http://www.americaspower.org Get the latest news from America's Power via RSS en-US Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:02:16 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Progress-Energy-Coal-Plant-Said-To-Be-Among-Nation's-Cleanest <p> The <i>Register &amp; Bee</i> reported, &quot;Deep into the beauty of rural North Carolina and close to where boaters and swimmers are enjoying Hyco Lake, the future of clean coal energy can be seen at Progress Energy's Roxboro plant.&quot; Over seven years, workers have been installing &quot;four new 'scrubbers' to reduce the nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide levels emitted by the plant.&quot; The project &quot;cost $800 million and has made the 10th largest coal-fired power plant in the nation also one of the cleanest.&quot; </p> <p> <a href="http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/officials_celebrate_accomplishment_of_progress_energys_scrubbers/12221/" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:58:17 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Rep.-Ross-Sees-Clean-Coal-As-Better-Option-Than-Wind-Energy-For-Arkansas <p> The <i>Arkansas Times</i> reports Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) says Arkansas &quot;can't count on wind for large-scale energy production. Arkansas will get Clean Coal before it gets Big Wind, Ross believes.&quot; However, environmentalists say the state's &quot;wind potential has not been reliably measured, that it could be considerably greater than the standard studies show, and that in any case, the state must make the most of energy sources such as wind and solar because the burning of more coal would be intolerable.&quot; The Times highlights a local church's wind project, where wind provides about ten percent of the church's power needs. Yet Ross says &quot;instead of saying 'no coal,' we should embrace new technologies and find ways to clean coal up.&quot; </p> <p> <a href="http://http//www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=a83208ce-1d62-4c83-8663-6d6cb6aec1b7" target="_self">View Full Article </a> </p> Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:37:45 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Texas-firm-harnesses-carbon-dioxide-to-extract-oil-from-abandoned-fields <p> Denbury's pipeline is central to GNO Inc.'s vision of an energy future for Louisiana built on carbon capture and enhanced oil recovery. Denbury now mines carbon dioxide from the Jackson Dome, a reservoir deposited by an ancient volcano thousands of feet underground. Denbury bought the dome in 1999 from Shell Oil, which had hoped to find natural gas inside, and the company uses the carbon dioxide to bubble oil from fields that others have abandoned. Denbury already has a pipeline that transports carbon dioxide from Jackson, Miss., to Donaldsonville. This year, it started expanding the pipeline across Louisiana, the nation's second-largest industrial producer of carbon dioxide. The company plans to buy man-made carbon dioxide and inject it into oil fields it owns in Texas. </p> <p> <a href="http://blog.nola.com/tpmoney/2009/06/at_a_time_when_many.html" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:15:27 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Algae-Farm-Aims-to-Turn-Carbon-Dioxide-Into-Fuel <p> Dow Chemical and Algenol Biofuels, a start-up company, are set to announce Monday that they will build a demonstration plant that, if successful, would use algae to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol as a vehicle fuel or an ingredient in plastics. The process also produces oxygen, which could be used to burn coal in a power plant cleanly, said Paul Woods, chief executive of Algenol, which is based in Bonita Springs, Fla. The exhaust from such a plant would be mostly carbon dioxide, which could be reused to make more algae. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/business/energy-environment/29biofuel.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:13:00 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/West-Texas-power-projects-could-hold-the-key-to-carbon-emissions <p> Companies planning two potentially trailblazing coal-fired power plants in West Texas say their ventures could make the Lone Star State a leading international player in the development of workable clean-coal technology, thanks in part to financial incentives adopted by the Legislature this year and in 2007. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/1457169.html" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:46:32 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/$100M-Wyo.-research-plant-to-break-ground-in-2010 <p> State officials yesterday said construction of a $100 million research plant to look for low-emission ways to turn Wyoming coal into natural gas and other products will begin next year, with the goal of having the plant up and running by late 2012. Finding ways to burn coal cleaner is paramount for Wyoming, the nation's biggest coal producer. The state has invested $50 million into the research facility. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2009/06/24/14/" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:24:13 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/US-DOE-offers-$1.4-bil-for-carbon-capture-and-storage-projects <p> The US Department of Energy on Monday said it will make available more than $1.4-billion for projects that would advance technologies for capturing and storing carbon from a range of industrial facilities, including oil refineries, steel plants and power plants. To be eligible for funding, a project must show it can capture 75% of the CO2 from the smokestack and proposals must include an assessment of local geology that shows it is suitable for permanent carbon storage. Roughly 10 to 12 grants would be distributed under the program with DOE paying for between one half and 80% of the project, the agency said. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/6394682.xml?src=rssheadlines0" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:13:23 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Scientists-testing-Wyo.'s-sagebrush-as-a-CO2-remover <p> Federal scientists are studying the potential ecological effects of sequestering carbon dioxide in Wyoming's sagebrush. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Department of Agriculture -- along with the University of Wyoming -- are studying whether the ingestion of CO2 by sagebrush improves soil quality. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2009/06/01/news/wyoming/95468d5bdde73d8f872575c600211cb1.txt" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Wed, 27 May 2009 18:56:29 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/US-DOE-to-issue-three-CCS-requests-for-proposals-by-end-of-May <p> The US Department of Energy said Thursday it plans to speed up ways to capture carbon emissions from coal plants, sequester it, and even reuse it on a commercial scale by using $3.4 billion from its $40 billion in stimulus funding. In three Notices of Intent issued Thursday, DOE said it planned to issue three funding opportunities later in May -- one for its Clean Coal Power Initiative, another for carbon dioxide storage technologies, and another for sequestration technology training. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.platts.com/Coal/News/7877919.xml?src=Coalrssheadlines1" target="_self">View full article</a> </p> Wed, 27 May 2009 18:52:40 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Ala.-utility-plans-large-scale-storage-experiment <p> Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co., is planning to make its Mobile-area coal plant the nation's first large-scale attempt to capture carbon emissions and store them underground. Beginning in 2011, 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be injected 9,000 feet underground each year. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/124289737685970.xml&amp;coll=3" target="_self">View full article</a> </p> Wed, 27 May 2009 16:35:23 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Chrysler-submits-$448-million-electric-car-plan <p> Chrysler and its &quot;partners,&quot; plus the Department of Energy, would pay $224 million each should the proposals be approved and would include an investment of up to $83 million to build a new technology and manufacturing center in Michigan to help develop and assemble these vehicles. That complex should be functional by 2010 and produce more than 20,000 vehicles a year, Chrysler said. The plan would also include $365 million for a national demonstration fleet of more than 365 test vehicles for select customers and partners. &quot;This plan will accelerate our efforts to develop and manufacture electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which will reduce the amount of time it will take to get these vehicles on the road.&quot; </p> <p> <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE54P6VJ20090526?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=scienceNews" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Thu, 21 May 2009 16:15:32 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Wyo-models-CO2-pipeline-grid <p> With the prospect of a carbon-constrained regulatory environment around the corner, Wyoming is in the enviable position of having an existing commercial demand for carbon dioxide. On Tuesday, state energy officials rolled out a work-in-progress database, pointing out to CO2 stakeholders the potential for pipeline investment and collaboration. </p> <p> <a href="http://casperstartribune.net/articles/2009/05/19/news/wyoming/e33d1ffac9b38b9c872575bb00828117.txt" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Thu, 21 May 2009 16:10:56 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Coal,-biomass-fuel-combo-could-help-US-meet-demand-needs-report <p> Meeting US power and fuels needs through coal or biomass would not be competitive at the current prices for oil, but in combination, the two could produce a viable alternative fuel by 2020, according to a report the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science released Wednesday. Reaching that point, however, will take much research and significant investments, along with moving relatively quickly to develop the fuels and carbon dioxide capture and sequestration technology. Nevertheless, the study said that the combined fuel would cost more to produce than the current price of oil. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/6334875.xml?src=rssheadlines0" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Thu, 21 May 2009 16:07:46 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Carbon-capture-success-in-Wisconsin <p> Alstom Power and We Energies have released preliminary data on their carbon capture pilot project at Pleasant Prairie, Wisc. The pilot plant, set up to siphon the CO2 from a small stream of the total flue gas using chilled ammonia, not only captured most of the CO2, it captured it in a more than 99 percent pure form, according to Robert Hilton, vice president of power technologies and government affairs at Alstom, which is important for any future storage or industrial reuse.<br /><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=carbon-capture-success-in-wisconsin-2009-05-20" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Tue, 19 May 2009 19:04:04 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Taiwan-May-Start-Plan-to-Store-Carbon-Underground-Next-Year <p> Taiwan may start a pilot project next year to store carbon underground as the government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “We have the ability to do it, with the experience in exploration and production,” Kung said. Energy companies have injected carbon dioxide into oil wells to increase output, he said. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&amp;sid=a0zNJhjblEHo&amp;refer=environment" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Mon, 18 May 2009 16:16:19 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Well-project-tests-storage-of-carbon-dioxide <p> &quot;We don't have a choice,&quot; said Len Peters, secretary of the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. &quot;We have to do this for coal to be a part&quot; of the nation's energy mix. Peters participated yesterday in a media tour of one of Kentucky's first two deep carbon dioxide injection test wells, an $8 million project funded largely by the state, ConocoPhillips, Peabody Energy and E.On U.S., the parent of Louisville Gas &amp; Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090515/GREEN01/905150389/It%20s%20a%20test%20for%20carbon%20dioxide%20storage&amp;referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Fri, 15 May 2009 18:46:31 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Key-Dem-backs-Waxman-climate-bill <p> Waxman defended the use of coal Thursday. “We’re talking about a transition that would allow the use of coal, because we believe that coal is an important resource,” he said. “The problem is that we need to be able to use coal in a way that does no harm to our environment.” </p> <p> <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22529.html" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Fri, 15 May 2009 18:36:30 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/US-House-climate-bill-would-give-utilities-up-to-$100-bil-for-CCS <p> Boucher said the modified bill would make available $1 billion a year to fund the development and deployment of carbon sequestration and capture technologies at coal-fired power plants and would provide up to $100-billion-worth of &quot;bonus allowances&quot; to generators to encourage the deployment of CCS technologies. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.platts.com/Electric%20Power/News/6317803.xml?src=rssheadlines0" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Fri, 15 May 2009 18:33:02 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Ads-Target-Key-Votes-on-Climate-Bill <p> On Monday, a broad coalition of coal companies, electric utilities, railroads and manufacturers, dubbed the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, launched a new round of advertisements in local districts targeting 15 Democrats on the House committee. </p> <p> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124233900613221129.html" target="_self">View Full Article</a> </p> Mon, 11 May 2009 19:30:47 GMT http://www.americaspower.org/News/Mont.,-Saskatchewan-sign-carbon-capture-deal2 <p> Montana's governor and Saskatchewan's premier yesterday signed a deal to develop the first large-scale, government-financed initiative in North America to capture and store greenhouse gases from a a coal-fired power plant. </p> <p> <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MT_CLIMATE_PROJECT_UTOL-?SITE=CODEN&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT" target="_self">View full article</a> </p>