Environmental

A federal court on Wednesday upheld the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) 2012 determination that the 130-turbine Cape Wind offshore wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound, south of Cape Cod, Mass., posed “no hazard” to air navigation.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision in Town of Barnstable, Mass. v. FAA […]

Witnesses from four federal agencies, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, answered pointed questions about the president’s June 2013–released Climate Action Plan (CAP) and associated rules at an oversight hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works today.  Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) began the hearing to review President Obama’s […]

Three Wyoming coal-fired power plants will be required to install costly controls to curb nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions under a regional haze rule that was finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week. The agency disapproved parts of a state implementation plan (SIP) submitted by Wyoming in January 2011 to address regional haze. It […]

A years-long drought afflicting California could put financial pressure on a number of the state’s hydropower generators, a ratings agency warns.  Fitch Ratings on Friday said that while the financial impact could be manageable, utilities that depend on hydropower generation for the most part may be forced to use more expensive generation and purchased power […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will today miss a legally set deadline to issue finalized standards for cooling water intake structures for all existing power generating facilities under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act.  The EPA’s 2004 Phase II Cooling Water Intake Structure rules were suspended in July 2007 in response to the Second […]

The EPA published the latest version of its new source performance standards (NSPS) for carbon pollution from new power plants in the Federal Register on Jan. 8, setting in motion a 60-day public comment period. The action stems from the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA that defined greenhouse gases as an air […]

A new major air pollution policy package adopted by the European Union (EU) on Dec. 18 updates existing legislation to further curb air emissions from power plants.    The so-called “Clean Air package” consists of a clean air program for Europe to ensure existing air quality targets are met through interim objectives scheduled through 2030. […]

Thanks to sustained and rapid development of China’s economy, demand for natural gas has been increasing. From 2000 to 2010, China’s demand for natural gas increased from 24.7 billion cubic meters (bcm) to

A series of derivative lawsuits has recently been filed against the officers and directors of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) based on the explosion of a PG&E gas transmission line in San Bruno

A tidal wave of pent-up federal regulations could surge across much of the electricity industry in 2014. In recent years, Congress has been unable to enact new laws in energy, which has led a frustrated

Black & Veatch expects sustained growth across global energy markets in 2014 with several ongoing themes continuing. Key market drivers supporting power infrastructure spend remain the same, centering on

The business environment for generating companies worldwide continues to become increasingly complex, and not just as a result of regulations. Even in the U.S., the concerns and constraints faced by generators

Now more than ever, we see the U.S. power market sharply focused on maximizing return on investment. We see power producers responding to economic uncertainty, high costs for new emission controls, and a

The U.S. power generation market is experiencing a unique set of transitional drivers, the biggest being the current economics within the energy market. U.S. Market Drivers A significant portion of the U.S

This is expected to be the year when modest economic growth at last returns to a recession-hit Europe. Recent depressed power demand from industry has already allowed the 27 countries of the European Union

In the early 1980s, a man named George Mitchell, who owned an independent oil and gas company in Houston, began to see a distressing trend in his company’s future. Mitchell Energy supplied natural gas to a

Australia’s freshly elected prime minister, Tony Abbott, introduced a bill in November to scrap the nation’s controversial carbon pricing plan, which is slated to transition to an emissions trading scheme

By 2035, renewables will hold a 30% share of the global power mix, but only 1% of the world’s fossil fuel–fired power plants will be equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS), reports the

Those enormous amounts of water used in hydraulic fracturing may not be the environmental headache they appear to be. That’s because of the downstream effects of more abundant, less expensive natural gas unlocked by the process, known as “fracking,” according to a new study from the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of […]

As the Supreme Court heard arguments on the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), eight Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force nine “upwind” states to slash their emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to the formation of ozone to the north and east. EPA […]

NRG Energy could deactivate five units at two coal-fired power plants in Maryland because new regulations proposed by the state to curb emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) will require pollution controls that cannot be economically justified, the New Jersey–based company said.  NRG last week notified regional grid operator PJM Interconnection that […]

Nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states on Monday urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to model state programs to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the market-based cap-and-trade regulatory program in which the states participate.  The EPA should recognize the RGGI model as an “effective system” of emission […]

Christoph Frei The global energy environment is increasing in complexity and uncertainty. We are in a much more challenging world than previously envisaged. The World Energy Council’s (WEC) analysis has

Owner/operator: Energias de PortugalCourtesy: Alstom Sunny Portugal enjoys a climate much like that of Southern California and likewise has considerable wind resources. Unlike California, Portugal has

The new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) have given coal-fired power plant owners a short time to bring their plants into compliance with rules that require significantly less mercury (Hg) in stack

Cows get little respect these days. Except, of course, when cow is in the form of a two-inch-thick steak cooked medium-well and served still sizzling from the grill. Others prefer their beef served in a sack passed through a window. Either way, your favorite serving of beef is under attack. First came the revelation that […]

Addressing climate change and improving air quality will be among the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) foremost objectives over the next four years, a draft strategic plan recently released by the federal agency shows. The 86-page Draft FY 2014-2018 EPA Strategic Plan was released for public review and comment on Nov. 19 as part of a […]

A communiqué drafted by participants from 22 coal-heavy countries at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) that was held in Washington D.C. last week affirms that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an indispensable element of any effective response to climate change. Members of the ministerial-level international climate change initiative also urged acceleration of the […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the federal Clean Air Act when it promulgated the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) in 2011, nine states argue in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court last week. The brief filed by a bipartisan group of attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, […]