Washington, D.C., February 20, 2014 – The wicked winter of 2014 and what may have been a terrorist attack on a California electric substation last year were on the minds of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today, although not on the formal FERC agenda. First, a weather report. After experiencing two mild winters, this year […]

Washington, D.C., February 18, 2014 – Climatologist Judith Curry, dean of the Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Science, is a heretic to those who embrace the conventional litany about global warming. Once a devotee the accepted view, in recent years she has raised the yellow flag of skepticism. That’s made her a target […]

Washington, D.C., February 12, 2014 – As Valentines’ Day approaches, here’s a love note to the environmental movement. It has done so much over the past century-and-a-half to call attention to the assaults of modern, industrial society: Destruction of wilderness, attacks on vulnerable species; emissions of noxious chemicals into our air and water. The world […]

Washington, D.C., February 2, 2014 – Imagine, a techno-thriller for power geeks and grid gurus? Well, that’s just what the father-son team of Pat and Chris Hoffman have delivered in their book “Fury of the Fifth Angel.” When I started reading the book, within the first five pages I was reminded of the fine sci-fi […]

Washington, D.C., January 21, 2014 – Sorry, I confess I just don’t get it. Why is the Department of Energy still negotiating with the Southern Company for a below-market loan to finish construction of two more units at Georgia Power’s Vogtle nuclear plant? The utility says it will go it alone if the Obama administration […]

Washington, D.C., January 13, 2014 – The Obama administration could avoid a patch of trouble this icy season by naming Cheryl LaFleur, acting chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as the permanent chairman. At the same time, the administration should soon name another Democrat with industry credentials as the third member of its political […]

Washington, D.C., January 7, 2014 – The twitterverse, particularly the region where the bird is green, was aflutter over the Sunday, January 5, “60 Minutes” TV piece by Leslie Stahl on the failures of the Obama administration’s program to use economic stimulus money to push development of green energy technologies. It’s title: “The Cleantech Crash.” […]

Washington, D.C., January 3, 2014 – Senate Energy Committee Chairman Mary Landrieu? That’s likely in the second session of the 113th Congress, with the Louisiana Democrat moving up to take over a committee vitally important to U.S. energy interests (and to her home state of Louisiana, which is an important component of this story). It […]

December 3, 2013 – The World Bank and the United Nations last month held a news conference to tout their plan to raise big bucks — $600 billion or so — for electrification in developing countries (and energy efficiency in the developed world, although that’s a dubious proposition). When the bank’s Jim Yong Kim and […]

Washington, D.C., 15 November 2013 — The literature about the development of the atomic bomb, its use against Japan, and subsequent developments, is extensive and rich (including my own book, “Too Dumb to Meter”). But a new book by Graham Farmelo — “Churchill’s Bomb: A Hidden Story of Science, War, and Politics” — provides new […]

Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2013 — Attempting to deflect continuing charges that its upcoming policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions don’t have popular support in the country, the Environmental Protection Agency this week wrapped up a series of 11 meetings around the country, which the agency has billed as “listening sessions.” The Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune […]

Washington, D.C., October 30, 2013 — The evidence that the South American coast country of Chile is going heavily for wind power is evident at every major port, from Arica in the desert north to Puerto Montt in the Patagonian temperate rainforest in the south. That’s my observation from a three-week trip by sea down […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Sept. 20, 2013 – Within minutes of the White House announcement that Ron Binz was its choice to become chairman of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in June, I got an email from a D.C. public relations firm, VennSquared, lauding Binz and larded with pre-cooked quotes from industry executives and others […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., September 9, 2013 – As continuing revelations of lying and incompetence at Tokyo Electric Power Co. have piled up in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns of early 2011, an inescapable question arises: Can Japan’s largest utility survive. The educated guess here is that Tokyo Electric Power Co. is […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., 29 August 2013 – The surprise decision by Entergy Corp. to shut down its 620-MW Vermont Yankee single-unit nuclear plant at the end of its current operating cycle (late next year) is further evidence of how difficult it has become to make money with merchant nuclear plants. The decision, which […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., August 19, 2013 — What will it take to finally debunk the idea that the U.S. is experiencing extreme weather events driven by man-made global warming? This notion is widespread — indeed, almost ubiquitous. President Obama referenced it in his summertime speech on climate policy. Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., August 17, 2013 — How fortunate that the U.S. does not have and has never had an energy policy. Policy, particularly big policy aimed at big issues and big events, is an enemy of progress, as policy seeks to forestall opportunities that are counter to policy. Social and government policy […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., August 16, 2013 – Will this week’s D.C. Circuit Court decision put Yucca Mountain on a final path toward becoming the nation’s dump for spent nuclear fuel? Unlikely. Here’s why, in two words: Harry Reid. The tenacious Senate majority leader from Nevada (yes, that’s right, Nevada, where Yucca Mountain is […]

By Kennedy Maize A divided federal appeals court today ordered the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume action on licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project in Nevada. in a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said inaction by the commission at the direction of the Obama administration early in […]

By Kennedy Maize A divided federal appeals court today ordered the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume action on licensing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project in Nevada. in a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said inaction by the commission at the direction of the Obama administration early in […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:  Peter Kennefick (401) 467-6454 pkennefick@thielsch.com Thielsch Engineering Completes Critical Boiler Assessment Project in Suriname for Alcoa Cranston, RI (Dec. 7, 2011) Thielsch Engineering, Inc. is pleased to announce its completion of a five month international project with Alcoa’s Suriname Aluminum Company, L.L.C. (Suralco). Thielsch was contracted to assess and improve the […]

Blythewood, SC – November 1, 2010 – Spirax Sarco is pleased to announce the release of the TD120M Thermo-dynamic Steam Trap.  This product is engineered for pressure rating of up to 3190PSIG and is ideal to drain saturated and superheated steam mains in the O.P.C and Power Generation industries. With its maintainable disc and seat, […]

Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc. (MPSA) has announced that itʼs Board has now approved the construction of a Gas Turbine manufacturing and assembly facility at the new Savannah Machinery Works in Pooler, GA. This will be the first Mitsubishi industrial frame gas turbine manufacturing facility outside of Japan. Construction of the new expansion is set […]

In December 2008, Sao Paolo-based CBC Indústrias Pesadas S.A., a group company of Japan’s  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) since 1963, was awarded an EPC contract from Brazilian energy major Petrobras to provide oil-fired boilers for its Presidente Getulio Vargas Refinery in Arucaria, Parana State. The contract, valued at USD140 million, called for supply of […]

According to Bill McMahon, CEO of CoaLogix, "This is the second long-term agreement that a major utility company has entered into with SCR-Tech in less than a year. To be selected by a utility such as AEP to perform such a critical environmental service is truly an honor. We expect almost all utilities to include […]

Haldor Topsoe Inc. (HTI) and CoaLogix Inc. have developed a closer collaboration since 2009, which has now been executed into a signed agreement to provide additional value in connection with SCR catalyst supply to the Power generation Industry. HTI will utilize CoaLogix Inc. services exclusively to regenerate spent HTI SCR catalyst to be re-used in […]

CoaLogix, Inc. and Cormetech, Inc. announced today that they have signed an agreement that combines their technical, service and marketing experience to provide innovative long-term emissions reduction solutions to fossil power plants. The agreement is effective immediately and both companies expect that by combining the best of their respective capabilities and resources, they will be […]