US greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector are going to stay below their 2005 peak for the foreseeable future, thanks to more efficient energy usage and increased use of lower-carbon energy sources, says the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The projection is in EIA’s preliminary outlook to 2040, the first agency analysis to project beyond 2035. Keep reading →
The ‘economies of scale’ approach the nuclear industry pursued for decades is getting turned on its ear as small modular reactors are poised represent the next generation of nuclear power.
Most of today’s existing nuclear plants consist of large reactors that generate thousands of megawatts, but an onerous licensing process, difficulties financing multi-billion dollar construction projects and unresolved waste issues have led the industry in a different direction. Keep reading →
Does the US actually need more natural gas storage to accommodate rising production, or can it ‘finesse’ the storage it has to better balance shifting supply and demand fundamentals? The recent head of Ranger Midstream describes a revolutionary approach for a key sector in this video from a recent US Association for Energy Economics summit.
Storage is an essential but often unglamorous portion of what makes up a commodities market, and the history of the energy business – as is noted in this video – proves that storage access and storage infrastructure can impact outcomes for the more visible production and demand parts of the business. Keep reading →
Poor performance for cleantech stocks this year may continue in 2013 despite some silver linings during 2012, a leading analyst and a panel of VCs recently warned.
Kevin Genieser, Managing Director and Global Head of Clean Technology Banking at Morgan Stanley, said that cleantech equities had underperformed this year despite a bright start to 2012 with three IPOs in the sector. Keep reading →
EA-6B Prowler from the Salty Dogs of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 flies September 16, 2011 over Southern Maryland. The plane uses a biofuel blend of JP-5 aviation fuel and camelina oil.
Growing demand in huge emerging economies like China and India will drive up world oil prices no matter what the US does, so it’s crucial for the US to develop energy alternatives that will keep it from being hurt by those nations’ successes, says Adm. (Ret.) Dennis Blair, former director of national intelligence. Keep reading →
When people think about applications for natural gas in the US some of the most iconic images are kitchen stove burner tips and large power plants. However, natural gas liquids are widely used in manufacturing thousands of everyday products, as well as fertilizers and other applications that people may not be as familiar with. Keep reading →
Water is an essential to human existence and yet our power generation-infrastructure levies huge demands on this increasingly scarce resource. Power plants use considerable amounts of water for cooling, while discharging higher temperature wastewater that can contain contaminants that pollute our water systems and damage local ecosystems in the process.
For instance, according to the Energy Information Agency in 2011 coal-fired generation provided about 42 percent of the electricity in the United Stated and use either closed-loop or open-loop cooling systems to condense the water after it has been used to create steam to power turbines to provide electricity to our homes and businesses. Keep reading →
Hurricane Sandy presents state and federal officials nationwide with a superb opportunity to think through how to better utilize all their resources in an even worse disaster, says Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Stockton.
And a worse disaster is coming – either from human enemies or from Mother Nature, he warned the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), meeting recently held in Baltimore. Keep reading →
Solar power reduces electricity prices. As more solar is added to deregulated power grids, power prices fall lower. The secret sauce is the markets.
Deregulated power markets are invisible to many Americans, yet every few minutes they set the price for much of their electric power. There are ten separate power markets currently operating in the North America. According to the ISO/RTO Council, they serve approximately two-thirds of electricity consumers in the United States and more than half of all consumers in Canada. Keep reading →
Touted by movie stars, discussed in presidential debates, solar and wind energy are the technological ‘it girls’ of our time. Meanwhile, combined heat and power, 100 years old and shaped like a box, can’t get a date with popular culture.
Such was the lament that threaded through last week’s annual gathering in Washington, D.C. of about 120 industry supporters of CHP, as the technology is more commonly known (for those who know it). Keep reading →
