This year was a big year for solar, both domestically and globally, with some unlikely players throwing their hats into the ring and upping the ante on achievable power generating capacity. Here’s […]
How About 99.9 Percent Renewables?
Combinations of onshore wind, offshore wind, and photovoltaic solar, paired with battery and hydrogen storage in a widespread grid system, could meet 90 percent to 99.9 percent of expected 2030 demand at […]
Uprates can increase U.S. nuclear capacity substantially without building new reactors
Currently (as of July 2012), there are 104 commercial nuclear reactors in the United States. In 2011, these plants provided 786 billion kilowatthours of electricity, or nearly one-fifth of total generation. The […]
Perverse Economics of the Electric Grid: As Generation Gets Cheaper, Transmission Costs Soar
Electrons are cheap – at least electrons are cheap to create. Until recently, it was also cheap to deliver electrons from power plants to customers. That is no longer the case. The […]
New Study: Concentrating Solar With Storage Can Benefit the Grid : Greentech Media
The evidence is piling up that when the real value of energy is considered, electricity generated from concentrating solar power (CSP) plants with storage capability outperforms solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power. […]
Cost of combating climate change surges as world delays – study
An agreement by almost 200 nations to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 will be far more costly than taking action now to tackle climate change, according to research published on […]
Electric generator dispatch depends on system demand and the relative cost of operation
The variable operating cost of electric power generators is a key factor in determining which units a power system operates (or “dispatches”) to meet the demand for electricity. Other things being equal, […]
Do Utilities Know the Real Value of Solar?
CSP Alliance Executive Director Tex Wilkins believes that if utilities and other load-serving entities (LSEs) saw the value in owning CSP plants with storage, it would grow competition and economies of scale […]
In Fields and Markets, Guatemalans Feel Squeeze of Biofuel Demand
In the tiny tortillerias of this city, people complain ceaselessly about the high price of corn. Just three years ago, one quetzal — about 15 cents — bought eight tortillas; today it […]
Monthly coal- and natural gas-fired generation equal for first time in April 2012
Recently published (April 2012) electric power data show that, for the first time since EIA began collecting the data, generation from natural gas-fired plants is virtually equal to generation from coal-fired plants, […]
Prometheus Institute 