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The Massachusetts House of Representatives is considering a bill that would enact sweeping changes in the state’s energy mix, among them a tax to support construction of new natural gas pipelines. The bill is being pushed by legislators and business interests alarmed by the state’s rapid loss of coal and nuclear generation, and equally rapid […]

Brine, the waste stream of the geothermal power production cycle, is usually considered a nuisance. High in corrosive minerals, even when reinjected, it’s challenging to manage. So when Simbol Inc. showed it had a way to turn this waste stream into a revenue stream by mining it for high-value minerals like lithium, a lot of […]

The Byron Sher Auditorium in Sacramento, Calif., was filled at times with students, parents, and other concerned citizens as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held the last of three public hearings on proposed updates to the national air quality standards for ground-level ozone on Feb. 2. The hearings were scheduled as part of the policymaking […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Feb. 3 that it was ending its involvement with the troubled FutureGen 2.0 clean coal project, concluding that it had run out of time to finish development before federal funding expires in September. First proposed under the Bush administration in 2003, suspended in 2008, then revived and allocated […]

Southern Co. said in a regulatory filing on Jan. 30 that its two-unit expansion at the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia may be delayed another 18 months, with its costs expected to rise at least $720 million. The company was informed of the delays by Westinghouse and CB&I, which are supplying and building the […]

President Obama sent his 2016 budget request to Congress on Feb. 2, surely setting off a protracted battle with the new GOP majority over requests for increased spending on renewable energy initiatives and efforts to address climate change. It is certain that the budget will not become law in its current form, and it was […]

Although Peru has been one of the best-performing economies worldwide over the last decade, its energy sector is still small in absolute numbers. Consumption levels per capita are low, even by Latin American standards, and demand growth is highly dependent on new mining investments. Successive governments have kept energy prices low; and regional interconnection, which […]

An increasing supply of low-cost higher-chlorine coal is prompting many U.S. generators to give the fuel serious consideration in spite of its reputation for causing corrosion. Though corrosion can be a consideration, it’s not always caused simply by the fuel switch. Understanding the various chemical interactions, as well as operational and emissions pros and cons, […]

Proposed U.S. standards for reducing carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants rely heavily upon generation-side efficiency improvements. Fuel, operations, and plant design all affect the overall efficiency of a plant, as well as its carbon emissions. This review of the fundamentals of coal plant efficiency, frequent problems that reduce efficiency, and some solutions for […]