Advanced Energy Perspectives

This week, the press was abuzz with planes, trains, and automobiles – well, not planes, but definitely the others. On Monday, construction began on a much-anticipated high-speed rail line in California. In Las Vegas, self-driving and fuel cell vehicles dominated the Consumer Electronics Show. But the news this week on offshore wind was not so good, as the developer of Cape Wind got his contracts pulled out from under him. 

The California high-speed rail project groundbreaking ceremony, in Fresno, comes six years after the voters passed a bond act to provide initial funding for the project. Once complete, the rail line will connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, allowing for a three-hour commute between the Golden State’s two big cities. All aboard!

Earlier this week, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was sworn in as the Senate’s new majority leader, replacing Harry Reid (D-NV), who took his new post as the Senate Minority Leader. Republicans now control both bodies of Congress, and will challenge many of the actions from the executive branch. What should we expect from the 114^th Congress?

Everybody has seen the old Schoolhouse Rock “I’m Just a Bill” video, but we all know the legislative process is even more complicated, and could get more so. When in the minority last year, and unable to offer amendments or modify legislation, Senate Republicans decried the lack of adherence to the traditional legislative process, or “regular order.” Incoming Leader McConnell has pledged to return to an open process, by which committees author legislation under the direction of committee chairs and then the full Senate is able to amend at well. Still, it remains unclear how long McConnell will be able to maintain this process – it allows Senate Democrats to demand votes that put Republicans in difficult political positions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Earlier this year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

Marine power technologies generate electricity from the kinetic energy contained in moving water, including waves, currents, and tides. Wave power works by harnessing the fluctuations in wave height to generate electricity, for example, with a buoy tethered to the sea floor. As the buoy moves up and down with the waves the relative motion between it and the part that is fixed to the sea floor can be captured to drive a generator.

After the comment period closed on December 1, the stats were in: EPA received more than 1.6 million comments on the Clean Power Plan from individuals, organizations, and state regulatory bodies. By one estimate it would take 71 people working eight hours a day from now until June to read them all. But don't worry—our Carbon Policy Analysts identified the top comments and plowed through them. This is the second of five blog posts presenting AEE’s summary of and take on comments from a few key stakeholders: federal and state regulatory organizations, states, ISO/RTOs, utilities, and industry and environmental groups. This post covers comments from state utility commissions (PUCs and PSCs), air regulators (DEQs and DEPs), and lawmakers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Earlier this year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

A hydroelectric power plant uses turbines and generators to convert the kinetic energy of moving water into electricity. There are three major types of hydroelectric power plants: impoundment, diversion (run-of-river), and pumped storage facilities. An impoundment facility uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir, which it then releases through a turbine to generate electricity. The height differential (“hydraulic head”) between the reservoir surface and the turbine outlet is what provides the energy for power generation. The Hoover Dam is a classic example. A diversion facility takes advantage of natural elevation changes along a river. Run-of-river plants tend to be smaller than impoundment plants, and low-impact, with diverted streams powering turbines before returning downstream. Niagara Falls is an exception, with the Moses Niagara Power Plant and the Lewiston Pump Generating Plant together supplying 2.4 GW of hydro capacity. A pumped storage facility pumps water from a lower to an upper reservoir when electricity demand is low and releases the water back into the lower reservoir to generate electricity when demand is high. It is a form of bulk energy storage. In addition to these three major hydro variants, there is a niche application called in-conduit hydropower. Conduit projects use water supply infrastructure such as tunnels, irrigation canals, and pipelines and outfit them with mini turbines and generating equipment.