Climate change
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Legal & Regulatory
States, Trade Groups Sue EPA Over New Fossil Fuel Rules
More than two dozen states and a handful of trade groups filed separate lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, challenging parts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) suite of new final environmental regulations targeting fossil-fired power plants. The challenges respond to the publication in the Federal Register on May 9 […]
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Renewables
Report: Renewables Generating Nearly One-Third of Global Electricity
A UK- based global research group said continued growth in wind and solar power increased power generation from renewable energy to nearly a third of worldwide electricity output last year. Ember, a think tank headquartered in London, in its “Global Electricity Review 2024” released May 8 wrote that the numbers show a goal to triple […]
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Energy Security
Steps Utilities Can Take Now to Prepare for Future Extreme Weather Events
How can a utility, or any organization for that matter, prepare for the unexpected, especially when it comes to the volatility of weather? This question is increasingly coming to the forefront of risk
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Electrification
Groups Collaborate to Electrify Chemical Processing Plants
Three major chemical processing companies announced the startup of a demonstration plant to show the viability of large-scale electrically heated steam cracking furnaces. BASF, SABIC, and Linde on April 17 said the facility, at BASF’s Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, will begin operating after three years of development, engineering, and construction work. The three groups […]
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Wind
Group Says Record 117 GW of New Wind Power Generation Installed in 2023
A report from a leading wind power trade association said a record 117 GW of new wind energy generation capacity was installed worldwide last year, a 50% increase from the prior year. The “Global Wind Report 2024,” published April 16 by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), said “the world is moving in the right […]
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Commentary
Nuclear Energy Seeing a Resurgence Unlike Any Other
Nuclear energy is surging back in a big way. Case in point: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s comments last week on plans to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan. To bolster the effort, she announced a $1.5 billion conditional loan guarantee to cover work required to restart the plant after a two-year shutdown. And […]
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T&D
How Utilities Are Planning for Extreme Weather Events and Mitigating Risks
Scientists who maintain the world’s temperature records, which date back to 1880, calculate a global temperature anomaly each year to determine how much temperatures have changed compared to temperatures from 1951 to 1980. In mid-January, they announced that 2023 was the hottest year on record. Furthermore, they said every month from June through December 2023 […]
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Gas
UK Leaders Say New Gas-Fired Plants Needed for Energy Security
Officials in the UK said the country will need to build new natural gas-fired power plants beyond 2030 in order to ensure a reliable supply of energy and avoid blackouts. Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho on March 12 said gas-fired units able to provide baseload power generation will be needed as a backup to renewable […]
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Commentary
What Does the Nuclear Industry Need to Do to Scale Production Toward Net-Zero Goals?
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) proved to be a historic moment for nuclear energy, with more than 20 countries including the U.S., France, Japan, and the UK pledging to triple global
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Sustainability
Clearing the Air: Is Direct Air Capture a Savior, Distraction, or a Trojan Horse?
Direct air capture (DAC) holds promise to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, potentially becoming a crucial tool in the battle against climate change. Amidst heated debates over its feasibility, cost, and effectiveness, this comprehensive analysis dissects DAC’s potential through energy modeling and policy discussion. Can DAC truly fulfill its promise and play a significant […]