News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued its plan for establishing greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution standards under the Clean Air Act in 2011. The agency looked at a number of sectors and is moving forward on GHG standards for fossil fuel power plants and petroleum refineries—two of the largest industrial sources, representing nearly 40% of the GHG pollution in the U.S.

The General Electric Co. (GE) agreed last week to requirements established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final cleanup of PCB-contaminated sediment in the Hudson River. The second phase of the cleanup is to begin in late spring.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on Dec. 23 that a $17.1 million loan guarantee has been finalized for the AES Westover facility. The loan guarantee will support the construction of a 20- MW energy storage system using advanced lithium-ion batteries.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced last Wednesday that it is accepting applications for a total of up to $74 million to support the research and development (R&D) of clean, reliable fuel cells for stationary and transportation applications.

In a news conference hosted today by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), presenters argued that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has overstated the economic benefits of recycling coal ash by more than 20 times and exaggerated the potential stigma on recycled fly ash that could result from tougher coal ash regulations. At the same time, the EPA is vastly underemphasizing the costs to human and environmental health of not regulating the substance, presenters said.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced yesterday that it had finalized a $1.45 billion loan guarantee for building Abengoa Solar’s Solana, the world’s largest parabolic trough concentrating solar plant (CSP). The 250-MW project in Arizona will require a total investment of around $2 billion.

Advocates and developers of renewable power in the U.S. got an early Christmas present late Dec. 16 when the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing a one-year extension of the Department of Treasury Section 1603 tax grant program (TGP) as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010.

Last Thursday, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that a partial loan guarantee for a $1.3 billion loan has been finalized to support the world’s largest wind farm. The loan will finance the Caithness Shepherds Flat project, an 845-MW wind generation facility located in eastern Oregon sponsored by Caithness Energy LLC and GE Energy Financial Services.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. on Dec. 16 was notified that the Prevention of Significant Deterioration air quality construction permit for its 895-MW Holcomb expansion project was approved by Acting Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) John Mitchell. The permit is expected to be issued by the end of the year. The […]

Basin Electric’s directors decided last week that a proposed demonstration project to capture emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) at the Antelope Valley Station (AVS) in Beulah, N.D., will remain on hold until the economic viability of such a venture can be further developed.