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S & P | Hydrogen: New Ambitions and Challenges The global vision Hydrogen is an important feedstock for the oil refining and chemical industries, primarily supplying local needs. Manufacturing hydrogen today accounts for about 2% of the world’s energy consumption. It is essentially an industrial gas, the majority of which is made from fossil fuels (natural gas, and to a..
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I hardly think of this as news; these concerns have been talked and written about since 2009
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Gravity storage company Energy Vault completes construction of 25 MW/100 MWh storage system in China, with expected Q4 commissioning date. LNVG rail company in Germany’s Lower Saxony moves away fron hydrogen fuel-cell trains (it had bought 14, for $ 85 mn) saying battery-electric trains are cheaper to operate. Next round of trains to include 102 battery..
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In a move widely applauded by the power industry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army proposed a new definition of “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) that could exempt groundwater and ditches from regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
The measures follow other recent significant regulatory actions by the agency. On December 6, the agency also announced proposed revisions to performance standards governing carbon dioxide emissions from new, reconstructed, or modified coal-fired power plants. On November 15, the EPA clarified guidelines on when activities can be grouped together to determine whether they trigger New Source Review (NSR) permitting. And on November 7, it posted a final implementation rule for the 2015 ozone standard.
The revised definition for “WOTUS” proposed by the EPA and the Department of the Army on December 11 significantly narrows the number of waterways and wetlands that fall within the jurisdictional scope of the CWA compared to a contentious rule finalized by the Obama administration in June 2015.…
The two-unit Vogtle expansion in Georgia faces major challenges that are poised to derail its schedule and ramp up costs—and the project is already behind schedule, a consulting firm tasked with construction oversight of the project told regulators.
In revealing testimony filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) public interest advocacy staff on November 30, Donald Grace, vice president of engineering for Cost Plus Technology—Nuclear Construction Oversight (CPT), noted that the total construction cost—which includes all owner-shared costs but excludes financing costs—to complete the two Vogtle units by the scheduled November 2021/2022 timeframe is $ 17.1 billion. Only about 60% of the project is complete, he said.
Meanwhile, the project faces several potentially debilitating challenges that could cause delays and drive up costs. Foremost among them are labor shortages. While Georgia Power noted about 7,000 workers were onsite as of December 4, according to Grace, “Obtaining sufficient numbers of qualified craft labor pipe fitters and electricians are necessary to support the planned installation rate for bulk piping and electrical commodities.”…