Latest Stories by Tracey Lilly


THE BIG PICTURE: Power Around the World
THE BIG PICTURE: Power Around the World

The International Energy Agency forecasts that based on current and proposed policies, global power generation will grow about 15,000 TWh (about 60%) from 2017 to 2040. About 70% of additions…


THE BIG PICTURE: Wind Turbine Trends
THE BIG PICTURE: Wind Turbine Trends

Average wind turbine capacity, rotor diameter, and hub height increased in 2017, continuing a long-term trend. One reason that wind producers choose bigger turbines is to optimize wind power project…


THE BIG PICTURE: Small Modular Reactors
THE BIG PICTURE: Small Modular Reactors

Interest in small modular reactors (SMRs) has ramped up of late owing to applications in niche electricity or energy markets where large reactors would not be viable—such as for cogeneration…


THE BIG PICTURE: A Power Sector Carbon Decline
THE BIG PICTURE: A Power Sector Carbon Decline

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that if states fully implement the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule—which it proposed in August 2018 to replace the 2015 Clean Power Plan—by 2025,…


THE BIG PICTURE: A Cold Comparison

The “bomb cyclone,” a winter storm that descended on much of the eastern U.S. from December 27, 2017, to January 8, 2018, renewed the raging debate about resiliency and prompted flashbacks…


THE BIG PICTURE: Global CCS

In a November report, The Global CCS Institute said carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the only technology able to decarbonize the industrial sector. To reach the Paris Agreement’s target…


THE BIG PICTURE: Nuclear Financial Meltdown
THE BIG PICTURE: Nuclear Financial Meltdown

Cheap natural gas, stagnant power demand, and power prices that have fallen significantly since 2008 have jeopardized the economics of about two-thirds of the nation’s 100-GW nuclear capacity, according to…