October 10, 2010

The path to prosperity begins with electrification. To that end, the United Nations has established a goal of bringing power generation to the under-developed regions so that they can improve their quality of life.

The foundation of any economy is the ability to access reliable energy so that goods and services can be produced and then transported. While many developing countries have made great strides in the effort to electrify their economies, billions of people go without power -- or by using solid fuels such as wood to stay warm in the winter. Such substandard lifestyles not only erode upward mobility but they are also damaging to human health.

September 21, 2010

Natural gas holds the keys until green energy glimmers. With the potential to now access deposits once thought unattainable, producers are getting increasingly pumped.

While coal will continue to maintain its market share for power generation, natural gas is expected to gain more and more ground. That's because it emits about half of the greenhouse gases that some say are responsible for global warming. To that end, the abundance of shale gas - a type of natural gas -- is central to the mission.

September 24, 2010

When a gas pipeline in Northern California exploded last month and killed 7 people, it triggered an outcry for reform.

Before the accident in San Bruno, Calif., there were others and ones that had similar catastrophic results. That prompted the Bush administration to clamp down on pipeline companies, which had previously taken the position that increased oversight was intrusive. While Congress last dealt with the issue in 2006, the thinking now is that those rules have to once again be strengthened, largely because the rate at which inspections occur is too slow.

Septenber 16, 2010

The tsunami created by the 2008 financial meltdown is still reverberating. It's felt by the broader economy -- and even the electric sector.

But those in the energy field are fighting the notion that power companies and big banks follow the same mindset. Despite the restructuring process that has taken place since the middle 1990s, utilities are still closely monitored and their ability to control or manipulate markets is almost impossible.

September 21, 2010

France is leading the nuclear revolution right now. But it may also headline the nuclear fusion movement.

Fusion is responsible for powering the sun and stars. So, the goal is to imitate that process on earth, although it is extremely difficult and expected to take as much as 50 years to do.

Today's nuclear reactors use fission that produces energy when atoms are split apart. In contrast, fusion releases energy as atoms are combined -- a process that thus far consumes more energy than it generates. The aim is to heat hydrogen gas to more than 100 million degrees Celsius so that the atoms will fuse together instead of bouncing off one another. The end result of that fusion process is the production of 10 million times more power than a typical chemical reaction, such as the burning of fossil fuel.