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News
Renewable Projects Receive $502 Million in Federal Funding in Lieu of Tax Credits
The U.S. Energy and Treasury Departments on Tuesday announced stimulus fund awards worth $502 million to energy companies to spur investments in renewable projects and provide “cash assistance” in lieu of earned federal tax credits.
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News
FutureGen Alliance, DOE Sign Agreement for Preliminary Design Activities
The FutureGen Alliance on Tuesday said it had signed a $17.3 million cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy that covers preliminary design activities through the end of 2009, allowing for the continued development of the Illinois gasified coal power plant and carbon capture initiative.
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HR
Is Employee Engagement Passé?
“Engagement” was once the buzzword for employee satisfaction. That was then, say some HR gurus, but these authors argue that engagment is as important as ever.
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Gas
Top Plants: Goodman Energy Center, Hays, Kansas
Midwest Energy has a history of thinking and acting independently, especially since breaking away from the Rural Utilities Service almost 15 years ago. Two years ago, when its board of directors grappled with finding a balance between purchasing and generating electricity, it decided to construct its first power plant in 37 years. A matched set of nine 8.4-MW gas engines at Goodman Energy Center now provides efficient peaking electricity, improved overall system reliability, and backstop capacity for a 325-MW electrical system that features 16% wind power generation.
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News
D/P Gauge for High-Static Pressure Applications
The new Ashcroft Type 5503 differential pressure (D/P) gauge provides reliable low – differential pressure measurement in high-static, wet-wet pressure applications. Equipped with wetted materials of 316SS, Monel, or Hastelloy C, the rugged Type 5503 D/P pressure gauge is specifically designed to monitor a wide variety of caustic liquids and gases. Four-inch and 6-inch dial […]
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Commentary
Copenhagen’s Neverland
The world’s war on carbon emissions isn’t going well. In just six months, the UN sponsored Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change will seek to launch a worldwide anti-carbon strategy with teeth. Billed by alarmists as “the last chance to save our planet,” all the signs are that Michael Jackson has a better chance of recording new material than Copenhagen has of delivering a meaningful international accord.
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Gas
Top Plants: Livorno Ferraris Power Plant, Vercelli Province, Italy
Northern Italians are enjoying la dolce vita (the sweet life) even more today than they have historically, thanks to the additional electrical capacity provided by the new Livorno Ferraris power plant. Well-received by locals due to its environmentally progressive operations and low-profile appearance, the 800-MW plant is powered by combined-cycle units that burn natural gas. The plant, which generates more than 5 million kWh per year, is part of a comprehensive renewal of the Italian energy sector and will make an important contribution toward ensuring that the country’s power supply is more secure.
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Coal
Report: Costs for First-Generation Carbon Capture Plants Will Soar
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has of late gained steam as the best way to mitigate emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel power plants, despite evidence that the approach would require much energy and increase the fuel needs of a coal-fired plant by more than 25%. A new study from […]
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Commentary
It’s Time to Go Nuclear
Congress should push for nuclear energy as a climate and energy solution—now.
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O&M
Top Plants: Portlands Energy Centre, Ontario, Canada
Construction of the Portlands Energy Centre was a logistical dream: A mothballed power plant next door had an active switchyard, natural gas pipeline, and cooling water structure. The new facility put peak power into the Ontario Power Authority’s grid from its two combustion turbines only two years after collecting the necessary permits. The entire plant entered commercial service on April 23, 2009 — six weeks early.