Environmental

New coal-fired generating plants are not showing up in the U.S. Elderly plants are retiring in large numbers. But other parts of the world continue to develop coal generation. Advances in combustion and

A semi-automated and patented process for decontaminating and recycling radioactively contaminated heat exchanger tubes has been successfully demonstrated at the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania

China in mid-September increased its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 35% of electricity consumption by 2030. The country has already heavily invested in wind and solar, and it anticipates more gains will

The challenges for Japan’s nuclear power industry have been many in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Returning units to commercial operation requires meeting new government safety standards, along with

Ørsted Snaps Up Deepwater Wind in Major U.S. Offshore Wind Deal. Danish offshore wind farm developer Ørsted in October entered into an agreement with U.S.-based D.E. Shaw Group to buy a 100% equity interest

The Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs—a bipartisan think tank—will host the “Jackson Hole Global Forum: Climate Solutions, Coal Communities, and Economic Diversification,” in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, November 8–9, 2018. Among the sessions on day one is a panel titled “What Is Coal’s Future?” Charles K. Ebinger, nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, will […]

Aqua Metrology Systems (AMS), has recently completed the successful demonstration of a proof of concept for the removal of dissolved mercury (Hg2+) in power plant wastewater. The SafeGuard™ H2O system developed by AMS offers a low-cost, reliable remediation system proven to address a range of trace metal contaminants, including ionic mercury. With more than 300 coal […]

New Proven Technology Expected to Increase Charah Solutions’ Supply of High-Quality Fly Ash and Expand Byproduct Sales Offerings LOUISVILLE, KY – Charah® Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: CHRA), a leading provider of environmental and maintenance services to the power generation industry, today announced the launch of a proprietary fly ash thermal beneficiation technology that improves the quality […]

Centrisys/CNP, Kenosha, Wisconsin, had a successful show at WEFTEC 2018 on October 1-3 in New Orleans as they showcased their “More with Less” approach to innovation in the areas of sludge and biosolids management, which includes thickening, dewatering, resource intensification and nutrient recovery. Centrisys introduced their new CS6-4 dewatering centrifuge at the show, which is […]

Utilities are faced with many disruptive changes in the power market. Customers are demanding cleaner energy and turning to distributed generation as a solution. One expert suggested power companies must react and evolve their business models to change with the times. During a keynote presentation at the Distributed Energy Conference in Golden, Colorado, on October […]

The White House may have shelved an effort to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants amid opposition inside the administration, Politico reported on October 15.  The publication reported “four people with knowledge of the discussions” have confirmed that opposition from the president’s own advisers on the National Security Council […]

Nearly half of the $2.66 billion spent by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) since 2010 to develop advanced fossil energy technologies was dedicated to nine carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects—but only three were active at the end of 2017, and only one was at a power plant. In a report prepared for […]

Babcock Power Environmental Inc., a Babcock Power Inc. company, signs Technology Collaboration Agreement with India’s major power generator, BHEL. Chennai, Tamilnadu, India – Babcock Power Environmental Inc. (BPE) announced today that they have entered into a Technology Collaboration Agreement with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India’s leading power producer whose equipment account for over 60% […]

Brussels, 8 October 2018: Nuclear power is essential if the world is to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). Indeed, for electricity generation, the share of nuclear will need to increase significantly in order to meet global targets. According to Debra […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

KivuWatt, a 26.2-MW power plant in Kibuye, Rwanda, was conceived to help reduce risk of an overpressure gas outburst at Lake Kivu. The first-of-its-kind integrated methane gas extraction and production

Built and developed in accordance with the principles of vaastu shastra, this 1.5-GW “mega” gas power plant in India imbues positivity and proactivity into all aspects of plant operation. It has resulted

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

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s third coal plant conversion to gas combined cycle generation, at the venerable Allen plant near Memphis, Tennessee, created the most-efficient combined cycle plant in its

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in July issued a long-awaited decision in the case Cooling Water Intake Structure Coalition v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upholding the EPA’s

Scorching temperatures during the summer of 2018 forced a swathe of power plants across the world to reduce power or shut down temporarily, owing to warmer-than-usual temperatures of cooling water and other

Hurricane Florence floodwaters have breached a cooling lake dam at Duke Energy’s Sutton Plant in Wilmington, North Carolina, releasing water into the Cape Fear River and flooding the footprint of the gas plant at the site, which has been shut down.  The company’s latest update signals mounting troubles at the site, where Duke Energy shuttered […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on September 10 announced it will hold one hearing to get input from the public and stakeholders on its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, the Trump administration’s replacement for the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP). The EPA said it has scheduled an all-day hearing October 1 at the Ralph […]

California Gov. Jerry Brown on September 10 signed into law a measure requiring the state to produce all its electricity from renewable sources by 2045. It’s a goal that also has been set by Hawaii and is being discussed by other states. Environmental groups and renewable energy advocates immediately praised Brown’s action. Utilities operating in […]

Nuclear power’s share of the world’s power generating mix could shrink dramatically from 10% in 2017 to just 5.6% in 2050 as the industry struggles with “reduced competitiveness,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggested in a new report. The international organization based in Vienna, Austria, that works to promote the peaceful use of nuclear […]

Terrestrial Energy USA, a company that is developing a fourth-generation molten salt nuclear reactor, has joined forces with Southern Co. and several U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national labs, in a research and development (R&D) project that seeks to pin down whether its reactor technology can produce hydrogen efficiently using nuclear heat and power.  The […]

Seventeen states have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject the Trump administration’s efforts to further delay the court’s decision on legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan. In a filing with the court on September 4, the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, […]