Clean Energy Blog
Stay up to date on the latest news related to clean energy in our region and beyond.
New Wave of Smaller, Cheaper Nuclear Reactors
The AP300 Small Modular Reactor (Photo: Business Wire) With the promise of newer, cheaper nuclear power on the horizon, U.S. states are vying to position themselves to build and supply the industry’s next generation as policymakers consider expanding subsidies and...
William Westmoreland, new director of PNCECE
William Westmoreland, the new executive director of the Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy, brings more than 15 years of experience in program development, system integration, and community engagement. William plans to increase awareness of the...
What you should know about hydropower
Hydroelectricity is a form of renewable energy. That means its source — water — is naturally renewing and doesn’t get used up in the process of generating power. Other renewable energy sources include solar power, wind power, biomass, and increasingly, geothermal...
TransAlta adds 119 MW of wind power in U.S.
Two U.S. wind farms with a total capacity of 119 MW, operated by TransAlta Corp., became operational in December 2019. The 90-MW Big Level wind park in Pennsylvania started commercial operation on December 19. It sells power to technology giant Microsoft Corporation,...
Wind farms in Montana could deliver enough energy to power large city
Site preparation has begun on the 114-turbine Pryor Mountain Wind Project in Montana. At least four wind farms are in various stages of development and combined could deliver up to 480 megawatts of capacity, enough to power a large city. Pryor Mountain Wind "is a...
74% of U.S. coal plants more expensive than new renewables
New research from Energy Innovation and Vibrant Clean Energy (VCE) shows the U.S. has officially reached the coal cost crossover point, where fast-falling wind and solar prices make simply operating three-quarters of all existing coal generation plants more expensive...
Washington statewide low-carbon fuel standard promoted by governor
At a recent visit to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Gov. Jay Inslee said a low-carbon fuel policy would increase access to biofuels for the aviation industry. The aviation industry is a portion of the economy that’s particularly challenging for reducing...
The downstream air pollution impacts of the transition from coal to natural gas in the U.S.
Findings from a recent study show that although there are considerable benefits of decommissioning older coal-fired units, the newer natural gas and coal-fired units that have supplanted them are not entirely benign. Read more at nature.com »
Hydropower: Untapped energy?
The world's energy systems are inseparably linked to water. That is why engineers are working on harnessing the power of ocean energies and undammed river currents. Examples of ocean energies include wave energy, tidal energy, thermal energy and underwater energy...
World’s largest floating wind turbine connects online
The largest floating wind turbine to date just went online off the coast of Portugal. One of the three platforms that will make up the WindFloat Atlantic off-shore wind farm was connected to the grid via a 20-kilometre (12.4-mile) long cable on New Year's Eve. Once...