June 5, 2009 

According to Whole Foods and Safeway, solar companies need to up their knowledge of potential solar customers. Hara Software must have had that information when it pitched to Coca-Cola. Solar companies shouldn't lose hope – even First Solar started out as a small fry.

June 05, 2009

Summer weather will soon arrive. But the demand for power this year will be less than usual. And while the economic slump will hit power producers, they are expected in the near future to crank back up.

That's why policymakers along with industry officials are touting a regional transmission system that can span across state lines. Many systems are overburdened and are therefore putting reliability at risk. More capacity is needed to shore up the system. Investment in new modern networks would not only alleviate the congestion but it would also promote the intelligent use of electricity by allowing two-way communications between utilities and their customers as well as allow access to more alternative energies.

May 22, 2009

Demand for enriched uranium is escalating. Three facilities in the works will help fill a gap that will hit in 2013, when an agreement with Russia to supply the material for U.S. nuclear power plants expires.

The nation's existing fleet of 104 reactors must find alternative sources of uranium. Recently, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had 27 applications for new ones. Some of those could come online as early as 2015, and the companies must line up their supplies well in advance, said John Donelson, vice president of marketing and sales for USEC, which is building a massive enrichment plant using new gas-centrifuge technology in Piketon, Ohio.

May 20, 2009

Russia, the biggest country in the World by area and the fourth-biggest by installed electricity generating capacity, is nearing a significant milestone. By next year -- unless the global recession continues to dampen demand -- it should again reach the level of electricity consumption it had in 1990, all of 20 years ago.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition from Communism hit the entire Russian economy. In a sense, the subsequent decline in demand was a good thing, because years of inadequate investment had left the Russian power industry with aging and inefficient plants. But as the economy has grown in recent years, and particularly as it surged on the back of skyrocketing prices for oil and gas, the lack of investment in power has become a hindrance. Russia has the world's largest reserves of natural gas and eighth-largest oil reserves.

May 06, 2009

If green energy is to launch the nation into a new economic realm, then modern technologies and skilled engineers must be the catalyst. But a flood of retirements may thwart that promise, prompting industry, academia and government to collaborate and offer tangible ways to ensure progress.

President Obama's rise has also energized the utility sector and given it an opportunity to help pivot the nation into economic recovery. Indeed, the emphasis on reducing carbon emissions and the greening of corporate America is leading to the research and development of alternative generation and the intelligent utility that offers two-way communications between providers and their customers. And while that may spark interests in power engineering, the fear is that the overall effort may be insufficient.