News

Australia’s parliament today rejected—for a second time—a climate change bill that would effect a carbon trading program. The world’s biggest coal exporter was proposing to reduce greenhouse gases by 5% to 15% of 2000 levels via a carbon trading system similar to Europe’s within the next decade.

French nuclear giant AREVA on Monday announced it would sell its lucrative transmission and distribution (T&D) division to Alstom and Schneider Electric—both French firms—for €4.09 billion, rejecting bids from U.S.-based General Electric and Japan’s Toshiba Corp.

The week brought news of more closures or cancellations related to coal-fired generation. Exelon Corp. said it would permanently shut down four older units—a total capacity of 933 MW—in Pennsylvania; Progress Energy announced the closure of 11 North Carolina units in a shift to burning natural gas; and cost increases for an Ohio plant are prompting American Municipal Power to consider a combined-cycle gas plant instead.

An analysis released today by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) projects that if Congress adopts climate change legislation based on a blueprint released by the organization earlier this year, the nation’s economy would grow about 70% through 2030 despite adopting carbon emission–curbing measures.

Argentina has set out to complete Atucha II, a nuclear reactor it started building in 1981 and abandoned when it was 81% complete, owing to financial problems. If all goes according to plan, the country’s third reactor could go online by 2011—some 25 years behind schedule.

A £4.4 million grant by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) this September to Clipper Windpower’s Britannia project kicked up a whirlwind of interest in the supersized wind turbine—and others being developed around the world.

Anglo Coal, one of Australia’s coal mining companies this September opened a 45.6-MW power plant at its Moranbah North mine in northeast Queensland that captures methane-rich coal mine gas and uses it as a fuel to generate power instead of venting it into the air.

Marine energy prototypes in the UK are sailing ahead of entries from the rest of the world, propelled by government backing and public support.

News items of interest to power industry professionals.

The ATL-5000 — a new, fully automated water jet system from NLB Corp. — cleans tube bundles three times faster than manual methods and features an adjustable lance stroke that allows the system to be configured for bundles of various lengths, up to 30 feet. The diesel-powered system has five rigid lances, each with a […]