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Waste-to-Hydrogen Project Set for California

June 30, 2020

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A California company that produces renewable hydrogen has joined with a Louisiana construction group on a project to build a modular waste-to-hydrogen production facility.

Ways2H, based in Long Beach, California, and Ford, Bacon & Davis, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based engineering, procurement, and construction firm, on June 30 announced a joint effort to design and build a California facility by the end of 2020, “with a pipeline of additional projects to follow in 2021.”

The companies on Tuesday said the California project will be the first U.S. modular waste-to-hydrogen production facility; Ways2H also has a project underway in Japan. The companies said they will produce renewable hydrogen fuel for the power generation and transportation sectors, while offering alternative disposal options for waste processing and waste disposal companies.

The California Energy Commission in a June report said a lack of existing renewable hydrogen production is creating a gap with fast-growing demand for the fuel.…

$122 Million Earmarked for Coal ‘Innovation Centers’

June 28, 2020

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Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is ready to make about $ 122 million available to establish what the DOE calls “innovation centers” for coal. Brouillette and the DOE on June 26 said these centers will focus on the manufacturing of value-added, carbon-based products from coal. The facilities also would work on developing new methods to extract and process rare earth elements and critical minerals from the fuel.

“It’s vitally important that America develop a viable domestic supply of rare earth elements, critical minerals, and other valuable products from our vast coal resources,” said Brouillette on Friday, as he toured a Pennsylvania coal mine operated by Consol Energy. “This effort moves us closer to that goal. The Trump administration has been aggressively investing in research and development for novel uses of coal that have the potential to create new markets for coal and coal byproducts.…

Pennsylvania Site Latest Gas Plant Online in Building Surge

June 26, 2020

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Gas-fired power generation in the U.S. remains the top source of electricity production, even as renewable energy continues to take market share. A POWER analysis of projects shows nearly 180 gas-fired units are either under construction or in development nationwide, with more than 2,000 gas-fired plants currently in operation.

One of the most-recent plants to come online is the $ 863 million, 1,000-MW Hickory Run Energy Center (Figure 1) near New Castle, Pennsylvania, northwest of Pittsburgh. The project’s developers, including Kansas-based Tyr Energy, a subsidiary of Japan’s ITOCHU Corp.; Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO); and Siemens Financial Services, in mid-June publicly announced that the plant began commercial operations in mid-May.

“We’ve been going pretty steadily. It’s in the market and producing electricity much of the time. This is an efficient unit. So we expect it to stay operational most of the time,” Brock Shealy, vice president of Hickory Run LLC and chief administrative officer of Tyr Energy, said in a statement.…

Big Data: The New Age of ‘Fortune Telling’ Requires Human Collaboration More Than Ever

June 24, 2020

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Ancient Chinese fortune tellers used heated metal pokers to create cracks in bones or empty turtle shells. By reading the patterns in the cracks, they attempted to calm the unease that comes with the innate uncertainty of the world—especially the ancient world. They predicted the future and doled out advice that affected the fate and fortunes of states and their people.

Thousands of years have passed since the earliest fortunes were told, but despite scientific and technological advances, the uncertainty that underpinned ancient fortune telling is, stubbornly, still with us. In 2020, sophisticated modern analytics have raised the bar on predictive precision, but they have not removed (or even reduced) risk and uncertainty from our decision-making. Just like with cracks, people don’t trust the algorithms and technical solutions to make decisions on their own. There needs to be room for the human who reads the cracks.…

Judge Approves PG&E Bankruptcy Exit

June 22, 2020

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A federal judge in California has approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to exit bankruptcy, clearing the way for the utility to compensate victims of a series of wildfires in the state that left more than 100 people dead in 2017 and 2018.

The action by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali on June 20 authorized $ 13.5 billion in compensation for more than 70,000 businesses and homeowners for losses sustained during the fires, which officials said were started by PG&E’s equipment. The company will emerge from bankruptcy with about $ 40 billion in debt, after agreeing to settle claims from people, insurers, and local government agencies for $ 25.5 billion.

Montali’s approval also will allow PG&E to take part in a $ 20 billion state fund established by lawmakers, designed to help utilities operating in the state cover liabilities from future wildfires attributed to their transmission lines and other equipment. …

Analysis Supports Coal-Like Fuel for Power Plants

June 20, 2020

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A British company that manufactures a fuel that it says mimics coal said it “has received a significant endorsement” for the use of its product in the power generation sector. An analysis by Uniper Technologies said Helvellyn Group’s alternative fuel, known as SERF, “is technically suitable for use in large scale thermal power plants in a blend, and potentially up to full substitution, with little or no capital outlay and delivering a net reduction in operating costs.”

Research has been done for years on finding substitutes with similar characteristics for coal, specifically metallurgical or coking coal, which is used in steelmaking. Research and development also has focused on woody biomass, with projects aimed at transforming the product into dense, compact forms that have low ash content to minimize the risk of fire, and that can be easily transported, are water-repellent, and can be stored outdoors for long periods.…