As lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill this week, a bipartisan group of 26 governors on Monday urged Congress to pass a federal renewable energy standard (RES), saying that it could spur rapid growth of the nation’s renewable electricity sources.

Indiana and 11 other states filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court last week, asking it to overturn a September 2009 decision by 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allows greenhouse gas emitters to be sued for contributing to a public nuisance—climate change and global warming.

The U.S. Department of Energy last week committed millions of dollars to accelerate the technical and commercial readiness of renewable and energy storage technologies. Commitments include the largest single federal award to date for emerging U.S. marine and hydrokinetic technologies.

A report issued by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) last week to the state’s General Assembly lambastes the proposed $3.5 billion Taylorville Energy Center (TEC) as too costly “with uncertain future benefits.” The commission also questioned the 716-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) facility’s construction timeline, concluding that uncertainties could “potentially add to already-significant costs.”

Under a deal made this weekend between energy companies and the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the life of Germany’s 17 nuclear power plants, located in five of the country’s 16 federal states, will be extended by up to 15 years. The decision has spurred opposition from the country’s local utilities and renewable industry.

The California Legislature failed last week to pass S.B. 722, a bill that would have required all utilities to obtain at least 33% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The bill passed the Assembly, but the State Senate ran out of time before the legislative session ended on Aug. 31.

Electricity generation around the world was 20,181 TWh in 2008 and has soared nearly 230% since 1973, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) newly released Key World Energy Statistics. The 2010 edition of the booklet that addresses global energy facts and figures also shows that although the world’s coal/peat shares for power generation increased just 3% during that timeframe, nuclear and gas generation jumped about 10%, while oil generation plunged almost 20%.

Germany’s largest electricity producer, RWE Power, last week said efforts to test a new technology for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas in a pilot plant at its Niederaussem power station had resulted in a “breakthrough.” The technology, which captures carbon dioxide by means of unnamed chemical solvents, could reduce energy input by 20%, RWE and project partners BASF and the Linde Group claim.

The DOE on Tuesday announced it would grant $575 million in Recovery Act funds to 22 projects in 15 states to accelerate carbon capture and storage (CCS) research and development. The projects are expected to complement industrial demonstration projects already being funded by the Recovery Act, but most have power plant applications.

Nevada Geothermal’s 49.5-MW Blue Mountain “Faulkner 1” geothermal project in northwestern Nevada has been awarded a $98.5 million partial loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Sept. 7, 2010 — The time has come for all of us to abandon the sterile, and now futile, brawl over massive federal legislation to deal with the alleged problem of global warming. For the advocates of measures such as carbon taxes, cap-and-trade (a second-best tax), or Environmental Protection Agency […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Sept. 3, 2010 – Look for significant changes in the way Congress addresses energy policy and legislation when the 112th Congress convenes in January 2011. By most expert accounts, Democrats are going to suffer major losses at the polls in November, with many pundits predicting a Republican takeover of the […]

Dealing with whistleblowers can be human relations quicksand, where unseen errors that could cost a company millions lay in the path to resolution of employee complaints. Recent legislation makes dealing with whistleblowers an even bigger challenge.

The State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) in July put into operation the world’s first ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) superhighway when it commissioned the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai link. The ±800 kV project, completed in 30 months—a year ahead of schedule—has the capacity to transmit up to 7,200 MW from the Xiangjiaba hydropower plant in southwest China to Shanghai, the country’s leading industrial and commercial center, about 2,000 kilometers (km) away.

Summer peaks are still with us, and every unit on your system must be prepared to operate at a moment’s notice. Spot power prices are so high that you expect phone calls asking for a few more megawatts from your units. Then your plant chemistry lab calls to report a condenser tube leak. Your options are few: Shut down immediately and get charged with a forced outage, ignore the leak and keeping running until fall, or schedule a maintenance outage next weekend and hope the leak can be found and fixed. In Part I, we examine what you need to know in order to make an informed decision. In Part II, we’ll explore the actual damage mechanisms.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday upheld the Energy Facilities Siting Board’s authority to overrule community opposition and allow permits for the controversial Cape Wind offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The case is being viewed as the last major legal hurdle facing the 130-turbine project.

Imagine, a tablet computer than can surf the web, run word processing, take and send pictures, and run on sunlight. That’s what the government of India says it can produce…for $35 each. Imagine all the things your organization could do with computers that are essentially commodities.

At the end of June, Xcel Energy fired up a demonstration project that integrates a 4-MW parabolic trough solar technology with an existing 44-MW coal-fired power plant.

Most countries are trying to increase the percentage of their electricity supply that comes from renewable sources. But because capital costs for renewable generation still, in most cases, are higher per kilowatt-hour than for fossil-fueled power, governments are looking at all options for encouraging the development of greater renewable capacity. Feed-in tariffs (FITs) are one policy tool that has been used, most notably in Europe. Now North America is testing FITs as well.

Weeks after the city of Mattoon, Ill., withdrew from it, the FutureGen Alliance on Tuesday said it would support the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) plans for the revamped FutureGen project—but only if the alliance and the agency could reach agreement on terms and conditions by this fall.

“Electricity use and gross national product [are] strongly correlated. The relationship…is so important that it should be considered in developing…energy and economic policies [which] seek to lower the real costs of electricity supply,” U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 1986

Renewable energy information services provider 3TIER in July confirmed with its publication of wind performance maps what U.S. wind developers with poor generation numbers had been suggesting earlier this year: A long-lasting El Niño event paired with a North Atlantic Oscillation event caused wind speeds to slump abnormally from the fall of 2009 through spring 2010.

A defining challenge for the U.S. electricity industry is to economically integrate renewable energy facilities into grid operations without sacrificing reliability. Bulk energy storage options are commercially proven technologies that enable that integration most expediently. Existing and emerging national and state policy frameworks are supporting their application in projects under development throughout the country.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) unanimously approved construction of the 250-MW Beacon Solar Energy Project last week. The project, proposed for construction in Kern County by a NextEra Energy subsidiary, is the first solar thermal plant permitted by the state in 20 years.

The plurality of regulatory proceedings originate with utilities seeking to improve their profitability. Profitability being part of the public interest, these submissions deserve our attention. But what if these filings are “framed” to divert our attention away from our public interest mission?

Spain in July inaugurated another major concentrated solar power (CSP) power station. The 50-MW La Florida parabolic solar trough plant in Alvarado Badajoz (in the west of the country), increases Spain’s solar nameplate capacity to 432 MW—beating out the U.S., which produces 422 MW from solar installations.

In 2010, U.S. wind power development has slowed, coal-fired power development remained stalled, and the much-awaited renaissance of nuclear power took a few tentative steps forward. That left natural gas power development as the last man standing.

India’s parliament on Monday approved a long-delayed civil nuclear agreement, crucial legislation that could allow U.S. firms to proceed with deals to build nuclear power plants in that country. Firms had been reluctant to build nuclear facilities without a law that would limit their liability in the event of an accident.

Water resources represent essential inputs into energy production while, at the same time, energy availability is a key factor in effective water resource use.

A £42 million marine power infrastructure project that will function as an “electrical socket” in waters 50 meters (m) deep and nearly 16 kilometers (km) off the coast of Cornwall in South West England set sail toward its proposed location this July.