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Mon, 2011-07-11 15:31 — mdmcdonald
This collaboratory is focused on discussions about Sustainable Energy.

This mission of this collaboratory is to focus on discussions about Sustainable Energy.

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Kathy Gilbeaux Katie Rast Maeryn Obley mdmcdonald
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sustainable-energy@m.resiliencesystem.org

H.R. 6, the Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act

Fri, 2014-04-18 11:53 — Maeryn Obley

energycommerce.house.gov - April 4th, 2014

In response to Russia’s recent aggression and DOE’s slow export approval process, Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced H.R. 6 to expedite exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) to our allies.

H.R. 6, the Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act, provides that all pending LNG export applications for which a notice has been published in the Federal Register as of March 6, 2014, will be granted without delay.

The legislation also modifies the standard of review for future export applications, shifting the benchmark from Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries to World Trade Organization (WTO) members.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Energy
Environment
Government
Policy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Biomass Electricity More Polluting Than Coal

Sat, 2014-04-05 20:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Trees, Trash, and Toxics: How Biomass Energy Has Become the New Coal (81 page .PDF report)

The report found that although wood-burning power plants are often promoted as being good for the climate and carbon neutral, the low efficiency of plants means that they emit almost 50 percent more CO2 than coal per unit of energy produced.

pfpi.net - by Partnership for Policy Integrity - April 2, 2014
ecowatch.com - April 4, 2014

Biomass electricity generation, a heavily subsidized form of “green” energy that relies primarily on the burning of wood, is more polluting and worse for the climate than coal, according to a new analysis of 88 pollution permits for biomass power plants in 25 states.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Pollution
Waste
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

Fracking in America Kills Off Clean Energy, Leading to Higher Emissions: EIA Report

Fri, 2014-03-28 16:04 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

vancouverobserver.com - by Barry Saxifrage - March 28, 2014

America's surge in cheap fracked gas is acting like a climate change Jekyll and Hyde. In the public eye, fracked gas is being applauded for replacing climate-dirtier coal burning. But behind the scenes, it is also an efficient killer of climate-safer energy projects.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Assumptions to the Annual Energy Outlook 2013

Report - Assumptions to the Annual Energy Outlook 2013 (210 page .PDF report)

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Wind Industry’s New Technologies Are Helping It Compete on Price

Wed, 2014-03-26 21:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Altaeros BAT V4, a turbine tethered to land, in a 2013 test at the former Loring Air Force Base in Maine. Altaeros Energies

nytimes.com - by Diane Cardwell - March 20, 2014

The wind industry has gone to great lengths over the years to snap up the best properties for its farms, often looking to remote swaths of prairie or distant mountain ridges to maximize energy production and minimize community opposition.

Now, it is reaching for the sky.

With new technology allowing developers to build taller machines spinning longer blades, the industry has been able to produce more power at lower cost by capturing the faster winds that blow at higher elevations.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil

Thu, 2014-03-13 23:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A BP cleanup crew shovels oil from a beach on May 24, 2010 at Port Fourchon, Louisiana (Getty/AFP/File, John Moore)

nytimes.com - by Clifford Krauss - March 13, 2014

HOUSTON — Four years after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, BP is being welcomed back to seek new oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

An agreement on Thursday with the Environmental Protection Agency lifts a 2012 ban that was imposed after the agency concluded that BP had not fully corrected problems that led to the well blowout in 2010 that killed 11 rig workers, spilled millions of gallons of oil and contaminated hundreds of miles of beaches. . .

. . . Under the agreement, BP will be allowed to bid for new leases as early as next Wednesday, but only as long as the company passes muster on ethics, corporate governance and safety procedures outlined by the agency.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
US - Gulf Coast
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Environment
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report
Other

Wind Energy Protects Water Security, Says Report

Thu, 2014-03-13 15:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

ewea.org
triplepundit.com - by Jan Lee - March 13, 2014

Just in time for World Water Day: The European Wind Energy Association has released a report examining the role that water plays in energy production. And the numbers are staggering.

According to the report, 44 percent of water usage in the European Union goes to energy production.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - EWEA Report - Saving Water with Wind Energy

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Water
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

U.S. Risks National Blackout From Small-Scale Attack

Wed, 2014-03-12 23:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Margery Schab

           

Federal Analysis Says Sabotage of Nine Key Substations Is Sufficient for Broad Outage

wsj.com - by Rebecca Smith - March 12, 2014

The U.S. could suffer a coast-to-coast blackout if saboteurs knocked out just nine of the country's 55,000 electric-transmission substations on a scorching summer day, according to a previously unreported federal analysis.

The study by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded that coordinated attacks in each of the nation's three separate electric systems could cause the entire power network to collapse, people familiar with the research said.

A small number of the country's substations play an outsize role in keeping power flowing across large regions.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

News Release - FERC Directs Development of Physical Security Standards

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Infrastructure
Security
Terrorism
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem
Situation Report

Market Forces Sap the Power from Electric Utilities

Wed, 2014-03-12 21:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

greenbiz.com - by John Finnigan - March 10, 2014

Two seemingly unrelated announcements drew much attention in the electric utility industry recently. First, the Edison Electric Institute, the trade group for the U.S. electric utility industry, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) jointly recommended (PDF) changing how utilities should be regulated. Second, Duke Energy announced it will sell 13 Midwest merchant power plants.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Situation Report

Study: It’s Cheaper to Shut Down Wind Turbine, Than to Pay for Energy Storage

Sat, 2014-03-08 21:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

       

A new study finds that it may be better for the environment to temporarily shut down a wind turbine than to store the surplus electricity it generates. (Credit: Flickr - FranceHouseHunt.com)

dailyfusion.net - by Mark Shwartz - September 11, 2013

Conventional grid-scale batteries are fine for solar farms, but technological improvements are needed for efficient storage of wind power, Stanford scientists say. Renewable energy holds the promise of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. But there are times when solar and wind farms generate more electricity than is needed by consumers. Storing that surplus energy in batteries for later use seems like an obvious solution, but a new study from Stanford University suggests that might not always be the case.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - STUDY - The energetic implications of curtailing versus storing solar- and wind-generated electricity

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Sustainable Development
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem

New Government Report Warns of Cascading System Failures Caused By Climate Change

Fri, 2014-03-07 18:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

         

submitted by Margery Schab

(PLEASE SEE LINKS TO REPORTS WITHIN THIS POST)

huffingtonpost.com - by Kate Sheppard - March 6, 2014

WASHINGTON -- From roads and bridges to power plants and gas pipelines, American infrastructure is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to a pair of government reports released Thursday.

The reports are technical documents supporting the National Climate Assessment, a major review compiled by 13 government agencies that the U.S. Global Change Research Program is expected to release in April. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory put together the reports, which warn that climate-fueled storms, flooding and droughts could cause "cascading system failures" unless there are changes made to minimize those effects.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Emergency Management
Energy
Infrastructure
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

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