News

The late Dr. Carl Sagan once observed, “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology (S&T).” I would add that those who know the least about S&T are often the ones responsible for determining policy and funding priorities. One good example of this problem is the piecemeal approach taken to developing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies.

Hach Co. unveiled its DR 3900 spectrophotometer featuring state-of-the-art radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Hach, which describes the device as being “similar to a GPS telling you when to turn,” also says that the DR 3900 requires less training and increases confidence in the test results. This helps water and wastewater facilities prevent measurement errors. […]

The Tettex 2293 from Swiss firm Haefely Test AG is the result of extensive research and years of experience testing transformers. A simple one-time-connection system, together with the simultaneous winding magnetization method (SWM), drastically reduces measuring time. The SWM guarantees fast and reliable measurements even on large power transformers with delta windings on the low-voltage […]

Eclipse Inc. introduced the TJSR v5 self-recuperative burner for direct-fired furnace heating applications. The advanced burner design combines a high-velocity flame with fuel-saving recuperation. A space-saving integral eductor pulls the furnace exhaust through an internal ceramic recuperator. The recuperator preheats the incoming combustion air to very high levels, which improves furnace operating efficiency to reduce […]

Massachusetts-based Cabot Corp. recently introduced Enova, an aerogel that is a new high-performance thermal additive designed specifically for insulation coatings. Enova aerogel is designed for application to surfaces that are not already insulated but ideally should be. Cabot researchers have found that applying a 1-millimeter coating containing Enova aerogel to a 200C metal surface meets […]

Distributed wind generator supplier Southwest Windpower unveiled a small wind turbine for commercial and residential use, the Skystream 600, which it claims is the “most efficient power grid-connected turbine in its class, providing an average of 7,400 kWh of clean, low-cost energy per year per household in 12 mph average annual wind speeds.” The company […]

Encorp LLC announced the launch of its Microgrid System Controller, which it says is the industry’s first microgrid system controller to connect onsite synchronous generators with renewable energy assets—such as photovoltaic systems, wind, and microturbines—and then monitor and control the resulting microgrid. The controller has already been successfully installed at a major international defense contractor […]

Thomas & Betts’ Emergi-Lite Nexus Emergency Lighting Management System provides real-time status of the entire emergency lighting and exit-sign system, runs system diagnostics, performs required monthly and annual functional tests, generates maintenance logs, and runs compliance reports from a central control unit. Additionally, the system operates independently of the emergency lighting and exit sign, so […]

Flooding that threatens two Midwest nuclear power plants and fire that reached the edge of the top U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory put U.S. nuclear safety in the news this week. Government officials responded with assurances that all facilities had adequately safeguards in place to ride out natural disasters.

Progress Energy Florida provided an update to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) on Monday regarding the status of its Crystal River Nuclear Plant. Based on an initial review, the company believes that repairing the unit is the best option, and it is taking steps to complete more detailed engineering and construction analyses. The company estimates that the unit will return to service in 2014.

On Monday, federal regulators renewed the operating licenses for Xcel Energy Inc.’s Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2, which will allow the plant to run for 20 more years. Four days earlier, Xcel shut down its other nuclear plant in Minnesota to repair a valve.

Dominion Virginia Power on Monday asked the Virginia State Corporation Commission for approval to convert three Virginia coal-burning power plants to biomass, saying the proposal had "strong customer benefits" and fit well with the company’s commitment to produce 15% of its power from renewable sources by 2025.

A U.S. District Court jury on Tuesday acquitted Xcel Energy and its subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado of criminal charges on five counts stemming from an October 2007 fire at the utility’s Cabin Creek hydropower plant near Georgetown, Colo., that killed five workers.

California’s First District Court of Appeal on Friday ruled that the state Air Resources Board (CARB) can proceed with implementation of a carbon cap-and-trade system. The ruling grants the state regulator a temporary stay on an order, pending the court’s decision, to halt work on the program that was issued by a San Francisco Superior Court judge on May 20.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on Tuesday that six projects in four states (California, Colorado, Florida, and New York) have been selected to receive nearly $7.5 million over two years to advance next-generation designs for wind turbine drivetrains.

Last Thursday, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that eight projects in five states (California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Texas, and Utah) have been selected to receive up to $11.3 million to support the research and development of pioneering geothermal technologies.

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday unanimously decided that the Clean Air Act (CAA) and other efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas (GHGs)  “displace” any federal common-law right to “seek abatement of carbon dioxide emissions” from fossil fuel–fired power plants—including claims that GHG emissions constitute a “public nuisance.”

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a new report that while all U.S. nuclear plant sites have had some groundwater contamination from radioactive leaks,  there was no discernable impact on the public’s health from radioactive leaks at three nuclear plants it investigated. It concludes, however, that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) could better identify and characterize the leaks if it required transparent monitoring data from licensees.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear an appeal from PPL Montana of a March 2010 Montana Supreme Court decision that would have forced the power company to pay accrued rent and interest worth some $56 million to the state of Montana for the use of riverbeds beneath the company’s hydroelectric plants—some which have been generating power for more than a century.

The EPA on Tuesday extended by 30 days the timeline for public input on the proposed mercury and air toxics standards, though it stressed that the extension would not alter the timeline for issuing the final standards in November 2011. The public comment period for the so-called Toxic Air rule will now end on August 4, 2011.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee today introduced legislation that directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop “achievable standards” for industrial boilers and incinerators and grants more time for the development of and compliance with those rules.

San Antonio’s CPS Energy on Monday announced it would mothball by 2018—15 years earlier than planned—its 871-MW coal-fired J.T. Deely Power Plant—instead of spending an estimated $3 billion on pollution controls to comply with anticipated environmental regulations. The nation’s largest municipal utility expects to replace the plant’s generation through conservation and future renewable sources.

The Department of Energy (DOE) doled out several loan guarantee offers worth a combined $919 million in the past week. Recipients of the conditional commitments include Mesquite Solar 1 for the development of a 150-MW photovoltaic (PV) solar project in Arizona; Calisolar Inc. to help commercialize its silicon solar manufacturing process; 1366 Technologies to develop a multicrystalline wafer-manufacturing project, and Granite Reliable Power for a 99-MW wind project.

The U.S. installed 252 MW of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) solar projects in the first four months of this year—66% more than the first quarter of 2010, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) says in a newly released report. The industry group also says that cumulatively, grid-connected solar electric installations in the U.S. have reached more than 2.85 GW—2.3 GW of which is grid-connected PV.

American Electric Power (AEP) plans to retire nearly 6 GW of coal-fired capacity and upgrade or refuel another 11 GW as part of an estimated $8 billion plan to comply with a series of regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). About 25 GW of AEP’s 38-GW capacity is coal-fired—making it the biggest […]

An electricity grid policy framework was released at a White House event on Monday at which government and industry representatives discussed the compelling benefits of a modernized grid while hinting at the often intransigent obstacles to making progress toward that goal. In conjunction with the event and release of the policy statement, the Obama Administration announced several public and private initiatives, including $250 million in loans for smart grid technology deployment as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday announced it would take more time to review public comment on draft rules concerning greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and propose the regulations on Sept. 30—instead of July 26 as initially planned. The agency said, however, that it is on track to have final rules ready by May 26, 2012.

A report released on Friday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that power plant smokestacks of 500 feet or higher disperse pollutants over greater distances—and that stack height is one of several factors that contribute to the interstate transport of air pollution. The congressional investigative arm also finds that several boilers remain uncontrolled for certain pollutants, including several connected to tall stacks.

Italy on Monday overwhelmingly voted to abandon nuclear power after Germany’s cabinet last week backed a controversial policy to shutter that country’s nuclear plants by 2022.

The body of a contract worker trapped when a large boiler structure at the Paul L. Bartow Power Plant on Weedon Island near St. Petersburg, Fla., unexpectedly collapsed was recovered late Monday night, four days after the accident occurred, Progress Energy said.