The Trump administration’s final rule interpreting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) to not prohibit the incidental take (accidental injury or death) of migratory birds recently hatched. But with the Biden administration taking the regulatory reins on Jan. 20, 2021, this lame-duck regulation will be quickly grounded. COMMENTARY Anticipating this, power companies should remain vigilant […]

As we get closer to the presidential inauguration, and with President-elect Biden’s announcement of his Cabinet picks for the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of the Interior (Interior), we begin the inevitable hypothesizing about which “Day 1 actions” will be taken, which actions will be among the administration’s “100 […]

Latin America’s largest economy was already in a fragile state when the global pandemic added to its list of woes. However, despite being hit by a wave of corporate bankruptcies and soaring government debt, Brazil’s economy is predicted to shrink by only 5-6% in 2020, somewhat less of a contraction than many other economies expect. […]

Companies in the energy sector this past year faced unprecedented financial, economic and operational challenges, exacerbated by a once-in-a-century public health crisis. Falling energy prices, coupled with the economic downturn triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, caused a significant labor contraction in the energy sector. The spread of COVID-19 required companies, including those involved in power […]

Electrical environments are extremely dangerous for workers, with arc-flash hazards on the rise due to an increased demand in electricity and energy, meaning that workers are at risk now more than ever. In these environments, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as arc-flash clothing acts as essential protection for workers while performing jobs, from maintenance checks […]

We’re at the electric tipping point as electric stoves, vehicles, and construction equipment displace the fossil fuel guzzlers of the past. Yet, before a carbon-neutral future can truly take off, utilities and the electric grid need to innovate. For the world to hit net-zero emissions targets by 2050, grid investments need to almost triple to […]

Wuppertal, in the German state of Nordrhein Westfahlen, is the home to the Schwebebahn. This suspended railway (Figure 1) is unique in Germany and passengers use the transportation system for 25 million journeys per year. Today, 120 years after Wuppertal’s Schwebebahn opened, the city is still innovating. Green hydrogen produced from power generated by incineration […]

As long as products have had ethernet ports, people have been asking for remote access to them. They believed they could just plug the devices into the internet, and it would all work. At first, there wasn’t necessarily a clear path to making this dream a reality without assistance from the user’s IT department. IT […]

Conveyors are among the most dynamic and potentially dangerous areas of equipment at a coal power plant. Even though their safety and performance are critical to the operation’s success, the impact of their contribution to overall efficiency is often unrecognized by management and workers alike. Operational basics of belt conveyor systems are too often a […]

The use of batteries for electricity storage has been a reality for more than 200 years. Recent technological developments and incentives for non-fossil fuel energy systems have resulted in the application of