Increasing the nation’s natural gas power generation could be the first big step in reducing America’s dependence on fossil fuels in its electricity sector in the coming years. According to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the natural gas industry should start backing a price on carbon emissions, which would incentivize electricity generators [...]
Author Archives: Aaron Paulding
MIT Study Insists U.S. Gas Industry Should Support Carbon Pricing
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After 9-Year Battle, Federal Government Approves Cape Wind Project
Last month, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved the construction of the nation’s first offshore wind farm. He announced, “I am approving the Cape Wind project. This will be the first of many projects up and down the Atlantic coast.” On May 17, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ruled that the Cape Wind Project [...]
New York DEC Decision Raises Questions on Indian Point’s Future
Earlier this month, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) denied a water permit renewal to the Indian Point nuclear power plant, declaring that the plant’s method of drawing water to cool its towers violates the Clean Water Act. The DEC maintained that the plant’s water intake process destroys plankton, eggs and small [...]
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FERC Approves Google Energy as Power Marketer
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Google Energy, LLC permission to become a power marketer, allowing the company to purchase and resell electricity in wholesale markets. Google will have the authority to sell energy, capacity and ancillary services at market-based rates in the NYISO, PJM, ISONE, CAISO, and MISO markets. Google representative Niki Fenwick explained, [...]
Carbon Reporting Software Market Set for Explosive Growth
According to a recently published report by Groom Energy Research, the market for carbon reporting software, known as Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software, is expected to increase seven-fold by 2011 as more firms begin measuring and reporting on their carbon emissions. While these programs allow a company to input its direct emissions data, they also [...]
U.S. Energy Department Affirms Wind Power Potential
According to a study released by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, wind could produce 20% of the electricity required by households and businesses in the eastern U.S. by 2024, although this would require a $90 billion investment in the power grid. “We can bring more wind power online, but if we don’t have [...]
Getting Smarter - Smart Grid on the Rise
While the original electrical grid facilitated the industrial innovations of the 20th century, the smart grid will inspire the green advances of the 21st. “Without it, most of the other green technology won’t work,” says Ben Kortlang of KPCB, a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm. While technologies in fields such as communications and medicine have steadily [...]
EPA Implements Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Rule
As per the new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, facilities that produce in excess of 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year must begin to report their annual emissions to the EPA, effective January 1, 2010. Under this rule, only direct emissions occurring on the facility’s grounds are included in determining its total [...]
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Google Aims to Become Electricity Marketer
On Thursday, Google leapt forward into the energy industry in an effort to find reliable supplies of renewable energy for its power-hungry data centers. Google applied for approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to become an electricity marketer, which would give Google the authority to buy and sell bulk power at market [...]
Posted in Energy Sourcing, Renewable Energy 1 Comment
New York’s New Energy Conservation Incentive
In 2007, the New York State Public Service Commission decided to further its push to promote energy conservation by adopting a revenue decoupling scheme for utility billing. This program aims to incentivize customers to use less energy, while maintaining a consistent revenue stream for utilities by eliminating the correlation between revenues and sales volumes.
The [...]
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