November 8th, 2018

The Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy has supported the development and application of solid oxide fuel cells for nearly two decades.  The first half of this presentation briefly traces the history of fuel cells, discusses some of the technical aspects of solid oxide fuel cells, and describes their advantages and disadvantages.  The second half describes the solid oxide fuel cell program as implemented by the Office of Fossil Energy which includes a brief description of some of the projects supported by the Department and some insights on the routes t

October 31st, 2018

USEA is pleased to sponsor a panel on one of the hottest topics in the electric power industry – resilience of the power grid.  Resilience is generally defined as increasing the ability of the power system to prevent or mitigate the impact of unusual – in particular catastrophic – events (e.g., storms, fires, earthquakes, cyber and physical attacks).

October 5th, 2018

Please join USEA for an overview of efforts to incorporate distributed energy resources (DER) onto Colombia's electricity grid. XM, Colombia's system operator, will discuss their recent efforts, future steps, and some ideas gleaned from recent visits to U.S. system operators. By 2023, 2.4 GW of DER will be connected to the Colombian electric system, in addition to distributed residential generation, which will likely grow substantially.

September 6th, 2018

On August 21, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule pursuant to section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) that would establish emission guidelines for states to develop plans to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing fossil-fired power plants.

September 25th, 2018

Howard Herzog will give an overview of the current state of technology and policy related to Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) and cover seven aspects of CCS:  (1) the role of CCS in addressing the climate change challenge, (2) a summary of large CCS projects in operation, (3) the current status and future directions for capture technology, (4) the current status and future directions for storage technology, (5) how to view negative emissions, (6) the policies and politics around CCS, and (7) what the future may hold.  The material for this talk is taken fr

August 9th, 2018

In this presentation, opportunities for using coal as a precursor for value-added products will be reviewed. Research needs and priority research directions for enabling the development of energy-efficient and cost-effective processes for refining coal into precursors for manufacturing products, such as mesoporous and activated carbon, metallurgical coal, carbon fibers, electrodes for energy storage devices, electronic devices, materials for thermal management, construction materials, etc., will also be reviewed.

August 29th, 2018

This presentation will summarize the high level results of the 2018 US Energy and Employment Report (USEER) in four key sectors of the American economy--Electric Power Generation and Fuels Production; Transmission, Distribution, and Storage; Energy Efficiency; and the Motor Vehicles Industry.  In addition to providing job numbers in emerging technologies, such as renewables, energy storage, and smart grid, the USEER analysis reveals the large number of direct employment that has gone uncounted in traditional energy sect

August 7th, 2018

Global Thermostat’s patented breakthrough technology removes CO₂ from various sources utilizing readily available, low-cost process heat. That CO₂ is then used profitably in multiple industrial processes, meeting the needs of a > $1 Trillion annual market. With its great flexibility and scalable implementations, GT plants can be of any size and can stand alone, or be integrated with: legacy coal power plants; renewable energy plants; and manufacturing facilities.

July 24th, 2018

The region of West Africa is home to diverse sources of energy, including hydropower and wind power, and over 350 million residents who depend upon a consistent energy supply for a growing population. Fortunately, a strategic business plan has been developed by the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) to effectively address these needs and ensure that the investment program is effective and relevant.

July 26th, 2018

Photo Courtesy of NET Power and McDermott

NET Power is commercializing a novel power system that produces emissions-free electricity from natural gas for the same cost as conventional power plants. The system, which uses the supercritical CO₂ Allam Cycle, is currently being demonstrated at a 50MWth power plant in La Porte, Texas, that is now in operation. A review of the technology will be provided, and an update will be given on the status of demonstration plant testing and operations, as well as commercial facility development.