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THE STORY OF ERCOT: The Grid Operator, Power Market & Prices Under Texas Electric Deregulation

Friday, February 18th, 2011

TEXAS COALITION FOR AFFORDABLE POWER
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, is the term used to describe the quasi-governmental organization that manages the state’s power grid. There are few institutions in Texas that are more important. If Texas suddenly lost the grid, homes and factories would go dark. Even the briefest of outages can put public safety at risk. But “ERCOT” also has a second very important meaning. As a term of art, it can describe the geographical footprint of electric deregulation in Texas. Efficiency in this market is absolutely vital for the state economy.

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Tags: Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ERCOT, Texas, TX
Posted in Energy, Infra Views, Local, Policy

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Tar Sands Pipelines Safety Risks

Friday, February 18th, 2011

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, PIPELINE SAFETY TRUST, SIERRA CLUB
Tar sands crude oil pipeline companies may be putting America’s public safety at risk. Increasingly, pipelines transporting tar sands crude oil into the United States are carrying diluted bitumen or “DilBit”—a highly corrosive, acidic, and potentially unstable blend of thick raw bitumen and volatile natural gas liquid condensate—raising risks of spills and damage to communities along their paths.Currently, tar sands crude oil pipeline companies are using conventional pipeline technology to transport this DilBit. These pipelines, which require higher operating temperatures and pressures to move the thick material through a pipe, appear to pose new and significant risks of pipeline leaks or ruptures due to corrosion, as well as problems with leak detection and safety problems from the unstable mixture.

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Tags: National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC, NWF, Pipeline Safety Trust, Pipelines, Sierra Club
Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Energy, Environment, Green, Hazardous Waste, Infra Views, National, Pollution

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Invest in a Prosperous and Healthy America

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE
We are well into the 21st century, but American transportation is still rooted firmly in the 20th. Our highways, transit and rail infrastructure need massive investment; further delay only hinders our economy and limits employment potential. Investments in a 21st century transportation system, as well as building the next generation of cleaner and electric vehicles, will create manufacturing jobs across the nation.

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Tags: BGA, BlueGreen Alliance, Reauthorization
Posted in Clean Air, Employment, Energy, Environment, Equity, Green, Infra Views, Jobs, National, Policy, Pollution, Recovery, Smart Growth, Sustainability

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NEW JOBS – CLEANER AIR: Employment Effects Under Planned Changes to the EPA’s Air Pollution Rules

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Merrimack Station The Merrimack Station, New Hampshire’s largest coal-fired power plant, constructed a scrubber to control SO2 and mercury emissions. According to PSNH, the owner of the facility, the project provided more than 300 construction jobs for the three-year construction period.

CERES
The report finds that investments driven by the EPA’s two new air quality rules will create nearly 1.5 million jobs, or nearly 300,000 jobs a year on average over the next five years – and at a critical moment for a struggling economy. The end product will be an upgraded, cleaner American industry, along with good paying jobs and better health for the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.

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Tags: Ceres, Clean Air Act, Coal, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA
Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Clean Air, Employment, Energy, Environment, Green, Hazardous Waste, Infra Views, Jobs, National, Policy, Pollution, Recovery

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U.S.- China Clean Energy Cooperation: A Progress Report

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
…in the face of emerging global challenges such as energy security and climate change, the United States and China entered into a new phase of mutually beneficial cooperation. In June 2008, the U.S.-China Ten Year Framework for Cooperation on Energy and the Environment was created and today it includes action plans for cooperation on energy efficiency, electricity, transportation, air, water, wetlands, nature reserves and protected areas.

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Tags: China, Electric Vehicles, EVs, Natural Gas, People's Republic of China, U.S. DOE, US Department of Energy
Posted in Energy, Environment, Global, Infra Views, National, Sustainability, Technology

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DEEP WATER: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling

Monday, January 10th, 2011

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE BP DEEPWATER HORIZON OILSPILL AND OFFSHORE DRILLING
The oil and gas industry needs now to regain that trust, but doing so will require it to take bold action to make clear that business will no longer be conducted as usual in the Gulf. Industry must seize the opportunity to demonstrate that it is fully committed to subjecting its own internal operations to fundamental change and not merely because it is being forced to do so.

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Tags: BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf Oil Disaster, Macando, Obama Administration, Offshore Drilling, Oil Spill
Posted in Accountability, Energy, Environment, Hazardous Waste, Infra Views, National, Policy, Pollution, Private Investment

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Building Efficiency: Ten Trends to Watch in 2011 and Beyond

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Commercial State Energy Code Status: October 2010

PIKE RESEARCH
During the last couple of years, the global economy has been dealing with the impacts of the Great Recession. The construction sector has been among the hardest hit areas in almost all regions. New construction, both residential and commercial, has been way below the levels seen earlier in the decade. However, one building-related field has continued to grow: retrofits tied to improving the efficiency of facilities.

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Tags: ESCO, LEED, Pike Research, PikeResearch, Retrofits
Posted in Energy, Environment, Global, Infra Views, Local, National, Recession, Recovery, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Urban Planning

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Interactive Map: Aging Oil Infra in the Gulf

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

An interactive map from the Wall Street Journal displays the location and age of offshore oil rigs, roughly half of which are “20 years old or more, and a third date back to the 1970s or earlier, long before the development of modern construction standards.”

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Tags: Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Drilling, Wall Street Journal
Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Energy, Local, National, Pollution, The Infra Blog

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Inhabitat: Can San Francisco Become 100% Sustainable by 2020?

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

“San Francisco has always had a reputation as an environmentally conscious city, however it has set its sights on becoming the greenest city in the country by turning 100% sustainable by 2020. The plan was announced by outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom, who last week launched an initiative to make the city fully ‘green’ within a decade.”
-Timon Singh, Inhabitat

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Tags: CA, California, Gavin Newsom, Inhabitat, San Francisco, Solar, Sunset Reservoir Solar Project, Timon Singh
Posted in Energy, Environment, Land Use, Local, Public Transportation, Show Us Your Infra, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Technology, Urban Planning

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