October 23, 2009

The gleaming, metallic gray Schwarze Pumpe coal-generating complex rises in eastern Germany, not far from the Polish border. At the facility, Vattenfall is now running one of the most advanced efforts in the world to capture carbon for long-term storage.

The project is relatively small in scope. A visitor can circle the equipment in a 5-minute stroll. But the national and economic stakes are huge. There is now a growing consensus that the future of the global economy, the energy sector and the environment will in large part depend on whether an affordable way can be found to capture and sequester carbon dioxide, which is created as coal is burned. At stake, some estimate, will be tens of trillions of dollars.

October 20, 2009

Cooler temperatures, gray skies and even the raindrops could not dampen the high spirits and enthusiasm of the 100 Lowell elementary students.  The essays and drawings were wonderful.  The smiling faces of students, school faculty, community members, and parents added to the wonder of the day.

October 21, 2009

Spent nuclear fuel may not have a permanent storage site. But that does not mean the energy form is dead. Far from it -- particularly because the used fuel can be reprocessed.

The issue is now under consideration by the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. While the concept has its foes who argue that it is expensive and a recipe for disaster, others say that it would help solve the long-term problem of where to store spent fuel. Reprocessing, now prevalent in France and Japan, separates the uranium and the plutonium from the rest of the nuclear waste. Nuclear operators would then be able to get between 20 percent and 30 percent more use from the uranium.

October 19, 2009

At age 70, Bluebonnet could choose to settle in as a stodgy, creaky electric cooperative intent on clinging to its heydays of the past. Not quite.

Indeed, the deft decision-makers at the Bastrop, Texas co-op are arguably ahead of the utility pack in pursuit of their version of the smart grid. CEO Mark Rose elaborates on his unique vision for the progressive co-op in a compact and eloquent document titled "The Sustainable Grid." Defining characteristics cover everything from lowering the co-op's carbon footprint to embracing the latest technology.

October 16, 2009

From smart meter pilot programs to plans for electric vehicle charging stations, utilities are moving from concept to reality as the ways in which electricity is used and delivered is radically altered in the early 21st Century.

Northeast Utilities, based in Hartford, Connecticut, is venturing into both directions with perhaps the largest smart meter pilot program in the United States and with preliminary plans to develop charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles. The smart meter pilot is for Connecticut Light & Power Company (CL&P) customers. The vehicle charging venture is proposed for CL&P and Northeast's Massachusetts subsidiary, Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO).