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U.S. coal demand falls to lowest level since ’84

Fuel Fix | Posted on June 7, 2017

The U.S. power sector consumed 677 million short tons of coal last year, the lowest level since 1984, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.That was a 35 percent decline from 2008, when coal demand in the power sector hit its peak.The fall comes not only as natural gas, wind turbines and solar panels take on increasing shares of the U.S. power market but overall demand has leveled off amidst increasingly efficient homes and buildings and middling economic growth nationally.Coal prices fell to an average of less than $42 per ton last year, a 6 percent drop from 2015 and the second year in a row of decline.


Corn ethanol faces its limits under EPA fuel mandate

Washington Examiner | Posted on June 6, 2017

Corn ethanol has reached its official limit under the Environmental Protection Agency's renewable fuel program, which means other less-developed, low-carbon fuels will have to step up to fill a 21 billion-gallon gap by 2022.Depending on where you stand on the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard, the cap on corn can be a blessing, a challenge or a curse.Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, which was passed by Congress in 2007, refiners must blend 36 billion gallons of biofuels in the nation's gasoline and diesel fuel supply by 2022. Corn ethanol, the biggest component of the program, and other conventional biofuels are capped at 15 billion gallons beginning in 2017.That means the remaining 21 billion gallons must be met by advanced biofuels derived from everything from municipal waste to switch grass cellulose and even algae. But those fuels are falling short of the amount required to be blended as of this year, raising serious questions about the future of the program after 2022.Gasoline and diesel refiners say the gap will create a situation in which differing biofuel factions spar against one another over their share of the market.


As Trump touts coal while ditching the Paris accord, three more coal-fired plants shut

The Los Angeles Times | Posted on June 5, 2017

On the same day that President Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, environmentalists took consolation in the closure of three large coal-fired power plants — the kind often blamed as big contributors to climate change. The three plants, two in New Jersey and another in Massachusetts, are the latest in a national trend toward phasing out coal-fired power plants in the face of tighter regulations and competition from cheap natural gas.But in the end, industry officials said they had to close because they were no longer economically viable.“The sustained low prices of natural gas have put economic pressure on these plants for some time.


Former North Nashville landfill to transform into city's first solar program

Fox 17 | Posted on June 5, 2017

A former North Nashville landfill will now be the site of the city's first solar program. The Nashville Electric Service (NES) and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are partnering with the city and Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to launch the project dubbed Music City Solar.The two megawatt solar array will consist of 5,966 panels on 10 acres along I-65 on Old Due West Avenue.The project is expected to generate 2.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, the equivalent of the yearly energy needs for 210 homes.


Trump on Paris accord: 'We're getting out'

CNN | Posted on June 1, 2017

The decision amounts to a rebuttal of the worldwide effort to pressure Trump to remain a part of the agreement, which 195 nations signed onto. Foreign leaders, business executives and Trump's own daughter lobbied heavily for him to remain a part of the deal, but ultimately lost out to conservatives who claim the plan is bad for the United States."We're getting out. And we will start to renegotiate and we'll see if there's a better deal. If we can, great. If we can't, that's fine," he added.In triggering the official withdrawal procedures, Trump will spark a lengthy process that won't conclude until November 2020 -- the same month he's up for reelection, ensuring the issue becomes a major topic of debate in the next presidential contest. "The United States will cease all implementation of the nonbinding Paris accord," Trump said, saying it would include ending the implementation of carbon reduction targets set under Obama and ending contributions to the United Nations' Green Climate Fund.


The EPA just halted an Obama-era methane rule for oil and gas companies, 4 days before it would have taken effect

Business Insider | Posted on June 1, 2017

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday halted methane emission standards for oil and gas companies in its latest move to unwind Obama administration climate change rules, amid reports that the United States will withdraw from a global climate change agreement.The agency issued a 90-day stay of the 2016 New Source Performance Standards for the oil and gas industry, which require companies to capture fugitive emissions, obtain engineer certifications and install leak detention devices while it reconsiders the rule.The rule, completed last year under former President Barack Obama, was due to go into effect on June 3.The EPA said it expects to prepare a proposed rule and launch a public comment period after the stay.Environmental groups vowed on Wednesday to block the EPA move in court.


Proposals could make it easier for farmers to profit from manure bioenergy

Midwest Energy News | Posted on May 30, 2017

A pair of federal efforts could make it more profitable to turn organic waste from agriculture and other sources into energy by taking advantage of the Renewable Fuel Standard. One is a bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate that would create a 30 percent investment tax credit for qualifying biogas and nutrient-recovery systems. That would put renewable compressed natural gas on a similar footing with solar and wind energy.A separate approach, currently before the Environmental Protection Agency, aims to create a pathway that would pay biogas producers for providing power for electric vehicles.An energy consultant from Des Moines is one of several people in the U.S. trying to devise a record-keeping system that ultimately would pay biogas producers much more than they now earn for generating electricity.


Trump proposes selling Northwest's transmission grid

Oregon Live | Posted on May 30, 2017

Buried among the revenue-generating ideas in President Donald Trump's new budget proposal is a plan to sell off publicly owned transmission assets, including those operated by the Bonneville Power Administration.For public power companies – and really all utilities in the Northwest – the proposal will ring alarm bells and resurrect a debate about the control of assets that were built with federal dollars but paid for by local ratepayers.Bonneville operates three-quarters of the region's high-voltage transmission system, which it uses to market power from 31 hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin and wheel power around the Pacific Northwest and down to California.  The system spans 300,000 square miles, and includes more than 15,000 miles of lines and 299 substations that deliver electricity to some 12 million people. The agency provides transmission service to regional utilities, commercial customers and independent power producers, and it provides a slew of other services.


In the Pacific Northwest, Non-Wires Transmission Alternative ‘Reflects a Shift’ in Grid Planning

Green Tech Media | Posted on May 30, 2017

Can efficiency, demand response and distributed energy replace new power lines? The Bonneville Power Administration is finding out. The Bonneville Power Administration is taking its first step into “non-wires alternatives” for power grid investments -- not necessarily by choice, but certainly with a lot of preparation in advance. Last week, the federal agency that manages the Columbia River hydropower complex and power grid across the Pacific Northwest announced it has given up its nearly decade-long effort to build a new transmission line along the I-5 corridor. The project, which faced public opposition from the start, has also ballooned in cost from an initial estimate of $346 million to more than $1 billion. Instead, BPA will turn to non-wires alternatives -- demand-side resources like efficiency and demand response, as well as distributed energy such as rooftop solar -- as one of several parts of its replacement plan.   Non-wires alternatives are starting to take a role in distribution grid investment planning in states like California, New York and Hawaii. But Bonneville’s pilot project is taking the concept to the transmission system, or more specifically, a portion of stressed-out line between the cities of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, the most heavily populated part of the Columbia River basin. 


Colorado regulators seize the climate fight in landmark ruling on carbon costs

Utility Dive | Posted on May 30, 2017

Just as the federal government is hitting the brakes on climate change mitigation, a number of states are stepping up their efforts.State efforts to expand renewable energy through mandates and incentives are well known, as are attempts to save nuclear generation from early retirement through subsidies. But in the middle of the country, one state is taking climate mitigation a step further through integrating a price on carbon into utility planning processes.This spring, Colorado utility regulators issued a landmark decision requiring Xcel Energy to include the health and environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions in its integrated resource plans.


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