• As the Grid Adds Wind Power, Recovery from Blackouts Must Be Reengineered

    When the power grid goes down, there’s a step-by-step recovery process – a “blackstart” that up to now has depended on power from gas or hydro turbines spinning away inside a power plant. But what if we’re talking about a wind power plant?

  • Hydropower’s Future Is Clouded by Droughts, Floods and Climate Change – It’s Also Essential to the U.S. Electric Grid

    The United States has over 2,100 operational hydroelectric dams, with locations in nearly every state. They play essential roles in their regional power grids. But most were built in the past century under a different climate than they face today. As global temperatures rise and the climate continues to change, competition for water will increase, and the way hydropower supply is managed within regions and across the power grid in the U.S. will have to evolve.

  • AMLO's Lithium Grab and War on Green Energy Will Hurt North America

    Nationalizing Mexico’s lithium reserves and extending state control over electricity and energy will undermine the region’s prosperity and security.

  • Emerging Hydrogen Storage Technology to Increase Energy Resilience

    With the rise in renewable energy as well as increasing uncertainty associated with outages due to power surges and extreme weather events, energy storage plays a key role in ensuring reliable power supply to critical infrastructure such as healthcare facilities, data centers, and telecommunications. New study assesses cost competitiveness of metal-organic framework materials to store hydrogen for large-scale backup power applications.

  • The Future of Nuclear Waste: What’s the Plan and Can It Be Safe?

    The UK is planning to significantly expand its nuclear capability — from approximately 8 gigawatts (GW) today to 24GW by 2050, which would meet around 25% of the forecast UK energy demand — in an effort to decrease its reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels. New reactors will inevitably mean more radioactive waste. Above-ground nuclear waste storage isn’t a feasible long term plan. What are the alternatives?

  • Converting Solar Energy to Electricity on Demand

    Researchers behind an energy system that makes it possible to capture solar energy, store it for up to eighteen years and release it when and where it is needed have now taken the system a step further. After previously demonstrating how the energy can be extracted as heat, they have now succeeded in getting the system to produce electricity, by connecting it to a thermoelectric generator.

  • Europe Cooperates on Gas, as Russia Turns Off Taps to Poland, Bulgaria

    Russia has halted gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria, ramping up the pressure on all EU states to find alternative suppliers. Some are working on cutting Russian gas altogether, others have plans to share with neighbors.

  • Americans Move to More Solar and Wind Power in 2021

    In 2021, Americans used 5 percent more energy than in 2020. Solar and wind energy production increased drastically this past year, with jumps of 20 percent and 11 percent, respectively; biomass-derived energy also increased by 7 percent. These increases contrasted with hydro, geothermal and nuclear power, which decreased by 12 percent, 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

  • Harnessing Wave Energy

    Most wave energy devices only capture energy in one direction, such as an up-down motion, but waves have some movement in multiple directions.

  • Industrial Clusters Help Advance Energy Transition

    Industrial clusters as geographic areas that comprise co-located companies representing either a single or multiple industries. The proximity of multiple industrial energy consumers creates an opportunity to scale low-carbon technologies through multi-stakeholder collaboration and can yield sizeable economic opportunities.

  • China’s Dominance of Electric Vehicle Supply Chains Jeopardize U.S. Energy Transition

    While Russia holds significant leverage in influencing oil and gas prices, it pales in comparison to China’s position in several strategic industries critical to the energy transition. A case study shows China’s ‘soft power’ in move to cleaner alternatives.

  • Can Africa Satisfy Europe's Energy Demand?

    As the war in Ukraine rages on, the European Union is desperately searching for alternative energy sources. Africa has abundant reserves, but experts say the continent’s energy sector needs urgent reforms and help.

  • Germany: €3 Billion for Floating LNG Terminals

    Berlin plans to lease four liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to wean itself off Russian gas. The decision comes as the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline now sits unused at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

  • Global Natural Gas Demand Set to Decline in 2022 as Russia’s War Disrupts Markets, Economies

    The world’s demand for natural gas is set to decline slightly in 2022 as a result of higher prices and market disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The downward revision to the IEA’s earlier forecast amounts to 50 billion cubic meters, the equivalent of about half of last year’s US liquefied natural gas exports.

  • You've Heard of Water Droughts. Could “Energy” Droughts Be Next?

    In a new modeling study, researchers show how widely wind and solar potential vary by season and year, suggesting that backup energy sources may be needed as the world shifts to renewables to bring carbon emissions to zero.