News

Liberal and conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday skeptically met arguments that power plant owners that emit global warming–causing greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be sued for damages. Justices questioned the court’s jurisdiction to decide on emissions standards, the vast scope of the case, and factors to assess the best available technologies to curb GHG emissions.

On Tuesday, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) provisionally raised the accident rating for three reactors at the crippled six-unit Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture to Level 7—making it a “major accident” and putting in on par with the 1986 Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine. And today the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) confirmed damage to spent nuclear fuel rods stored in the Unit 4 building.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Friday told Unistar Nuclear Energy it could not issue the company an operating license for its planned reactor at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland because it was fully owned by France’s Électricité de France (EDF)—a foreign entity.

Progress Energy Florida last week told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and state regulators that Crystal River Nuclear plant has been shut down indefinitely while the company conducts a “thorough engineering analysis and review” of a new gap in the reactor’s containment building wall that resulted from tendon retensioning work.

California’s Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law SBX1-2, a law that increases the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) target from 20% in 2010 to 33% by 2020—the most aggressive goal in the nation. In his signing message, Brown said he would pursue even more far-reaching targets, pushing the RPS to 40% in the “near future.”

A report released last week by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) that broadly assesses the costs and benefits to modernize the U.S. power system suggests that investments needed to deploy a fully functional smart grid range between $338 billion and $476 billion—but could result in benefits of $1.3 trillion to $2 trillion.

In 2010, only 5,116 MW of nameplate wind capacity was added in the U.S.—a nearly 50% drop from the record 10,000 MW installed in 2009, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said in its newly released annual report. The industry group said, however, that wind power capacity added in 2010 made up 26% of all new generating capacity added in the U.S.—second only to natural gas.

Solar power in the U.S. received multiple boosts in the past week as the Department of Energy (DOE) finalized $2.7 billion in loan guarantees for solar projects in California while making available $170 million in funding for solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, and GE Energy announced plans for what it said will be the biggest solar PV panel factory in the U.S.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp.’s proposed 895-MW Kansas coal-fired power plant suffered another legal setback last week as a federal district court judge ruled in a lawsuit filed on behalf of environmental group Sierra Club that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated federal law by providing approval and financial assistance to the project without environmental review and pubic involvement.

The first Clean Energy Progress Report released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA) finds that while “impressive progress” has been made in developing clean energy technologies in recent years, demand for fossil fuels has continued to surge. Coal has met 47% of global new electricity demand over the past decade, “eclipsing clean energy efforts made over the same period of time,” the agency says.

An internal study released by the Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday found that the federal body overseen by the Department of the Interior (DOI) could generate up to 1 million MWh more power annually from 70 of its existing facilities in 14 states. The report was followed by an $26.6 million funding announcement by the DOE and DOI on Tuesday for research and development projects to advance hydropower technology, including pumped storage.

In a major breakthrough at the crisis-stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant, engineers who had been desperately struggling to contain radioactivity at the plant’s units today managed to stop highly radioactive water leaking into the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) says, however, that it will continue to pump contaminated water into the sea for lack of storage capacity, and efforts are under way to begin injection of nitrogen into the primary containment vessel of Daiichi 1.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday proposed a rule—granting a Clean Air Act petition filed by New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)—to limit sulfur dioxide emissions from a 420-MW coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania that it alleged was adversely impacting air quality in four New Jersey counties.

Progress Energy Carolinas will shut down its 170-MW W.H. Weatherspoon coal-fired power plant this fall, several years ahead of the originally announced retirement schedule. The decision follows an evaluation of system resource needs.

Dominion Virginia Power on Friday announced it would convert three 63-MW Virginia coal-fired peaking plants to biomass. The Dominion subsidiary said that while the switch would provide a boost to the local economy, it would also reduce nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and particulate emissions to “meet stringent new emission standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”

Palmer Wahl Instruments Inc. has introduced a new line of digital pressure test gauges that includes the Palmer 3PC Auto Ranging Digital Pressure Test Gauge (shown here), which spans a pressure range of vacuum to 3,000 psi. Featuring an accuracy of 0.1%, and with the capacity to read nine different units of measure, the 3PC […]

Kistler announced the North American market introduction of the Type 8763B, a miniature IEPE triaxial accelerometer with voltage output. The accelerometer offers simultaneous shock and vibration measurements on three mutually perpendicular axes with optional TEDS capabilities (per IEEE 1451.4) to meet high-performance requirements. Available in six unique models with measurement ranges from ±50 g to […]

Ergodyne has launched the ProFlex 750 At-Heights Construction Glove. The glove delivers the comfort, durability, and protection required for climbing as well as the fit and dexterity needed to get the job done right in the world’s highest work zones, the company claims. Designed to reduce fatigue and discomfort while climbing, the 750 At-Heights Construction […]

Bobcat’s launch of the new 700 Series compact loaders adds three new models to the company’s family of new-generation loaders. The new loaders, all with vertical lift path design, offer several new features and enhancements that significantly extend the range of applications for compact loaders, Bobcats says. The 700 Series comprises a new skid-steer loader […]

Two years ago, Spain’s fixation on renewables and “green jobs” was praised by President Obama as a success story worthy of our emulation. How is Spain doing today?

Tendeka’s advanced monitoring solutions arm, Sensornet, introduced its FireLaser linear heat-detection system, which has been specifically designed for fire hazard detection applications. The FireLaser connects to a fiber-optic cable and determines temperature and distance data at thousands of points along its length. The fiber-optic cable is installed within the asset to be protected, acting as the […]

Aberdeen, UK–based casing and completion technology specialist Deep Casing Tools launched the Turbocaser Express, what it calls the “first ever drill-through tool to ensure casing to target depth, allowing wells to be drilled as planned and enhancing integrity.” After reaming a casing to target depth, the Turbocaser Express has a unique, patented internal design that […]

Rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act on Monday call for flexible technology standards, determined on a case-by-case basis, for more than 670 power plants across the nation that pull in at least 2 million gallons per day of cooling water. The EPA said the proposal, which seeks to protect aquatic life, establishes a “common sense framework, putting a premium on public input and flexibility.”

The Senate is expected to vote on Thursday on an amendment introduced by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to small business legislation that could permanently block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from promulgating climate change rules.

Nearly 20 Senate Democrats asked President Obama in a letter today not to agree to spending plans passed by the GOP-controlled House last month that would block funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) implementation of greenhouse gas rules.

As chief executives of 34 renewable energy companies urged congressional Republican and Democratic leaders to support the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program, a study released by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) suggests grants are a simpler and more effective way to help finance projects than tax credits.

With geothermal power being produced in nine states—and with 123 projects across 15 states under development—the U.S. leads the world in geothermal energy production, a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) shows.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) on Thursday said they had begun a process to offer Bluewater Wind Delaware the first commercial wind lease off the coast of Delaware under the “Smart from the Start” Atlantic Offshore Wind program.

California’s Assembly on Tuesday passed a renewable energy mandate that would require the state’s power companies to generate 33%—up from the current 20%—of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The mandate is the most ambitious in the U.S.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week completed a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for a limited work authorization (LWA) and the combined construction and operating licenses (COLs) for Southern Co.’s Vogtle Units 3 and 4 proposed for construction near Waynesboro, Ga.