Latest
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Commentary
Switching from Coal to Natural Gas Does Little for Global Climate
Although the burning of natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide than coal, a new study concludes that a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change.
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Commentary
Surprise: China’s Energy Consumption Will Stabilize
As China’s economy continues to soar, its energy use and greenhouse gas emissions will keep on soaring as well—or so goes the conventional wisdom. A new analysis by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory now is challenging that notion, one widely held in both the United States and China.
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O&M
Wet Booster Fans Optimize Power Station Performance with FGD and Wet Stack
A Romanian lignite-fired power station wanted to minimize the operating cost of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system by placing the booster fans in the "wet position," between the wet FGD scrubber and the wet stack, where they would consume significantly less power. A number of combined environmental effects must be considered in this design.
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O&M
Pulverizers 101: Part III
Pulverizers prepare raw fuel for burning by grinding it to a desired fineness and mixing it with the just the right amount of air before sending the mixture to boiler burners for combustion. Part I of this three-part report examined the essentials of pulverizer design and performance; Part II discussed the importance of fuel fineness. This final article discusses the importance of air and fuel measurement.
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Commentary
Divide and Conquer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to release new air quality standards for coal-fired power plants this month. Division in the power industry is encouraging the EPA to set an unachievable compliance timetable.
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O&M
Improved Performance from Priority-Based Intelligent Sootblower Systems
When sootblower operation frequency is too high, a plant risks losing power generation from tube leaks; but when sootblower frequency is too low, there is a risk of boiler pluggage. Intelligent sootblowing finds the right balance between tube erosion and plant economic operation.
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News
Google Retires Solar Power Tower Research Initiative, Citing Plunging PV Prices
Google, the Internet search giant that has invested millions in solar power technology, last week quietly abandoned a four-year-old project to make renewable power cheaper than coal-fired power. The company, which cited the recent dramatic decline of photovoltaic panel prices and design limitations, said other institutions were “better positioned” to take research to the “next level.”
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News
Large-Scale Distributed Solar Project Gets Major Boost from Private Financial Backer
SolarCity Corp., a solar power company that lost a $344 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DOE) in the political rumpus following the Solyndra’s failure, today announced it would move ahead with an ambitious five-year plan to build more than $1 billion in solar power projects for privatized U.S. military housing communities across the country.
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News
NERC: EPA Rules Could Stress the Nation’s Grid
The cumulative impact of rules proposed and finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could, over the next six years, stress the nation’s power grid "in ways never before experienced," the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warns in a new report.
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News
Ameren Quits Federally Backed Clean Coal Project
The FutureGen Alliance, a nonprofit coalition of coal producers, coal users, and coal equipment suppliers, on Monday said it was negotiating an option to buy portions of the Meredosia Energy Center in Illinois from Ameren Corp. to continue development of the FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage project, an initiative begun in 2003.