Fuel

  • Europe May Need Temporary Coal, Oil Power Increase to Ready for ’Hard’ Winter, IEA Warns

    European leaders should minimize gas use in the power sector and temporarily ramp up coal- and oil-fired generation while accelerating low-carbon sources to guard against energy market turmoil that has grown “especially perilous,” the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on July 18. “I’m particularly concerned about the months ahead,” wrote IEA Executive […]

  • SaskPower Picks SMR Technology for First Two Potential Nuclear Units

    SaskPower has chosen GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) technology for Saskatchewan’s first two nuclear units, which the provincial utility plans to deploy by the mid-2030s. The announcement on June 27 wraps up a four-year process to evaluate specific SMR designs and furthers planning for SaskPower, a Crown corporation, which has […]

  • Southern Co. Gas-Fired Demonstration Validates 20% Hydrogen Fuel Blend

    A demonstration project at Georgia Power’s 2.5-GW natural gas–fired Plant McDonough-Atkinson facility has validated a natural gas fuel blend with 20% hydrogen by volume on one of its six Mitsubishi Power advanced-class gas turbines. The test, one of the largest of its kind to date, provided an approximately 7% reduction in carbon emissions compared to […]

  • Australian Energy Crisis Prompts Suspension of National Electricity Market

    The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on June 15 indefinitely suspended spot markets in all regions of its National Electricity Market (NEM), citing critical power generation supply shortfalls that it said made it “impossible to continue” operations under national electricity rules. AEMO—the independent system operator (ISO) that operates the competitive market serving New South Wales, […]

  • The Biden Administration Should Change Course or Else Your Energy Investment Portfolio Could Suffer

    Americans now face the highest inflation rates in more than a generation. That’s certainly true for energy prices, where oil has soared past $100 a barrel. Americans are now paying $5 a gallon for gas on average heading into the summer. But energy scarcity and high prices aren’t just problems for consumers; they’re problems for investors […]

  • DOD Picks BWXT Design for ‘Project Pele’ Prototype Nuclear Microreactor 

    The Department of Defense (DOD) has picked BWX Technologies’ (BWXT’s) microreactor design for its “Project Pele” full-scale transportable prototype. The selection closes out a much-watched contest with X-energy for the contract from the DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) to build and operate what could be the nation’s first advanced microreactor.  Lynchburg, Virginia-based BWXT will now […]

  • Massive Utah Hydrogen Storage Project Garners Finalized $504M DOE Loan Guarantee

    The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first official loan guarantee for a new clean energy technology project since 2014 will go to the Advanced Clean Energy Storage 1 project in Utah—one of the world’s largest renewable hydrogen energy projects.  The DOE on June 8 announced it closed on the $504.4 million loan guarantee for the first […]

  • Fuel of the Future: How the World Can Build a True Hydrogen Economy

    Versatile and plentiful, hydrogen could go a long way toward helping the world meet its climate targets. Already, it’s a component in all eight of the European Commission’s (EC’s) net-zero emissions scenarios for 2050. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Department of Energy has initiatives that will spur significant investment in the hydrogen economy—efforts boosted by […]

  • GE Debuts First 7HA.03 Gas Turbines at 1.3-GW Plant in Florida

    The first two GE 7HA.03 machines—the largest 60-Hz heavy-duty gas turbines in the world and the most efficient in GE’s fleet—are now operational at Florida Power & Light’s (FPL’s) newly inaugurated 1,260-MW Dania Beach Clean Energy Center (DBEC) in Broward County.  FPL officially declared the Dania Beach Clean Energy Center near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, commercially […]

  • Much-Watched Reciprocating Engine Hydrogen Pilot Kicks Off at Michigan Power Plant

    A landmark project to test fuel blends of up to 25% volume of hydrogen mixed with natural gas in reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICEs) has launched at WEC Energy Group’s 56-MW A.J. Mihm power plant in Michigan. If successful, the pilot—one of the first of its kind in the U.S.—could provide key insight into how […]

  • New Life for Dead and Dying Coal Plants?

    As coal plants are retired, power companies must decide what to do with sites. Some old plants have been added to the National Register of Historic Places and repurposed as commercial or office space, while

  • Energy Security = National Security: How the West Needs to Reindustrialize, Rethink Energy Policy

    The current geopolitical crisis spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine should provide a rude awakening in the West to our misguided and flawed policies toward energy development by government and major

  • Russians Achieve Milestone with New Nuclear Fuel

    Rosatom announced that it has started the fourth irradiation cycle of fuel assemblies with VVER-type fuel rods in the MIR research reactor (Figure 1) at the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region. The reactor tests have been ongoing since early 2019. The rods have four combinations of cladding and fuel matrix materials. […]

  • First Hydrogen Burn at Long Ridge HA-Class Gas Turbine Marks Triumph for GE

    Hydrogen combustion has begun at the 485-MW Long Ridge Energy Terminal combined cycle power plant—a flagship GE HA-class project that is purpose-built to transition from natural gas to hydrogen blends and ultimately be capable of burning 100% hydrogen. While the sprawling multimodal facility in Hannibal, Ohio—which sits on the Ohio and West Virginia border—achieved commercial […]

  • Bloom Energy Converts U.S. Fuel Cell Fleet to ‘Certified’ Low-Leak Natural Gas 

    Bloom Energy’s U.S. fuel cell installations deployed at 700 sites will over the next two years use certified, “responsibly sourced” natural gas from EQT Corp. The development marks a pioneering effort by a power generator to bolster its commercial and industrial customers’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. Bloom Energy, whose primary business stems from […]

  • Gas Power Outlook: Volatility and Viability

    Natural gas generation’s future hinges on a precarious and exceptionally volatile set of issues that the conflict in Ukraine intensified. Experts from the full natural gas chain shed light on how that

  • Competition Is More Important Than Ever to Tackle Today’s Energy Challenges

    As we commemorate another Earth Day this April, the challenges facing our energy systems and the environment seem more pressing than ever. Americans face continued economic uncertainty following the COVID-19

  • U.S. Agrees to Ramp Up LNG Exports to Europe, Actively Reduce Natural Gas Demand

    The Biden administration and the European Commission launched a multi-pronged effort that will dramatically ramp up U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the European Union (EU) but also reduce overall natural gas demand in the U.S. and EU through “accelerated market deployment” of clean energy measures. The measures are part of strategic energy cooperation […]

  • Protecting Land-Based Diesel Assets from Risks Associated with Biofuels

    Greenhouse gases (GHG) are a global issue. As the planet warms, we need to find any way we can to lower carbon footprints. For the future, there are many projects working to find zero-carbon solutions using new energies, but, while we wait for these developments and the necessary infrastructure to support this energy transition, we […]

  • DOE Funds New Program to Recycle Used Nuclear Fuel, GE Conducting Innovative Related Research

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week that it would provide up to $48 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program that could substantially reduce the disposal impact of used nuclear fuel (UNF). The program, dubbed CURIE (Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy), is intended to support “a comprehensive national strategy […]

  • Pressure on U.S. Nuclear Power Could Mount if Sanctions Imposed on Russian Uranium

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions may have a limited immediate impact on the U.S. nuclear industry, despite its reliance on uranium imports. Potential implications over the longer term, however, require urgent action, officials from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said. NEI CEO and President Maria Korsnick told reporters at the ongoing CERAWeek by […]

  • Ban on Russian Energy Imports Gains Bipartisan, Bicameral Steam in Congress

    Eighteen bipartisan U.S. Senators are backing a bill that would direct the president to declare a national emergency and prohibit imports of Russian energy commodities, including crude oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal. While the measure does not include Russian uranium, a senior Department of Energy official said addressing U.S. reliance on […]

  • New Realms for Gas Power Technology

    Gas power technology developers are exploring new roles and applications to ensure gas power will remain relevant as power markets embrace decarbonization. At the end of 2020, about 1,600 GW of gas turbines

  • Large-Scale Green Hydrogen Infrastructure System Unveiled for California

    SoCalGas, North America’s largest gas distribution utility, has unveiled the Angeles Link, a proposed green hydrogen energy infrastructure system for Southern California that it says could be the largest of its kind in the nation. The Angeles Link proposes to utilize between 25 GW and 35 GW of curtailed or new solar, wind, or battery […]

  • Poland Secures NuScale SMR as Urgency for Nuclear Energy Ramps Up Across Central, Eastern Europe

    NuScale Power has signed a definitive commercial agreement with mining and processing firm KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. to deploy a VOYGR power plant of up to 924 MWe as early as 2029 to support KGHM’s copper and silver production in Poland. Under an “early works agreement” signed in a ceremony on Feb. 14 in the […]

  • American Nuclear Society warns advanced reactors face ‘significant deployment delays’ unless DOE accelerates HALEU availability program

    The American Nuclear Society (ANS) warned the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that the continued unavailability of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel within the United States is risking “significant deployment delays” of advanced reactors. In a February 14th letter,  ANS President Steven Nesbit and ANS Executive Director and CEO Craig Piercy urged the DOE to expedite the creation of a HALEU availability […]

  • GE Confirms Sale of Lucrative Nuclear Steam Turbine Segment to EDF 

    GE has signed an exclusive agreement with EDF Group, an entity majority held by the French government, to sell the equipment segment and some services that make up Steam Power’s nuclear-serving steam turbine business—part of a portfolio that GE adopted during its 2015 merger with French equipment giant Alstom. The American technology conglomerate confirmed it signed […]

  • ETW presents a new range of standardized ETW SmartCycle biomethane plant

    The specialist for combined heat and power plants and biomethane plants, ETW Energietechnik from Moers, has optimized the delivery program of its proven biogas upgrading system, ETW SmartCycle® PSA, for worldwide use on biogas and waste fermentation plants. The aim of the development was a significant reduction of in- vestment costs as well as execution […]

  • Biomass Power: Environmental Benefit or Numbers Game?

    Many bioenergy industry proponents put forth carbon neutrality as a basis for their support. However, the claim may not hold up under scrutiny. By some accounts, biomass power plant emissions including those

  • The Developed World Must Turn Fossil Fuel Industries into Green Tech Powerhouses for Developing Countries

    When environmental advocates implore less-wealthy countries to cease oil or gas investment and production because it is the cause of climate change, they are often branded as naive and ridiculous. Do we really