normal business could handle in normal ways.
In the days after the Fukushima disaster the US industry dialed up its responsiveness in ways that ranged from a North Carolina-based disaster response center handling technology questions, sending personnel to Japan, and handling a leap in internet traffic to relevant websites. Most of what the general public wanted was information that could reassure, and the US nuclear industry sought to supply that information. Keep reading →