energyPulse

Articles

1-10 of 330 items listed          First    Previous    Next    Last   

In the Head of Energy Secretary Chu

By Ferdinand E. Banks, Professor, , March, 08, 2011 - As most readers of this short paper probably know, Dr. Steven Chu is the energy secretary of the United States, a physicist, and a Nobel Laureate. Discovery Magazine, in its latest issue (2011), selected what it called the "100 Top Stories of 2010", one of which was authored by an editor of Discovery, and whose main purpose was to verify Dr. Chu's green credentials.  more...
Article Viewed 3490 Times  |  17 Comments

Past, present, future

By Duncan Sinclair, Director, Redpoint Energy, March, 25, 2010 - The credit crisis that has dominated the international agenda for the last year has been largely driven by systemic shocks to global financial markets, yet one of the biggest shocks to individual financial institutions came from within: the boards and senior management of many companies had failed to understand adequately their portfolio risk exposure and associated capital requirements. Across the financial industry, overreliance on quantitative measures to capture the risk associated with increasingly complex portfolios led to complacency over the source and size of underlying exposures. This left financial institutions vulnerable to extreme events or systemic shocks that had not been adequately accounted for by prevailing risk methodology. Failings in risk measurement also led to a widespread problem of undercapitalisation, a key factor in many company failures.  more...
Article Viewed 1120 Times  |  4 Comments

From Shovel Ready Projects to Sustainable Partnerships

By Roger Feldman, Counsel, Andrews Kurth LLP, December, 02, 2009 - The most important of all the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the "Stimulus Act" or "ARRA") initiatives could be the reformulation of the DoE Renewable Energy Loan Guarantee Program. This could be true not because of what facilities actually commence construction before the September 30, 2011, cut off established by ARRA, but because it could be the precursor of several new forms of public-private partnerships ("P3") for alternative/renewable energy and for cleantech. While difficult economic situations and their legislative fixes come and go, innovative ways of doing business take root and proliferate.  more...
Article Viewed 1578 Times  |  4 Comments

The American (Energy) Patient

By Ferdinand E. Banks, Professor, , October, 12, 2009 - I would like to begin by stating that while the subject of energy economics has still not attained its 'critical mass' where book-length literature is concerned, there are an increasing number of short, non-technical papers that everyone should attempt to read and understand. Where my energy economics students are concerned, I mean read and understand perfectly, especially if they prefer a passing to a failing grade.  more...
Article Viewed 1125 Times  |  24 Comments

Kyoto and the Stern Review of Climate Change

By Ferdinand E. Banks, Professor, , July, 20, 2009 - In preparing the new printing of my energy economics textbook, several widely publicized topics were deliberately omitted. One of these was the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. On several occasions I heard this document mentioned when I was visiting professor at the Asian Institute of Technology (Bangkok), which caused me to immediately make it clear that it was not to be discussed in my classroom in the course of what might be described as normal business.  more...
Article Viewed 1487 Times  |  141 Comments

Public Service Company of Colorado Advocates a Resource Selection Process that Places Ratepayers at Risk by Favoring Fossil-Fuel Resources Over Renewables

By Dr. Andy Bardwell, Founder, Bardwell Consulting Ltd., June, 19, 2009 - Abstract: Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo)'s 2003 resource selection process selected electrical generating resources that will cost ratepayers billions of dollars in avoidable costs. PSCo advocated the use of the same procedure in its 2007 resource plan.1 PSCo's assumptions for discount rate, fuel price escalation, and CO2 costs favor fossil-fuel over renewable resources. PSCo proposes fuel price forecasts that represent an average decrease of over 1% per year in real fuel costs for both natural gas and coal. In 2003 PSCo used a non-escalating $6 per ton cost of CO2, far lower than PSCo's 2007 proposed cost of $20 per ton starting in 2010, escalating at 7% per year.2 PSCo's low fuel and CO2 forecasts have failed to anticipate escalating costs, and fossil fuel forecasts will continue to to be extremely volatile. In conjunction with PSCo's high discount rate, these faulty assumptions select natural gas and coal-fired generation over wind and concentrating solar power resources. The results will be higher and more rapidly rising generating costs for ratepayers. Because renewable resources are more capital-intensive than fossil-fuel resources, and because PSCo's profits are largely tied to capital investments, PSCo's assumptions also select resources which produce lower profits for the company's shareholders.  more...
Article Viewed 1021 Times  |  2 Comments

US Energy Independence: Not Likely, Not Necessary

By Michael Beck, Managing Director, M.J. Beck Consulting, LLC, May, 08, 2009 - The U.S. goal of energy independence, typically defined as complete self-sufficiency for indigenous energy requirements, is an ill-conceived and unachievable objective. This holds for the foreseeable future and most likely beyond. A more realistic -- and achievable -- goal is to reduce and diversify energy dependence on any one fuel, geography, or technology. This route, of reducing and diversifying energy dependence, is also likely to pay more dividends in terms of the environment, the economy, and national security than the achievement of complete energy independence.  more...
Article Viewed 629 Times  |  12 Comments

Is Utility Construction the Silver Lining?

By Mark Bridgers, Principal, Continuum Advisory Group, April, 29, 2009 - The Look Ahead for the 2009-2010 U.S. Power Utility Construction Market  more...
Article Viewed 1000 Times  |  Be the first to comment on this article.

Smart Grids: How Smart?

By Mark Sardella, PE, Writer, Local Energy News, April, 13, 2009 - President Obama's stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, appropriates nearly $24 billion to modernize our country's electric power grid, including an $11 billion outlay to make it "smart". Those appropriations are stirring the hopes of renewable energy advocates, who foresee expanded opportunities for solar and wind technologies as well as a big, new role for plug-in electric and hybrid-electric vehicles.  more...
Article Viewed 764 Times  |  56 Comments

Energy Policies are Complex Energy Solutions Are Even More So -- The Pickens Plan --

By Andrew C. Givens, President, Cardinal Energy Service, Inc., March, 27, 2009 -

The energy market is extremely complex and crosses international boundaries. On the supply side there are many participants including sovereign nations that own and develop reserves; multinational integrated producers; regional and local fossil fuel developers, drillers, miners and producers; refiners and processors; transporters; local dealers and utilities. With regard to nuclear fuels there are issues about politics, the environment, and security as much as there is about fuel supply. Politics, weather, and public perceptions all impact the energy supply and price from each of these components.  more...
Article Viewed 617 Times  |  10 Comments

1-10 of 330 items listed          First    Previous    Next    Last   
 

White Papers:

 

Case Studies:

 

Receive Energy Central eNews & Updates






 

Demystifying Utility Analytics -- What it's all about, where it's going, and how to get started.

 Monday May 21, 2012 - 11:00 AM Eastern - Virtual Event

This webinar offers pragmatic advice for utilities that are considering data analytics investments; it shares insights from a utility that has been on the leading edge of the data analytics movement in power generation; and it discusses the opportunity to more...

Securing AMI at BC Hydro: The Benefits of a Multi-Layered Security Architecture

 Thursday May 31, 2012 - 12:00 PM Eastern - Virtual Event

Cyber security is one of the top concerns for utilities that are implementing a smart grid network solution. Consumer privacy and data integrity are critical. The good news is that industry leaders have established proven processes and procedures to mitigate more...

Smart Grid Analytics: All That Remains to be Ready is You

 Tuesday Jun 12, 2012 - 1:00 PM Eastern - Virtual Event

Join us for a live smart grid analytics discussing real life case studies for how analytics can change the speed of business today, allowing users to unleash their creativity and focus on what matters: data-driven insights that benefit the business. more...

New Challenges for Operating the Utility Enterprise

 Thursday Jun 21, 2012 - 12:00 PM Eastern - Virtual Event

Uncertainty haunts the United States utility industry: Natural-gas prices have plummeted, environmental regulations are throttling coal-fired power, and nuclear power's viability is being questioned in the wake of the Japanese nuclear disaster and the termination of the Yucca Mountain nuclear more...
All Webcasts »
 

Contribute Your Work

It's easy to contribute articles, article proposals, commentary and analysis and be published online through Energy Central!

Sound interesting? Contact the editor for more information.



Sponsored Content