Environmental

In a Monday morning session at the annual meeting in Austin of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), panelists and commissioners traded comments on challenges and successes related to integrating increasing levels of renewables while ensuring reliable grid operation. David Boyd, VP of government and regulatory affairs for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator […]

A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has passed two resolutions under a rarely invoked law to render the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) newly finalized carbon rules for new and existing power plants toothless. The joint resolutions introduced on Oct. 26 by Energy and Power Subcommittee Chair Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) under the […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) wants GE to plan and propose a large-scale pilot test of a carbon dioxide capture solution that uses a class of amino silicone compounds used to soften hair or clothing. The

As the coal industry declines in many places around the world, can the mines it leaves behind be repurposed for cleaner energy projects that benefit multiple stakeholders, including local economies? Several existing and planned projects demonstrate that there may be multiple paths toward that transition. No question, the coal industry in Appalachia, the rest of […]

Once again, a first-of-a-kind technology at a coal-fired power plant that is designed to reduce its greenhouse gas footprint has run into design, operational, and cost problems. This time, it’s Saskatchewan, Canada utility SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Carbon Capture project that’s facing scrutiny. (Earlier this week, an overdue precombustion carbon capture project, Mississippi Power’s Kemper County […]

The ETH spin-off company Climeworks AG has announced plans to construct and operate an industrial scale CO2 capture plant to be operational by mid-2016. The Oct. 21 announcement said the plant in Hinwil (Canton of Zurich, Switzerland) “has the capacity to capture 900 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year.” For comparison, The Carbon […]

In a media briefing this morning on the Clean Power Plan, Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Air and Radiation made no announcement of major changes but did note that the final rule will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, Friday, October 23. That publication starts the […]

Integrating California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) and PacifiCorp’s networks—the two largest high-voltage transmission grids in the West—could yield billions of dollars in shared cost reductions within the first 20 years alone through efficiencies, a new study says.  The report commissioned by PacifiCorp stems from a memorandum of understanding signed by the independent system operator (ISO) […]

Alberta-based Carbon Engineering is inaugurating a pilot project today in Squamish, British Columbia, that will capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere. The company, funded by private investors, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and oil sands financier Murray Edwards, has developed technology based on research conducted by Harvard University–based Professor David Keith’s research groups […]

India and 73 other countries submitted their carbon emission reduction targets for 2025 and 2030—or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)—ahead of the deadline last week, with just two months remaining until talks to confront climate change are due to begin in Paris.  The United Nations (UN) has so far received 120 separate pledges covering 147 […]