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department of energy

Innovation vs. Invention: NAATBatt White Paper Asks for Support of Distributed Energy Storage

February 25, 2012 by James Greenberger
with 666 views
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Photo by uhuru1701 via Flickr

As a recent corporate advertising campaign (by Dow Chemical) points out, there is a difference between invention and innovation. Getting the balance right between the two is a tricky thing. DOE support for new invention is important. Developing new technologies that might reduce the cost of high power advanced batteries from $750 per kilowatt hour to $100 per kilowatt hour, for example, would be helpful and potentially transformative in some storage applications (such as automotive). But it would be a serious mistake to believe that what is needed to solve the problem of bringing electricity storage to the grid is a new invention. In fact, the problem and its solutions are substantially more mundane. [read more]

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The Value of Government Involvement in Standards Development

February 1, 2012 by Dick DeBlasio
with 149 views
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Very early on, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized the direct, cause-and-effect linkages among consensus-based standards development, seamless interoperability across the interstate electricity grid and the historic, far-ranging potential benefits of the Smart Grid: By enabling two-way power flow and communications and control... [read more]

Document alert: Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the US

March 31, 2011 by Lou Grinzo
with 39 views
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The US Dept. of Energy has released their report Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2009. You can download the full report or individual chapters, as well as Excel spreadsheets with the tabular data, from the above link. From page 1: Total U.S. anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 were 5.8 percent... [read more]

EIA Predicts U.S. Emissions to Rise 6% by 2035

December 30, 2010 by Emily McGlynn
with 787 views
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EIA’s recently released preview of its Annual Energy Outlook 2011 showcases an updated reference scenario for US energy production and consumption through 2035.  The predictions highlight the complex relationship between the goals of energy independence and renewable deployment. Petroleum and natural gas are now... [read more]

DOE Completes $17 Million Loan Guarantee for New York Energy Storage System

December 23, 2010 by Mike Gregory
with 862 views
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a $17.1 million loan guarantee has been finalized for the AES Westover facility. The loan guarantee will support the construction of a 20 megawatt (MW) energy storage system using advanced lithium-ion batteries. The AES project, located in Johnson City, New York, will help provide a more stable... [read more]

DOE Finalizes $1.45 Billion Loan Guarantee for Arizona Solar Plant

December 21, 2010 by Mike Gregory
with 713 views
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U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a $1.45 billion loan guarantee has been finalized for Abengoa Solar Inc.'s Solana project, the world's largest parabolic trough concentrating solar plant. Located near Gila Bend, Arizona, the 250-megawatt (MW) project is the first large-scale solar plant in the United States capable of... [read more]

Putting the Cart Before the Horse with Nuclear R&D

December 16, 2010 by Dan O'Connor
with 792 views
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If the Senate receives the Nuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 2010 with the same enthusiasm that the House did in passing it in early December,  H.R. 5866 would be an assertive step toward a more lively U.S. nuclear industry. Senate support would mean renewed U.S. interest in jumpstarting the long dormant... [read more]

Natural Gas and The Gulf Hiatus

December 15, 2010 by Geoffrey Styles
with 463 views
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With so much attention focused on the boom in natural gas from new shale resources, we shouldn't lose sight of the importance of domestic offshore gas, mainly from the Gulf of Mexico. Although it has been declining for the last decade, offshore production still accounts for about 13% of US gas output. Before the Deepwater Horizon... [read more]

Money flows for nuclear energy

December 10, 2010 by Dan Yurman
with 1,973 views
1

Areva gets stake from sovereign wealth and House adds to loan guarantees Money is flowing to new nuclear projects. French state-owned nuclear giant Areva announced that Kuwait will take a 4.8% stake in the firm worth $795 million. The Wall Street Journal reported French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde made the announcement in Paris.... [read more]

Washington tries to think about nuclear energy

December 8, 2010 by Dan Yurman
with 1,419 views
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A top level summit draws a crowd, but did it accomplish anything? The period prior to the start of a new Congress, following a mid-term election, is ideal for interest groups of all persuasions to hold “summits” to get their ideas into the legislative mix. So it was for the nuclear energy industry which gathered under the umbrella of the... [read more]

Small reactors roll at Savannah River

October 28, 2010 by Dan Yurman
with 1,054 views
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GE-Hitachi inks deal to demonstrate PRISM technology. Former ANS President Tom Sanders, an expert on SMRs, will lead an energy park project. The Department of Energy lab at the Savannah River Site (SRS) has some exciting developments in the realm of small modular reactors (SMRs). It will be the new home of a project to demonstrate the... [read more]

Few bright spots in Calvert Cliffs future

October 18, 2010 by Dan Yurman
with 736 views
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EDF faces serious barriers to take over the project Mark Friday October 8th as a 'black Friday" because it may be one of the most significant reversals in the short history of the U.S. nuclear renaissance. Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG) startled the federal government and Electricite De France (EDF) by sending a fiery letter to the... [read more]

Your government at work

October 12, 2010 by Dan Yurman
with 736 views
1

Life goes on for the Department of Energy The Department of Energy woke up after a three-day slumber through the Columbus Day holiday and said it would try to bring Constellation back to the negotiating table for a loan guarantee for the $7.7 billion Calvert Cliffs III nuclear reactor.  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB),... [read more]

Department of Energy Offers Conditional Commitment for a Loan Guarantee to Support World's Largest Wind Project

October 12, 2010 by Mike Gregory
with 543 views
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U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a conditional commitment to provide a partial guarantee for a $1.3 billion loan in support of the world's largest wind farm to date. The loan will finance the Caithness Shepherds Flat wind project, an 845 megawatt wind-powered electrical generating facility located in eastern Oregon... [read more]

Constellation walks away from Calvert Cliffs

October 9, 2010 by Dan Yurman
with 969 views
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Utility blames feds for “unworkable” terms on loan guaranteeConstellation Energy (NYSE:CEG) sent a letter Friday 10/8 to the Department of Energy (DOE) “that it cannot move forward” with a loan guarantee for the Calvert Cliffs III nuclear reactor project. The Washington Post reported that Constellation told DOE the terms for the loan... [read more]