Coal

Water scarcity as it relates to energy use is becoming a major concern.

Drought and competing uses for water continue to challenge power plant operators worldwide. In response, innovative approaches for reducing water use are being explored from South Africa to China.

Even though it enjoys sizeable coal and natural gas reserves, Indonesia struggles to provide electricity to its growing economy. Geography is its most obvious challenge. Others include evolving international markets and an energy sector that remains highly politicized.

A vital part of any coal-fired unit is its fuel delivery system (FDS). A newly formed subcommittee of the ASME Research Committee on Energy, Environment, and Waste has investigated potential FDS upgrades on three typical 500-MW wall-, tangential-, and cyclone-fired boilers. The subcommittee has produced a series of suggested upgrades that have a simple payback of no more than two years.

Panelists at the ELECTRIC POWER 2013 Keynote and Roundtable Discussion in Chicago in May were consumed by the need to ensure future reliability by more closely integrating the gas and electricity markets. Acknowledged less directly were distortions created by renewable energy subsidies and mandates, onerous regulations affecting coal, and “irreversible” demand destruction caused by the success of energy efficiency and demand management programs. The elephant in the room was the continued demise of electricity markets.

The U.S. has least 3,000 metric gigatons (Gt) of subsurface carbon dioxide storage capacity that is technically accessible below onshore areas and state waters—500 times more than previously estimated—the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) suggests in a new assessment released on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court today granted a petition by health and environmental groups, 15 states, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and agreed to review the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), a Bush-era rule that a federal appeals court had previously vacated.

President Obama’s highly anticipated Climate Action Plan (CAP) released today outlines a wide variety of executive actions founded on three pillars: slashing U.S. carbon pollution through stringent rules for new and existing power plants while doubling renewables deployment and promoting fuel switching from coal to natural gas; preparing the U.S. for impacts of climate change; and leading international efforts to combat global climate change.

President Barack Obama’s landmark speech on Tuesday outlining executive actions to combat and prepare for climate change backed the growth of natural gas and renewable power in lieu of carbon-heavy coal power, but he mentioned nuclear power only once—and only in the context of energy security.

Amid the deluge of reactions to President Obama’s June 25 speech announcing wide-ranging executive actions to curb carbon emissions and prepare for climate change effects were some unexpected statements.