Features

Despite media headlines and coal industry hand-wringing, reports of coal’s death have been greatly exaggerated, to adapt Mark Twain’s famous (but misquoted) comment. What’s more, some of the coal sector’s current suffering is the consequence of self-inflicted wounds. Throughout the dog days of summer, the financial pages in dozens of U.S. newspapers have run headlines […]

If you’re looking to generate distributed power with gas, your options are broader than ever, with a range of efficient, clean-burning technologies to chose from. Knowing which option is the right one depends on a balance of site constraints, fuel supplies, and environmental oversight. When California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), a 14,000-student university north […]

Though newer distributed generation options like microturbines, solar, and batteries have grabbed the headlines, diesel remains the go-to option because of its established technology and reliability. But growing competition and new regulations are threatening its traditional role. Here’s what diesel is doing to stay relevant. If you pay attention to nothing but the headlines in […]

Utility-scale energy storage in the form of pumped water storage has a long history. One of the oldest U.S. plants found itself in need of an upgrade after 40 years of service. Having the right equipment for the job is proving to be essential. With the current power market challenges and increasing amounts of variable […]

Hydropower is booming, but unless you live in China, Latin America, or Africa, you may have missed it. Global installed capacity of hydroelectric generation has grown by more than 25% over the past decade

Warren Buffett bought Nevada’s NV Energy two years ago, a move widely seen as a play for solar and renewable generation. That’s working out. But as the company transitions away from legacy coal and high-priced renewable contracts signed years ago, large customers are rebelling, and the company faces a challenge to keep its big dog […]

There is a synergistic relationship among the three major cooling water treatment issues: corrosion, scale or deposit formation, and microbiological fouling. In order to control one, you need to control all

While having lunch at a downtown café with my friend the biology professor, the subject of animal extinction arose. “When it comes down to it, we really don’t know exactly why most prehistoric species

It’s certainly no secret that for many years, the power industry has been a top target for hackers around the world. However, whereas in the past, many of these attacks were relatively easy to block using

In today’s digital world, an optimally run power plant relies on valuable and accurate data in order to ensure assets are running reliably and with minimal downtime. Streaming in from control systems, SCADA