Hydro Power

hydropower in China

Reuters reports that China’s environmental ministry has okayed the construction of a new hydroelectric dam on the Dadu River in the Sichuan province, which when completed will be the country’s largest.[read more]

Belo Monte controversies continue

The latest installment of the saga has been the expulsion of journalists from the site where they would cover the latest protest by indigenous activists who have brought the building of the dam to a halt.[read more]

rendering of Belo Monte Dam

Large hydropower projects are the bedrock of clean energy production, by virtue of their sheer size and reliance upon natural rainfall. But climate change's effects on rain patterns could affect new hydropower projects.[read more]

clean energy for NYC?

The pipeline will transfer one gigawatt, or 1000 megawatts, across the border to assist in providing electricity for the Big Apple. This project represents a sizable 10% increase in electric capacity for the New York City region.[read more]

pumped storage

This is an out-of-the-box idea for a massive energy storage scheme, the largest potential pumped storage opportunity anywhere in North America: the Lake Erie/Lake Ontario System.[read more]

Niagra Tunnel

The Niagara Tunnel, a massive 41-foot wide, 6.3-mile long tunnel that’s 460 feet below the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario, made its official debut last Thursday. The project is nearly ten years in the making.[read more]

China’s new Premier, Li Keqiang

In his first speech as China’s new Premier, Li Keqiang spoke of putting environmental protection ahead of economic growth, and even encouraged both media and the public to hold him accountable.[read more]

Canadian Hydropower

Canadian hydropower has contributed to America’s clean energy economy, and has the potential to provide our nation with more clean energy. How can Canada and the United States strengthen this relationship?[read more]

Wave Energy via Shutterstock

While going for a stroll along the seaside, many enjoy the magnificent sight of waves hitting the shore. Few will realize the unique opportunity to visualize the enormous amount of energy that waves carry. Is this the next big source of renewable energy?[read more]

JNT Visual/Shutterstock

Ireland’s long-term plan is to reduce its dependence on imported gas for producing energy. As wind speeds in Ireland are among the best in Europe, it has built about 2,000 MW (end of March 2012) of wind turbines during the past 10 years to supply energy to the Irish grid which uses gas turbine plants to balance the wind energy. Very...[read more]

Igor Petrov/Shutterstock

Many different stakeholders have strongly supported the development and expansion of renewable power supply within the U.S. for many years. After 25 years of government and private support how much progress has actually been made towards replacing fossil fuels and nuclear power supply with renewable power sources? The answer may be surprising.[read more]

From time to time a promoter of wind power will encourage the U.S. to follow Denmark’s lead and aim for a much higher levels of wind power on the grid. (Recently Denmark’s legislature established a goal of attaining 50 percent of its energy from wind power by 2020.)A working paper by Johannes Mauritzen explains one of the key factors...[read more]

Scientists and energy industry visionaries have been talking about hydrogen fuel cells as a potential source of clean energy for years. Around 2008, a team of Swiss engineers decided to stop talking and start doing. The result was a small hydrogen-powered street-cleaning vehicle called the “CityCat H2″ that began trials in on the streets of Basel in 2009.[read more]

Wind and biomass dominate projected increases in U.S. renewable electricity generation, excluding hydropower, in EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (AEO2012) Early Release Reference case. Increased generation from non-hydro renewable energy resources in the electric power sector accounts for 33 percent of the overall growth in...[read more]

Reports on new funding by the DOE and the Department of Interior for various advanced hydro projects, including sustainable run of the river hydro and pumped storage as well. The announced $17 million in funding over the next three years is targeted for research and development projects to advance hydropower technology. When people think...[read more]