A recent report from research firm Datamonitor says not to expect the debate concerning global warming and best courses of action to be resolved any time soon. Significant worldwide initiatives would require cooperation among virtually all of the major industrialized nations and this does not appear to be in the offing. The United States will not agree to a deal without Chinese involvement; considered very unlikely. The Datamonitor report gives an overview of current developments in the global debate on climate change and the timeline for future U.S. and European initiatives. It also assesses the future role of nuclear power in the global energy mix.

View discussions about this topic in the all new CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Varian is proud to introduce the first wireless remote control for a helium mass spectrometer leak detector. Utilizing modern wireless technology, leak testing hard-to-reach locations is now much easier. With a range of up to 100 m Varian gives you a truly portable leak detection solution right at your fingertips.

In your industry, it's critical that equipment functions as planned — and that your materials are what you expect them to be. Stork materials testing experts support the Power Generation industries with non-destructive evaluation, mechanical testing, chemical analysis, and in-lab and onsite PMI of your materials, parts, and products, including carbon.

Liberty Electronics is a full service manufacturer of electronic wiring harnesses and electromechanical assemblies ranging in size from small to large. Liberty engineering can model wiring harnesses to fit any application, and can modularize your harness or cabinet needs for ease of manufacture and increased profit margins.

Power companies in highly populated and environmentally conscious areas like California find it hard to get new power generation projects approved. As reported by Power Engineering, Southern California Edison's solution is to significantly expand long-term power contracts offered to independent power producers willing to invest in new power plants serving Southern California.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

High prevailing winds over much of the state make Texas an ideal place for wind power. The San Antonio Business Journal reports that the State of Texas and private-sector parties have agreed to invest more than $10 billion in wind energy. Private companies will invest in generation; the state will fund transmission lines.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

A new report says that the adequacy of North America's electricity system is in decline. This was one of the conclusions of a recently released reliability assessment conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Council. The report analyzes the adequacy of electricity supply and transmission reliability in North America through 2015 and calls for action.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Electrical grids frequently need to tap large amounts of power. Capacitors provide some relief, but new solutions are needed to instantaneously deliver megawatts that can stabilize the grid. Read in Electric Light & Power how the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute plans to use superconductor magnetic energy storage to stabilize power grids.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

This generator set from Caterpillar, Inc. is designed primarily for standby, prime, and load management applications. It offers the latest in engine design technology to provide emissions compliance, without sacrificing power density or fuel economy. Operating at 60 Hz, the clean diesel generator set is powered by the new 8.8 L Cat® C9 engine.

UNIPOWER Telecom's new DPB2U circuit breaker panels provide distribution and overload protection for up to 19 DC circuits in telecom applications, utilizing a minimal amount of rack space. They distribute up to a total of 300 amperes of load current from a single source.

The first step to a smart electrical distribution system is upgrading from electromechanical to electronic devices. The next step is gathering data from those devices, and the final step is taking action based on these data. T&D World shows how Duke Energy-Carolinas plans to add intelligence to their distribution system.

The Edison Electric Institute says that there are about 40 million distribution transformers in the U.S., so even small efficiency improvements would save tremendous amounts of energy. Existing efficiency is about 98% and a new standard would increase this to between 98.73 and 99.36%, saving approximately 8.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Jacobs Engineering reports that they have been selected to perform civil, structural, and general plant design work from their UK offices for a project that will generate electricity via fusion from a site in France. Work on the € 4.26 billion project will start in the first half of 2007 and finish in 2015.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Dealing with a down market is tough, but coping with growth can also be challenging, especially when it comes to a labor intensive business like construction. This Vertex Engineering Services report says that rapid construction growth continued in 2005 with the industry surpassing the trillion-dollar mark for the second consecutive year, increasing the demand for construction labor.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Pulizzi Engineering's RoHS compliance program includes a multi-step process that exceeds industry standards. All materials have supplier declarations of compliance on file. When materials are received, they are required to have a RoHS marking on the package. Received materials are then inspected and randomly tested with x-ray scanning technology.

The simpler way to wire a colocation facility or internet data center. The Remote Distribution Cabinet (RDC) extends the functionality of the PDU by packaging 168 poles (four complete panelboards) in a stand-alone cabinet with the smallest possible footprint. The RDC has no internal isolation transformer and requires 4-wire-plus-ground input from a PPC or other transformer. Learn more...

DiceEngineering.com offers thousands of quality engineering jobs at top technology and engineering companies. Find jobs in your area of expertise. Search now.

Teenagers with technical aptitude are more interested in the computer hardware and software sectors than in traditional industries like power. To address this problem, Yahoo! News reports that Power Engineering magazine and the Junior Engineering Technical Society are creating a scholarship fund for high school students entering the power industry.

Everyone wants their ideal job, and this article on the UCIrvine Paul Merage School of Business Web site shows you how to find it. First, make a detailed list of key job characteristics such as work hours, location, and office space. Next, describe a few dream projects. Then, find the job that best fits these descriptions.

Finding long-term fuel sources for large scale power generators can be problematic. In the near future, helium-3 could be a perfect fuel source, if we can transport enough from the moon to the earth. Space.com speculates that there is enough helium-3 on the moon to power Earth for thousands of years.

View discussions about this topic in the all new
CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Is e-mail your main method of communication with family and friends? Have you put up an electronic fence via e-mail, voice mail, and text message screening? Do you have long-time acquaintances that you have actually never met in person? If so, AutomationWeekly says that you might be replacing in person with e-person.

Download the engineering toolbar and put the power of GlobalSpec right at your fingertips.

Change your e-mail or edit your GlobalSpec profile here.

To continue receiving GlobalSpec's Power Generation e-Newsletter in your e-mail inbox, please add announce@news.globalspec.com to your address book.

If a friend forwarded this e-newsletter and you'd like to receive it in the future, register here or subscribe directly.

To be removed from our e-newsletter mailing list, follow this link.