Coal
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Legal & Regulatory
Enviros Dispute State Findings on Coal Ash Spill
Environmental officials in North Carolina say their tests show that coal ash released from Duke Energy’s Sutton power plant in Wilmington during flooding from Hurricane Florence has not had a negative impact on the Cape Fear River. The state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on October 4 said its test results on water samples collected […]
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Renewables
Natural Gas and Wind Dominate U.S. LCOE Landscape, Interactive Map Shows
Natural gas combined cycle, wind, and residential solar photovoltaic technologies may be the least-expensive way to generate power across a wide swathe of the U.S., an interactive map published and recently updated by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute shows. The interactive chart (Version 1.4.0, retrieved on October 4, 2018), first published […]
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Renewables
How Did MATS Affect U.S. Coal Generation?
Industry aggressively fought the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) when the Obama administration proposed it in 2011 and finalized it in February 2012, warning it would precipitate the closure of a swathe of coal capacity nationwide. Six years later, the rule appears to have had a sizable impact on the power sector, but not […]
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Legal & Regulatory
EPA Advances Proposed Changes to Mercury Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed it has submitted proposed changes to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to the White House for review, despite urging by the industry to let the rule stand. EPA spokesperson John Konkus told POWERon October 2 that the agency does not intend to withdraw the existing MATS. It […]
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History
The Rise of Natural Gas Generation in Europe
Spurred by the shale gas revolution, natural gas’s stunning rise to dominate the U.S. power profile has been echoed by a number of countries, particularly in the Middle East. In Europe, where domestic natural gas production is actually in decline—and consensus is that shale gas won’t likely play a major role on the continent—natural gas […]
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Infographics
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, U.S. power sector carbon dioxide emissions could be about 34% below 2005 levels. At the end of 2016, they had fallen 24%, and by the end […]
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Renewables
POWER Digest [October 2018]
Gasification Plant Under Construction in Saudi Arabia. A Pennsylvania company has partnered with two Saudi Arabian energy firms on construction of a gasification-to-power plant project in Saudi Arabia. The
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IIOT Power
Advanced Digital Technology Offers Utilities Profound Changes
Advanced digital technologies, including robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, are transforming the way electric power companies do business, in ways that benefit the companies and their
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Renewables
India’s Coal Glut Leaves Producers Teetering on Bankruptcy
At the end of July, India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) noted in its annual load generation balance report (LGBR) for the year 2018–2019 that the country will likely have a peak surplus of 2.5% and
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O&M
Minimizing Fire and Explosion Hazards in Dusty Systems
Understanding the properties of bulk materials and how they interact with environmental factors is vital to safe operations, but having an honest conversation about the hazards, so risks can be properly