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Keeping Coal Relevant: University of Wyoming Leads the Way

May 6, 2022

To say the coal industry faces challenges is an understatement. Coal-fired power plants are being retired around the globe as efforts to decarbonize the world’s power supply have intensified due to climate change concerns. That’s a problem for people working in the coal industry, as well as for states and governments that rely on coal revenue to fuel their economies.

Wyoming is one of those states. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Wyoming produced more than 239 million tons of coal in 2021. That’s more than three times the amount produced in West Virginia, the second-largest coal producing state in the U.S.

“Wyoming is the energy state,” Scott Quillinan, senior director of research for the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. “Our mission here at the School of Energy Resources is energy-driven economic development for the state of Wyoming. … We support the energy industry here through academic programs, research programs, and outreach and engagement.”…

Wheeler: Keeping U.S. Coal Sector Alive Will Benefit ‘International Environmental Protection’

June 29, 2019

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Coal power, which has seen a marked decline in the U.S., is necessary for reliability and energy affordability, and sustaining it could boost pollution technology exports and “improve lives while driving down emissions worldwide,” said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a speech last week.

Wheeler made the remarks at a 90-minute event that the EPA held on June 19 to rationalize why the final Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule is a better option than the Obama administration’s landmark Clean Power Plan. The event, which was streamed live, also featured a long list of speakers from the coal industry and pro-coal states, with coal miners and other stakeholders in the audience.

Like the Clean Power Plan,the ACE rule will regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs), and it will be founded firmly on the agency’s 2009 Endangerment Finding. However, the ACE rule focuses on the nation’s 600 coal-fired units and gives states leeway on deciding how they will meet “emission guidelines” stipulated in the rule.…

The POWER Interview – Keeping Nuclear Power Viable

April 23, 2019

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Nuclear power in the U.S. and globally has battled headwinds in recent years, and not just from the growth of other power generation resources such as solar, wind, and natural gas.

Problems in the U.S. nuclear sector, such as construction delays and cost overruns at the Vogtle site in Georgia, the cancellation of the V.C. Summer project in South Carolina, and continued debate about where to store nuclear waste—not to mention the retirement or scheduled closures of several iconic U.S. nuclear plants—have dogged the industry.

The push toward carbon-free power, though, and government policies more favorable for nuclear have spurred research into new technologies. David Kropaczek, director for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Innovation Hub – Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), recently spoke with POWER about nuclear power and what his group is doing in its research and development of nuclear technology.

POWER: Nuclear power faces several challenges in the U.S. What needs to happen to keep nuclear power viable in this country?…