March 19, 2008

The American economy may be in or near recession. But certain elements of the energy economy are poised to take off. Demand response technologies that allow grid operators to curtail electricity use during peak periods is one of those segments.

The sector is now in its early stages. But with the overall emphasis on energy conservation and air quality, the market for demand response is developing at a fast pace and a lot of players want to participate in that expected growth. The jockeying for position is well underway, with smaller privately-held enterprises trying to occupy market share along with better-established businesses such as General Electric, Comverge and EnerNOC.

March 14, 2008

No one ever said that the re-emergence of nuclear power would take the fast lane. The road, in fact, is filled with potholes that include some high profile deferments and ever-increasing capital costs.

Despite the delays, the long-term underlying fundamentals are favorable to the nuclear industry. Newer reactor designs are not only considered to be even more productive but also to have safety redundancies to give communities greater assurances. Emissions from nuclear energy, meantime, are negligible when compared to fossil fuels -- an important factor if one considers that regulatory pressures to limit greenhouse gases that cause global warming will only intensify.

March 5, 2008

When power outages spread 300 miles across Florida, dark visions occurred. It all seemed reminiscent of the 2003 blackout that left 50 million people in the United States and Canada without electricity -- a scenario that undoubtedly could occur again.

Utility planners have long warned that the nation's power infrastructure is not only stretched thin but also that is running on outdated technologies. Given the projected rise in electricity demand, the nation is still short generation and transmission. Improvements, no doubt, have occurred in some regions, but in others the problems are real and will ripple through their local economies.

February 22, 2008

The clean coal facility to be co-sponsored by the federal government and private enterprise may turn to dust. The plant, dubbed FutureGen, has been scrapped for now in favor of building smaller coal gasification units around the country that could minimize harmful pollutants and capture and bury carbon dioxide emissions.

The decision dismays those who say that FutureGen is further along than other coal gasification facilities that promise to be non-polluting. Those proponents say that they will first try and work with the U.S. Department of Energy to assure that the plant is built in Mattoon, Ill. But if the differences cannot be resolved, then they plan to ask Congress to force the agency's hand.

January 30, 2008

Oil companies have struck a potentially rich vein with respect to stranded national gas reserves. They no longer need to flare it. They can now bring it to market in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

But a central question is whether the oil companies and the host nations trust each other enough to allow this development to occur. Dissension from locals who fear being ripped off by Western capitalists is high. But the oil companies say that they work hard to fulfill their social compact while still honoring their investors.