Whatever happened to all those new nuclear power plants the country was supposed to build?
There was no mistaking the target: the eight huge cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, sending plumes of steam high into the watery blue sky of the English Midlands.
There are many reasons as to why coal today is the dominant fuel in power generation. In coal many countries found a way to alleviate the extreme dependence of Middle East oil after the 1970's oil crisis.
Scientists in the United States are developing a "synthetic tree" capable of collecting carbon around 1,000 times faster than the real thing.
The gale force of President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package could breathe new life into an emerging industry: small wind turbines.
Global warming concerns took center stage Monday as two organizations held rallies to draw attention to an issue that President Barack Obama has promised to place near the top of his agenda.
When Rita Bryer sees 300-foot-tall wind turbines sprouting up from the prairie near her home in western Oklahoma, she can't help but wonder about the view from the top, where blades the size of semi-trucks spin.
Think of the future of green energy and the mental picture you may conjure up is one of vast solar plants glinting like a beetle's eye in the sun, or ranks of wind turbines turning in the breeze.
Imagine climbing 276 steps to change a light bulb. That's all in a day's work for Rian Harford.
Iran tested its first nuclear power plant Wednesday, a stride that prompted one Iranian technician to declare it was "independence day" for the Islamic republic.
Whatever happened to all those new nuclear power plants the country was supposed to build?
There was no mistaking the target: the eight huge cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, sending plumes of steam high into the watery blue sky of the English Midlands.
There are many reasons as to why coal today is the dominant fuel in power generation. In coal many countries found a way to alleviate the extreme dependence of Middle East oil after the 1970's oil crisis.
Scientists in the United States are developing a "synthetic tree" capable of collecting carbon around 1,000 times faster than the real thing.
The gale force of President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package could breathe new life into an emerging industry: small wind turbines.
Global warming concerns took center stage Monday as two organizations held rallies to draw attention to an issue that President Barack Obama has promised to place near the top of his agenda.
When Rita Bryer sees 300-foot-tall wind turbines sprouting up from the prairie near her home in western Oklahoma, she can't help but wonder about the view from the top, where blades the size of semi-trucks spin.
Think of the future of green energy and the mental picture you may conjure up is one of vast solar plants glinting like a beetle's eye in the sun, or ranks of wind turbines turning in the breeze.
Imagine climbing 276 steps to change a light bulb. That's all in a day's work for Rian Harford.
Iran tested its first nuclear power plant Wednesday, a stride that prompted one Iranian technician to declare it was "independence day" for the Islamic republic.
Nuclear power plants will likely add fortifications to future atomic power stations despite the cost involved, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Wednesday.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted Tuesday to require any future nuclear power plants to be designed to withstand strikes from commercial jetliners, addressing a possible terrorist scenario that has haunted some people since the September 11, 2001, attacks.
In a sharp departure from Bush Administration policy, the Obama Justice Department on Friday informed the Supreme Court it is dismissing a challenge on rules dealing with allowable mercury emissions from power plants.
Strange lights in the sky, mysterious flashes, dozens of witnesses, a missing wind turbine blade and a tabloid splash featuring the pun: E.T. farm harm.
James Bond would be lost without them -- those madcap gadgets merging two technologies that help him beat the bad guys and save the planet. The underwater watch with a built-in Geiger counter, for example; or the car that doubles as a submarine; or the exploding bagpipes and missile-launching wheelchair.
Of all the power supplies in the energy mix, nuclear has historically been the most criticized and controversial. But this most unpopular of power sources has recently resurfaced in political and economic dialogue.
David Crane is a man who isn't afraid of a challenge. When he took the helm at NRG Energy in the winter of 2003, the company was mired in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings -- just one of many companies caught in the meltdown of the U.S. power generation industry, instigated by the scandalous collapse of Texan power giant Enron in 2001.
Plans to rejuvenate a dilapidated London icon -- known worldwide to movie and music fans -- were unveiled last week.
The site has been secured, the tents pitched, banners raised and, most importantly, compost loos installed; there is little to do now but wait for thousands of campers to arrive for one of Britain's biggest environmental protests this year.
If there was a most wanted list for climate change culprits, coal-fired power stations would be number one.
Twenty four hours before the greatest scientific experiment of our time gets underway at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, political and scientific dignitaries assembled at a site a few hundred miles north east of the French/Swiss border at a site in Germany to inaugurate another groundbreaking engineering test.
Micro wind turbines are beginning to pop up all over our urban and rural landscapes. But is it worth investing your hard-earned cash in your very own wind machine? In short, it depends. Take a look at our quick guide to see if "small wind" could help you reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint.
Starwood's Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Manhattan, Verizon's call center on Long Island, the Sierra Nevada brewery in northern California and a Whole Foods Market in Connecticut have little in common except this - all are powered by fuel cells that turn hydrogen into electricity, saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It looks like a scene from an old episode of The X-Files: As a red-tailed hawk circles overhead and a wild pronghorn sheep grazes in the distance, a dozen people in dark sunglasses move methodically through a vast field of golden barley, eyes fixed to the ground, GPS devices in hand. They're searching for bodies.
A government-controlled firm is forging ahead with plans to resume expansion of Brazil's nuclear power program.
Doug Buchanan grins with relief when he sees the carcasses. He has just driven up a steep dirt road onto a vast, sunbaked mesa overlooking the Mojave Desert in western Nevada. There, a few feet from the trail, lie the corpses of two steers. A raven perches on one, the only object more than three feet above the ground on this pancake-flat plateau. Cattle, dead or alive, qualify as good news in Buchanan's line of work. If cattle are present, that means grazing is permitted, and that in turn means that this land is most likely not protected habitat for the desert tortoise.
Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is putting his clout behind renewable energy sources like wind power.
Since it became a viable energy resource around 20 years ago, wind power has emerged as a leading renewable technology.
Curt Mann's neighbors are livid, accusing him of erecting an ugly wind turbine among their historic homes for no other reason than to show off his environmental "bling."
Iran plans to link its electrical grid with neighboring Iraq as part of another "extended area of cooperation" between the countries, the Iranian president announced during his historic visit to Iraq.
Florida authorities are investigating how a small fire and a switch failure at an electrical substation outside Miami triggered a power failure that affected millions of people.
Power was restored Tuesday for most of Florida after a failed switch and fire at an electrical substation outside Miami triggered widespread blackouts across the state.
Whisky is for drinkin', water is for fightin'.
Coal is almost the perfect fuel. It's cheap and absurdly abundant -- especially in the United States, which has the world's larges reserves. There's just that tiny problem of massive climate-altering carbon dioxide emissions. Or is there?
Widespread anxiety about the damaging effects of burning fossil fuels, coupled with a genuine fear that oil and gas will become scarce before the century ends are fueling a renewed interest in renewable energy and, in particular, solar power solutions.
Environmental author Alan Weisman has fielded questions exclusively from CNN.com users on the environmental matters that concern you most. These are his answers.
A typical exchange about wind farms tends to go like this: 'Are you in favor of wind farms?' 'Yes, of course I am...so long as they're nowhere near my house'. Nevertheless, wind turbines are fast-becoming an important piece in the energy puzzle, contributing a growing percentage to our overall energy needs.
There's no place like home -- especially when it comes to affecting the environment, it seems.
In the two years since Stefano (Steve) Bertamini moved to Shanghai to become CEO of GE China, he has a sense that the days are less smoggy and more sunny.
In the largest environmental settlement in Justice Department history, American Electric Power has agreed to install $4.6 billion in equipment to sharply reduce emissions at coal-fired power plants in five states, sources said.
A unit at a Bulgarian nuclear power station on the Danube River underwent an emergency shutdown Saturday, facility operators said.
One thing I've learned on my 7,000 mile journey through America's nuclear past and present is that when you're driving around scouting for a power plant -- any kind of power plant -- first locate the high-voltage transmission lines. (If you stand directly under those lines, sometimes you can hear the electricity cackle and spatter like rain drops on the roof.)
"We were at heightened security - we were at red," recalls Al Griffith, spokesman for the utility that owns the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire.
President Bush Thursday said U.S. utilities could build up to 30 new nuclear power plants and could start construction by 2010 in order to keep up with growing electricity demand without spurring more global warming.
Clouds hang low over the New Mexico desert, deep inside a military reservation a dozen miles south of Albuquerque. A breeze stirs the air; tumbleweeds roll by. Then the sun shines through and a low...
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to make the U.S. Capitol complex more environmentally friendly is being hampered by the reluctance of lawmakers from coal-producing states to implement changes at the complex's coal-burning power plant.
As concern for the environment grows, people are starting to take small steps to do their part -- such as driving a hybrid car or installing solar panels.
With global warming on everyone's mind, combined with a slew of electronic gadgets consuming more and more electricity, there's a greater need than ever for clean coal technology in the United States.
Lucien Gambarota sees energy everywhere.
Most people don't spend an hour gabbing on their cell phone in the middle of the day. It's just too expensive.
Nuclear power plants will not be required to put up defenses against terrorist attacks from the air, according to a rule enacted Monday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
If you wanted to choose the perfect location for capturing the ocean's energy, you couldn't do much better than the Oregon coast. Waves arrive there with immense power, having traveled across thousands of miles of open water with few barrier islands, reefs or other obstructions to slow them down.
ExxonMobil delivered its annual long term energy forecast Tuesday, saying that it expects the world will use 60% more energy in 2030 than in did in 2000. But despite this spike in demand, the oil giant does not expect to see any increase in the use of renewable energy sources from 2006 levels.
When a new product from Microsoft debuts, it doesn't arrive quietly. Instead it gets tracked through the R&D pipeline by trade magazines, bloggers and carefully controlled announcements from the ma...
A look at the best innovations coming from small businesses next year.
Rattling down a red dirt road on the edge of the Australian outback, Roger Davey hits the brakes and hops out of a rented Corolla. With a sweep of his arm, he surveys his domain - 24,000 acres of e...
Who wouldn't want to help the environment while increasing the value of their business and lowering their expenses?
TRADING
Energy company AGL will spend Aust. $236 million ($177 million) to build Australia's largest wind farm.
When Seamus Herron and his brother John inherited 1,100 acres of rugged farmland in Donegal, Ireland, in the 1970s, neither was sure whether it was a blessing or a curse. The northern tip of Irelan...
The answer to global warming may be blowing in the wind. It's probably also driving on four wheels and could be in your next tank of gas.
ON A FREEZING, PRISTINE DAY, WITH the Bighorn Mountains shining nearly 100 miles away across the Wyoming prairie, a huge dragline with an arm longer than a football field gulps 100 cubic yards of r...
The U.S. economy runs on cheap, abundant fossil fuels--but that can't last. Even if supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas were unlimited, burning them in mass quantities generates greenhouse gases...
Tony Rogers is a member of the rosebud Sioux tribe who lives on the tribe's South Dakota reservation. He doesn't have an engineering degree, hasn't worked for a power station, and has never investe...
When you hear the term "green business," a plastics manufacturer probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But then, Harbec Plastics of Ontario, N.Y., is a little unusual. You can see the ...
Spark wants to hear from you. Are you passionate about technology? What topics do you want to learn more about? What sort of technology advances would make your life better?
Imagine trading stocks with no data about other people's transactions and no news about the companies whose shares you're buying—no Dow Jones, no Bloomberg, no Maria Bartiromo. That's what it was l...
Outside, it's another warm summer afternoon in Madison, Pa., a forested suburb 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Inside—in a brightly lit Westinghouse control room packed with computer monitors, sc...
Rick Priory was on top of the world. It was early 2002, and as CEO of Duke Energy he had taken a conservative electric utility and plunged it headlong into the newly deregulated power market. Durin...
There was never much question that one of the first companies President Bush and his administration would call on to help with the vital task of rebuilding Iraq would be Bechtel Group.
Six people are dead after around 50 rebels attacked a power station south of the Philippine capital of Manila with grenade launchers and machine guns.
You'd think that by now--in this annus horribilis for the once highflying energy-trading sector--all the bad news would have come out. The sham trades that boosted revenues have been exposed. The s...
A few years back, Duke Energy CEO Rick Priory left Charlotte, N.C., and headed north to make one of his periodic pitches to Wall Street. As far as Priory was concerned, he had a pretty exciting sto...
On the western edge of the vast Nevada Test Site, where hundreds of nuclear weapons have been detonated, lies a dusty ridgeline known as Yucca Mountain. Located in a desert region of north-south mo...
As far back as Jules Verne, visionaries have predicted that society will someday be utterly transformed by energy based on hydrogen. The lightweight gas, the most abundant element in the universe, ...
Who has the toughest job in President Bush's cabinet? These days I'd say it's Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham.
It's tempting to laugh at all those Californians shivering in their hot tubs when their power goes out. But the reality of what's happening in America's most technologically advanced state isn't fu...
California's power crisis has left even die-hard free-market types wondering whether electricity deregulation makes sense. For reassurance, visit an office park in Valley Forge, Pa. That's the home...
When it comes to big-time economic disasters, it can be hard to specify exactly when "the situation" turned into "the crisis" and "the crisis" into "the catastrophe." Nonetheless, there always come...
About a year ago Jason Selch, an analyst for Liberty Wanger Asset Management, had a eureka moment. Energy prices were soaring, and Dynegy, a Houston-based wholesaler of electricity and natural gas,...
Imagine a country-club dinner dance, with a bunch of old fogies and their wives shuffling around halfheartedly to the not-so-stirring sounds of Guy Lombardo and his All-Tuxedo Orchestra. Suddenly y...
It seems so incredibly obvious you want to slap your forehead for being so obtuse all these years. Electric power costs a bundle in places like New York and California but barely a third as much in...
Kenneth Lay skied down Ajax Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, on a cold dark afternoon last December, blissfully unaware that the stock of his Houston-based energy conglomerate was taking an even steepe...
Q. Quick, now. In what city has a Baby Bell made a 300% return on money it invested about two years ago? A. Bangkok.
Will Parish is in a dirty business. His company, National Energy Associates, runs a power plant in California's Imperial Valley that burns pasture patties -- a.k.a. cow chips, a.k.a. bovine dung. E...
HERE'S A TEST of your investment acumen. You have a choice of buying stock in one of two companies. Do you believe in return on shareholders' equity? For 1988, Company A had an ROE of 22%; Company ...
DEEP IN THEIR HEARTS, utility men love to build generating plants. Big boilers, broad dams, tall stacks. Power for the nation. And this is the time when utilities would normally be starting a new r...
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