Energy and Climate Change


GE Power & Water and Alstom Power Combine to Form GE’s Largest Digital Industrial Business, GE Power

By combining the strongest attributes of GE’s power generation technologies, services and expertise with Alstom Power’s technology and geography, the global utility sector will benefit from a world-class supplier of total power plant and life cycle solutions that can support equipment from multiple suppliers.

Workers dismantled a steam generator in a unit at a German plant. More than half of all the operating nuclear power reactors are more than 30 years old, according to IAEA. (Photo by H. Vanhatalo/IAEA)

IAEA Announces 2016 Decommissioning Conference

Participants will discuss challenges, achievements, and lessons learned from nuclear site decommissioning and environmental remediation projects implemented during the past decade when they meet next May in Madrid.

Two cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

Electric Power Generation Employment Down 42 Percent 2001-2014

Employment in nuclear power was essentially flat—it rose during the period but settled at 47,413 in 2014, up by 5 percent from 45,312 in 2001.

$20 Million Carbon XPRIZE Contest Under Way

Registration opened Sept. 29 in the contest, which will last 4.5 years, with competing teams challenged to develop breakthrough technologies that convert the most carbon dioxide into one or more products with the highest net value.

Volume 1 covers events leading up to the explosion and fire, and volume 2 contains critical technical analyses of the blowout preventer

DOJ Files BP's Settlement Agreement

The agreement exceeds $20 billion and contains billions of dollars in claim settlement funds for five states, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced. "Once approved by the court, this agreement will launch one of the largest environmental restoration efforts the world has ever seen," she said.

New York Receives Millions in Funding for Five New Clean Energy Projects

Governor Cuomo recently announced $175 million has been awarded to New York for clean energy projects to add to the state’s electric grid.

World Nuclear Association Hails Japanese Reactor's Restart

"The restart of Sendai unit 1 puts Japan on the road to recovery. Going forward, it is essential that the nuclear industry works harder at building better relationships with the public as well as improving our performance and future technology offerings," said Agneta Rising, the association's director general.

This Shell photo shows the Noble Corporation

BSEE Outlines Extent of Shell's Alaska Drilling

The agency's director, Brian Salerno, on Aug. 17 said Shell's application to conduct exploratory drilling was approved after extensive review.



NRC

NRC Determines Yucca Mountain's Groundwater Impact 'Small'

This determination means the environmental effects of the spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste disposed there would not be detectable or be so minor they will not destabilize or noticeably alter any important attribute of affected resources.

The proposed rule will encounter fierce opposition from coal companies, coal states

Coal States' Governors Attack President's Climate Plan

"I am extremely disappointed and frustrated by the huge changes the EPA made from the proposed rule. What is being proposed for Kentucky is disastrous – disastrous for our declining coal economy and equally disastrous for our very important manufacturing economy," Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said.

The ISO greenhouse gas standard has reached the voting stage.

ISO Greenhouse Gas Standard Reaches Voting Stage

"The key areas of focus for ISO 14064-1 will be accounting for indirect greenhouse gas emissions and the linkage between that and renewable energy, which is a very challenging area," said Tom Baumann, chair of the ISO TC 207/SC7 committee that undertook the revision.

Indiana Solar Array Contract Announced

The project in Marion, Ind., will consist of 9,972, 310-watt solar panels and 11 Nextronex 250 inverters and will provide the grid with the equivalent energy to power more than 350 homes.

Let

Let's Be Frank about Fracking: Is Unconventional Gas and Oil Drilling Really Worth It?

Linked to earthquakes, water contamination, and general pollution, fracking becomes more controversial by the day. Meanwhile, 13,000 new wells are being drilled every year. There have been over a thousand documented cases of water contamination next to areas of gas drilling—cases of sensory, respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological damage. From the water we drink to the ground beneath our feet, is it too late to ask, “What gives?”

The study tested a model that allows scientists and wind energy companies to predict bird fatalities before a wind farm is built.

Model Predicts Bird Deaths Before Wind Facility Construction

The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released a case study that involved golden eagles partly because of their soaring and hunting behaviors.

Study Shows Huge Variation in Fracking Operations' Thirst

The first national-scale analysis of hydraulic fracturing water usage found that water volumes averaged within watersheds across the United States range from as little as 2,600 gallons to as much as 9.7 million gallons per well.

Nanotechnology is already viable as an answer to potable water shortages. (Dais Analytic Corporation photo)

Addressing the 'Water-Energy Nexus' by Improving Manufacturing

We need to start examining the processes within Water-Energy Nexus the same way we are examining HVAC efficiencies: at the molecular level, using nanotechnology.

Always-On Devices Waste Billions of Electricity Each Year

Approximately $19 billion worth of electricity, equal to the output of 50 large power plants, is devoured annually by U.S. household electronics, appliances, and other equipment when consumers are not actively using them.

FERC Looking at Impact of Proposed Pipeline Conversion

The existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline runs 256 miles through 18 Kentucky counties. The company proposes to change the product flowing through the pipeline from natural gas to natural gas liquids.

NIST announced the recommended R&D opportunities range from tests for assessing the airtightness of building enclosures to questions about measuring indoor air quality to control strategies that take advantage of emerging "smart grid" capabilities.

NIST Outreach Expands Zero-Energy Home Ideas

The ideas "got the equivalent of a house filled to the rafters with recommendations—almost 200 suggested topics spanning 34 categories," according to the agency.

EV Bus Manufacturer Reaches 1 Million Miles in Revenue Service

Proterra celebrates major milestone with event honoring transit agency partners as EV pioneers.