News

China will reduce the nation’s carbon emissions and energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by at least 3.7% this year and perform trials for a carbon-trading program, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said in a report on Tuesday. The country would also make "greater efforts to conserve energy" and "reduce the discharge of major pollutants," it’s top economic planner said.

President Obama this week nominated Gina McCarthy, the current assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation, to head the EPA. He also nominated Dr. Ernest Moniz, currently a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for secretary of energy. Both are expected to face a difficult confirmation process.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week reopened and set a relatively expedited briefing schedule for a case in which several states and nuclear utilities have claimed collection of a nuclear waste fee by the Department of Energy (DOE) is unlawful.

Power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) in the U.S. declined to their lowest level since 1990, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week.

GE–Hitachi division Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) has reportedly submitted a nonbinding proposal to establish an additional uranium enrichment facility at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Paducah enrichment site in Kentucky.

A survey of European power utility and consultancy workers conducted by energy information provider Platts last week suggests that regulatory risk and weak wholesale power prices are thought to be at the top the industry’s most significant challenges.

Among the early-stage energy technology projects on display at last week’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit were two from the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) that have the potential to enhance a variety of battery and other power-related applications. POWER shot video demonstrations of these technologies, which are approximately three to five years from commercialization. See if you can figure out which one was inspired by striped toothpaste.

A new modular and durable quick-release mount for popular fire-extinguisher sizes is now available from Off-Road Solutions (ORS). The system uses two pieces of 6061-T6 billet aluminum: one attaches to the extinguisher while the other piece secures to a fixed object. The 3/16-inch hinge pin and 3/8-inch quick-release pull pin with detent ball are made […]

Filtersense’s new continuous particulate emissions monitor and baghouse leak detector incorporates “Automatic Zero and Span Checks” to eliminate manual calibration audits, as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards and other regulations for fabric filter particulate emissions monitoring. In addition to internal self-checks, the company’s field-proven induction-sensing […]

ATCO Emissions Management (ATCO) announced the addition of heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) to its line of gas turbine auxiliary equipment for the power, oil, gas, and cogeneration markets. The new HRSG product, an energy recovery heat exchanger that recovers heat from a hot gas stream, will initially serve facilities with gas turbines up to […]

A rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directs 36 states to revise their Clean Air Act State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to eliminate exemptions for excess emissions of air pollutants at power plants during startup, shutdown, or when the plant malfunctions.

The Department of Energy (DOE) last week announced the availability of up to $20 million for the development of tools and technologies to enhance cybersecurity of delivery control systems for electricity, oil, and gas in the U.S.

A modified settlement reached between American Electric Power (AEP), a coalition of citizen groups, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday will allow the utility to install less expensive pollution controls on a coal-fired power plant if it ceases coal combustion by 2015 at three aging power plants in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

A 20-MW facility in Ford Heights, Ill., that burns waste tires to produce power is to be shut down to resolve allegations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Clean Air Act violations.

Dr. Steven Chu gave what was likely his last public speech as U.S. secretary of energy today on the last day of the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit. As usual for Chu presentations, it was a mix of data, vision, and humor. It fell to others to comment on the value and legacy of his service, especially to energy research and development.

Southern California Edison now expects the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to decide in late April or May whether or not the 2,300-MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Units 2 and 3 may restart in time for this summer’s demand season.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) may be the most important federal agency many in the power industry have never heard of. Whatever generation technology you are associated with, ARPA-E’s work will affect its future.

Technological progress and policy interventions over the last decade have arguably enhanced U.S. energy security and put it in a stronger position to shape its own energy destiny, a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) argues. Among more than 50 energy policy recommendations outlined in the report to tackle significant challenges still faced by the nation’s energy sector are those calling for the establishment of a comprehensive national energy strategy.

Boosted by President Obama’s inaugural address commitment to mitigate climate change, congressional Democrats have initiated several more climate measures. A legislative packet that seeks to mitigate climate change by enacting a carbon "fee" of $20 per ton of emitted carbon or methane equivalent was introduced last week by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). In the House, as several Democratic amendments for climate change hearings were voted down, more than 40 lawmakers urged President Obama to create a panel that would help communities deal with climate change events.

An agreement reached on Friday between PNM, New Mexico’s largest electricity provider, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls for the retirement of two units at the 1,800-MW coal-fired San Juan Generating Station by 2017 to comply with federal visibility rules. The remaining two units will be retrofitted with selective noncatalytic reduction technology by 2016, a nitrogen-oxide reducing technology.

A think tank affiliated with the New York University School of Law is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mandate cuts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in all 50 U.S. states through a little-used section of the Clean Air Act.

Nuclear power will play a significant role in the nation’s energy future, though a nuclear expansion will be hindered by several factors—foremost among them low natural gas prices and a lack of a comprehensive national energy policy, Dominion Chair, President, and CEO Thomas Farrell II told attendees at the Platts Nuclear Energy Conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

The U.S. House voted 422–0 last week, approving a bill that could facilitate the development of small hydropower and conduit projects and direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider streamlining its two-year permitting process.

President Obama outlined a number of key energy-related measures in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, urging Congress to pursue legislation to mitigate climate change and calling for an expansion of clean energy and reduced red-tape for natural gas and oil permits.

President Obama on Tuesday signed a highly anticipated executive order that lays out the administration’s cybersecurity plans to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure. Portions of the order would be welcomed by the energy sector, but others raised potential concerns, experts said.

Members of the Mississippi House passed a pair of rate mitigation and securitization bills that would allow the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) to approve a multiyear rate plan for Mississippi Power’s $2.88 billion Kemper integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant that is under construction in Kemper County.

The U.S. last week called for World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations to settle a dispute in which it alleges that India’s national solar program appears to discriminate against U.S. solar equipment by requiring solar energy producers in the South Asian country to use Indian-made solar cells and modules.

A legal battle is brewing between the Department of the Interior (DOI) and three public-interest environmental groups that claim the government failed to consider degraded lands for the siting of "destructive" utility-scale solar plants, and that it focused instead on millions of acres of public land when it established solar energy zones in six southwestern states.

An EPR reactor under construction by an AREVA-Siemens consortium in Finland may not start operating until 2016, two years later than its revised start date in 2014, Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said on Monday. Construction of the Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) unit began in May 2005, and the new possible start date could put it eight years behind its initial schedule.

Nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) will see a 45% lowering of the market-based regulatory program’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) cap in 2014, under an updated model rule released last week. The change is expected to reduce projected 2020 power sector CO₂ emissions from the region to more than 45% below those in 2005.