Climate change

Puerto Rico has been battered by natural disasters in recent years, with hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, and a series of earthquakes in late December 2019 and early January 2020, causing widespread damage

There’s widespread debate over whether nuclear power should be a player in the path toward addressing climate change. Industry analysts say nuclear is key to zero-emission power generation; even some environmentalists agree, though others point to the issue of disposal of nuclear waste, and concerns about the safety of reactors. Those concerns have led some […]

Rich Sorkin, CEO of Jupiter Intelligence As the reality of climate change begins to soak in, enterprises, organizations and governments around the globe are trying to get a handle on the economic and social implications of rising temperatures and sea levels. One area most immediately threatened by climate change—and one that hasn’t received nearly enough […]

Responding to a request from a Democrat-led U.S. House committee, the federal International Trade Commission (ITC) is investigating how New England’s increasing renewable targets are economically affecting the region, and what role renewable imports play in meeting those commitments. The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan and quasi-judicial federal agency that also provides fact-finding as it relates […]

Given current trends, the U.S. gas turbine industry is set to play a critically important role in power generation, aircraft propulsion, and the oil and gas industry “for decades to come,” but it could benefit from prioritized research and development (R&D) and technological leadership, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and […]

Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Energy has joined a growing list of power companies establishing net-zero emissions targets. The company, which has more than 7 million electricity and natural gas customers in 18 states, said it intends to reach its carbon dioxide and methane reduction goals by 2050. Under the net-zero framework, the company is committing to […]

Deep decarbonization of the U.S. Northwest can be achieved at “manageable” costs by 2045, but only if utility agency Energy Northwest secures zero-emitting firm capacity, such as by relicensing Columbia Generating Station—the sole nuclear plant in the region—and building small modular reactors (SMRs), a new study suggests. The study by San Francisco-based consulting group Energy […]

With subsidies running short and emissions regulations still a challenge, the promise of biomass as a sustainable source for utility-scale power generation remains elusive. Yet, there are novel applications

Community solar refers to local solar facilities shared by multiple subscribers who receive credit on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced. Community solar allows homeowners, renters

Indonesia Readying to Build 145-MW Floating Solar Plant. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of Indonesian state electricity company PT PLN, is planning to begin construction of the $129 million Cirata

Analysis by both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency shows that achieving a zero-carbon energy system by 2050 will require large-scale deployment of carbon capture

Germany’s federal cabinet on Jan. 29 approved a nationwide phaseout of coal power generation by 2038, paving the way for the country, which has already initiated a nuclear phaseout, to rely even more heavily on renewables. The federal cabinet’s approval of the “Reduction and Termination of Coal Power Generation” (Gesetz zur Reduzierung und zur Beendigung der […]

For the first time in the 15-year history of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report, environmental perils filled the top five positions on the list of long-term risks in terms of likelihood of occurrence over the next 10 years. The report, which is a qualitative and quantitative study of global risks, conducted in partnership […]

Arizona Public Service (APS) announced Jan. 22 that it plans for all its power generation to be carbon-free by 2050, and also said it plans to produce nearly half its power from renewable sources by 2030. APS joins other U.S. utilities who have put forth similar goals in recent years. APS, which has been criticized […]

When many people are asked which state is leading the U.S. toward a renewable energy future, California is the first that comes to mind. And while California is worthy of such distinction, it’s not the only state with a progressive clean-energy agenda. New York should also be part of the conversation. On Jan. 8, New […]

The past 10 years have been filled with trials and tribulations for both the nuclear and coal power industries. From accidents to plant closures there has been little to cheer about. Still, nuclear and coal power continue to provide reliable baseload generation to billions of customers around the globe. Here’s a look back at the […]

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) World Energy Outlook 2019, solar photovoltaic (PV) is set to become the largest source of installed electrical capacity in about 2035, if countries pursue policies as planned. By 2040, solar could make up 24% of global installed capacity—up from 7% in 2018—but its share of generation could hover […]

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) November 2019–released World Energy Outlook 2019 (WEO2019) is studded with interesting findings about emerging trends in the power sector. Here are 10 from the

Innovation is ushering in a new age for nuclear power. As well as boosting plant economics, efficiency, and flexibility, advanced technologies could open up new markets to meet soaring demand for heat and

Every one of the 13 decades that POWER magazine has been in print has been definitive for electric generation technology, policy, and business in some significant way, but few have been as transformative as the 2010s. The decade opened just as the global economy began to crawl toward recovery from a historically unprecedented downturn that […]

On Dec. 19, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) directed PJM Interconnection to dramatically expand its Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) to nearly all state-subsidized capacity resources, including renewables backed by state portfolio standards. It’s the latest of a series of dramatic revisions to the grid operator’s rule, which essentially functions to provide a minimum […]

The European Union (EU) on Dec. 16 announced an agreement among its member states on rules involving the financing of green energy projects. Lawmakers approved a list of technologies and activities that can be classified as green, after disagreement about whether nuclear energy and natural gas should be included. The so-called “Green Deal” is a […]

Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities fell in 2019, according to research published Dec. 3, though overall emissions of CO2 rose due to the increased use of natural gas and oil for power generation and other industrial processes. The new emissions figures were reported by the Global Carbon Project […]

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has proposed incorporating the social cost of carbon into the wholesale price of electricity. According to an October-released study conducted by the consulting firm Analysis Group, “A carbon price in NYISO’s competitive wholesale power markets can help deliver New York’s clean-energy transition in faster, cheaper, more reliable, more […]

According to experts from Technical University of Applied Sciences (OTH) in Regensburg, Germany, who recently reviewed the world’s existing power-to-gas (P2G) hydrogen and methane projects, about 143 P2G projects have operated since 1988 in 22 countries. Only 56 hydrogen and 38 methanation projects were active in 2019. While the existing fleet mostly comprises pilot or […]

In its November 2019–issued World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests that if countries pursue currently stated policies, the combined generation share of wind and solar photovoltaic could surge from 7% today to 24% in 2040. This very steep ramp-up of variable renewables will undoubtedly require an emphatic focus on flexibility—the ability of […]

Decarbonization is a word that seems to be used quite regularly these days. For the power industry, it refers to the shift in electric generating resources from carbon-heavy coal to carbon-free nuclear or

While still in its infancy, power-to-gas provides a promising approach to convert renewable power into “green” hydrogen and methane, furnishing the renewables sector with a potentially lucrative array of

Officials in China in 2017 said the country—the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases—would move away from coal-fired power generation. They promptly canceled more than 100 coal power plant construction projects. But coal remains king in China, which in the past two years has added 43 GW of coal-fired generation capacity, according to a report […]

The Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 19 released a draft tax package for clean energy projects that includes a five-year extension of the 30% solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), along with new incentives for energy storage. The legislation also supports incentives for electric vehicles (EVs), offshore and onshore […]