Coal

In power plants with drum-type boilers and constant-speed main boiler feed pumps, the feedwater control valve (also referred to as the drum level control valve) provides the means for controlling flow to the

On Feb. 2, 2011, a winter storm gripped the Lone Star State, bringing freezing temperatures and heavy ice loads onto the state’s electric infrastructure. Texas experienced a series of unexpected rolling

Oklahoma has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lawsuit that challenges the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) authority to reject a state regional haze plan and replace it with a federal implementation plan (FIP). Last July, in a 2–1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld the EPA’s rejection of […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must issue a proposed revision of its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle D rules regulating coal combustion residuals no later than Dec. 19, 2014, under a consent decree reached between the agency and environmental groups that was filed in federal court today.  The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia […]

President Obama spoke briefly about energy in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, though he declared at the outset: “The all-of-the-above energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today, America is closer to energy independence than we’ve been in decades.” That statement rejected recently expressed concerns from 18 […]

Big Rivers Electric Corp.—a member-owned, not-for-profit, generation and transmission cooperative serving western Kentucky—plans to idle two of its coal-fired power plants following the loss of its largest industrial load. The D.B. Wilson Station, a 417-MW plant located in Centertown, Ky., will idle on Feb. 1, barring a miracle. Big Rivers simply doesn’t need the power […]

The European Union (EU) should emit 40% less carbon dioxide than it did in 1990 and produce 27% of its energy from renewables by 2030, declares a new framework on climate and energy presented by the European Commission (EC) on Wednesday.  The communication setting out the 2030 framework is now expected to be debated by the […]

 The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new power plants violates the Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 2005, a suit filed in federal court by the state of Nebraska alleges.  The state alleges, as have a number of Republican lawmakers, that the EPA relied on […]

FutureGen 2.0, the government-backed but long-stalled carbon capture and storage (CCS) project proposed for Meredosia, Ill., will get about $1 billion in cost-shared federal funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Jan. 22.  A Record of Decision (ROD) published in the Federal Register marks the DOE’s decision to provide $1 billion of financial assistance […]

Alabama Power Co., a subsidiary of Southern Co., has applied for air permits that would authorize the company to retrofit four coal-fired electric generating units, enabling them to add the capability to burn natural gas as a primary fuel. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management gave public notice of the application on Jan. 8. The […]