Alabama Power employee Kevin Sanderson is pictured next to a company vehicle. With this new technology, Alabama Power becomes the first electric utility in the nation to use this feature which will simultaneously reduce engine emissions...
Pop quiz: Which uses more fuel and produces more emissions – letting a passenger car idle for 15 seconds or turning off a car and restarting it after 15 seconds? If you answered that restarting the car uses more fuel, you would not be alone. Most peo...
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Altec Inc. announced today a strategic alliance agreement with ZeroRPM Inc. to provide high-efficiency work truck solutions to the electric utility, telecommunications and construction industries. A...
Last Updated: May 10, 2013 The United States relied on net imports (imports minus exports) for about 40% of the petroleum (crude oil and petroleum products) that we consumed in 2012. Just over half of these imports came from the Western Hemisphere. Our dependence on foreign petroleum has declined since peaking in 2005. The United States consumed 18.6 million barrels per day (MMbd) of petroleum products during 2012, making us the world's largest petroleum consumer. The United States was third in crude oil production at 6.5 MMbd. Crude oil alone, however, does not constitute all U.S. petroleum supplies. Significant gains occur because crude oil expands in the refining process, liquid fuel is captured in the processing of natural gas, and we have other sources of liquid fuel, including biofuels. These additional supplies totaled 4.8 MMbd in 2012. The United States imported 11.0 MMbd of crude oil and refined petroleum products in...
Last Updated: March 05, 2013 The current fleet of electric power generators has a wide range of ages. About 540 gigawatts, or 51% of all generating capacity, were at least 30 years old at the end of 2012. Trends in generating capacity additions vary by fuel type. 1 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 Annual Electric Generator Report , and Form EIA-860M (see Tables ES3 and ES4 in the January 2013 Electric Power Monthly ) Note: Data for 2012 are preliminary. Existing generators with online dates earlier than 1930 are predominantly hydroelectric. Data include non-retired plants existing as of year-end 2012; retired generators are excluded. This chart shows the most recent (summer) capacity data for each generator. However, this number may change over time, if a generator undergoes an uprate or derate . Which types of power plants are oldest? The current fleet of electric power generators has a wide...
Last Updated: December 5, 2012 Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of petroleum and natural gas. Over the past decade, the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has allowed access to large volumes of shale gas that were previously uneconomical to produce. The production of natural gas from shale formations has rejuvenated the natural gas industry in the United States. Does the U.S. Have Abundant Shale Gas Resources? Of the natural gas consumed in the United States in 2011, about 95% was produced domestically; thus, the supply of natural gas is not as dependent on foreign producers as is the supply of crude oil, and the delivery system is less subject to interruption. The availability of large quantities of shale gas should enable the United States to consume a predominantly domestic supply of gas...
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A University of Alabama-Huntsville engineering student invented new green technology that could help save the Huntsville Police Department thousands of dollars every year. Landon Self and his father started Zero RPM a year and a half ago. Their product is simple. When a vehicle goes idle, their technology allows the air conditioning and electricity to stay on without having to use the engine and gas for hours. "In basically 18 months we went from something that was kind of an idea to something that was more marketable, more useable," said Self. View Full News Article