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Lux
Joined: 26 May 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Umeå
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 Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 10:54 pm Post subject: Coal renaissance |
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Actually, Europe does still have a lot of coal lying around. The decision-makers would probably feel a bit tempted to move back on step, and reduce unemployment, since the outcry of a clean environment does only have a primary meaning for about 5-10% of the European electorate. Of course, usage of coal would burn the environment and accelerate the increasing greenhouse effect, but the politicians are generally short-minded and think in five-year terms due to the unaccountability of their political positions in the post-power phase [unless they have committed crime], as well as the fact that they depend upon interest groups which have hijacked the parliamentarian democracy.
Coal could be used to produce diesel, to warm up the cities and is quite abundant, while generally unclean and hazardous. What is your opinion?
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grinu
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 612
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| Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 9:02 am Post subject: |
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I think you're correct. A lot of countries have a lot of coal lying around. Desperate times call for desparate measures and I'm sure the environment, unfortunately, will come second over energy (google Alaska Wilderness and Oil):
Canada:http://www.dogwoodinitiative.org/newsstories/world_demand_for_coal_revives_tumbler_ridge
| Quote: | Soaring coal prices are breathing new life into the economy of Tumbler Ridge, a former company town whose economy was presumed dead less than two years ago.
Split level homes that sold for $28,000 in 2002 are now on the market for $80,000 or more -- and the northeast B.C. town's economic development office is beginning to worry that there may not be enough accommodation for a workforce that is projected to grow to unprecedented levels. |
http://www.worldcoal.com/Coal/CL_news56mar.htm
| Quote: | | Xstrata Coal Plc?s Australian unit plans to revive coal mining in Cape Breton. Nova Scotia?s cabinet picked Xstrata from the three companies that bid to revive the Donkin coal mine. It has been predicted that the project could extract up to 3 million tpa and employ approximately 300 miners. The project has been made economically feasible by the the rising price of coal. Tunnels were dug at the site 20 years ago but were abandoned when the project became financially unfeasible. It was estimated then that 300 million t had been left unmined. |
India
http://www.worldcoal.com/Coal/CL_news58mar.htm
| Quote: | | The Indian Government is planning to initiate an emergency coal production plan this year with the aim of increasing the capacity of existing coal mines. There are also plans to give away coal blocks that were originally reserved for Coal India. These would be given to other coal consumers, such as power plants or steel and cement works. |
UK
http://www.worldcoal.com/Coal/CL_news57mar.htm
| Quote: | | Participants at a conference in London on Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) recently agreed to join together in ?The UCG Partnership? to promote UCG as a major clean coal technology with significant commercial benefits as a major power source worldwide. |
US
http://www.worldcoal.com/Coal/CL_news60feb.htm
| Quote: | An expected growth in coal mining in Sullivan County, Indiana, has prompted rail road expansion to cope with any increase in freight.
Sunrise Coal plans to begin constructing an underground mine near Carlisle this year, with the aim to begin mining in July next year. Output is projected at 1 million tpa, with the mine employing approximately 60 people.
Changes in the national coal market have brought about a new interest in Indiana coal. It is expected that the region's coal could be transported to Virginia and Carolina. This is because improved technology now allows utilities to burn the high sulphur coal and meet environmental standards. Production is projected to reach between 15 million and 18 million t. |
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Lux
Joined: 26 May 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Umeå
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| Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 9:16 am Post subject: |
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It's worse than I thought.
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clv101
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Joined: 24 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 10:11 am Post subject: |
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I wrote some notes on the Return of Coal a couple of months ago. It certainly seems to be on the cards.
However according the recent Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group report, there is only 910MW of new coal (integrated coal gasification combined cycle) generating infrastructure planned at the moment and the Large Combustion Plants Directive means that 28.5% (8.2GW) of existing coal infrastructure will close by 2015 (after operating with greatly reduced activity factor 'til then).
It's hard to see how coal burn could increase - unless of course the LCPD is thrown out of the window. This is probably what would happen since we have seen on several occasions recently that environmental restrictions are the first to go when shortage threatens.
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Lux
Joined: 26 May 2006
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Location: Umeå
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| Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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That is obvious. But what no one wants to realise is that we must reduce our ecological footprints rather than install new [or old] solutions to the energy demands. According to the Factor four theory, we could double the prosperity of the European people while halving the ecological footprints.
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clv101
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| Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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Global Public Media have an intewview with author Jeff Goodell on his new book, Big Coal here: http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/interviews/709
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In Brief: Author and journalist Jeff Goodell discusses his upcoming book Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future with GPM correspondent Jason Brenno.
Author and journalist Jeff Goodell discusses his upcoming book Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future with GPM correspondent Jason Brenno.
Jeff Goodell is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and a frequent contributor to the New York Times Magazine. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Our Story: 77 Hours That Tested Our Friendship and Our Faith, based on the terrifying hours nine Quecreek miners spent trapped underground; he appeared on Oprah to talk with the miners about their experience. Goodell?s first book, The Cyberthief and the Samurai, was about the hunt for the notorious computer hacker Kevin Mitnick. His memoir, Sunnyvale: The Rise and Fall of a Silicon Valley Family, was a New York Times Notable Book. Big Coal arrives on bookshelves June 8, 2006. |
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Andy Hunt
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 6761
Location: Bury, Lancashire, UK
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| Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | It's hard to see how coal burn could increase |
Very easily - in solid fuel burners in domestic properties, as a replacement for gas.
Very easy, very cheap - and very dirty.
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Andy Hunt
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enso
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Posts: 81
Location: North Ayrshire
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| Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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Clean coal being suggested again.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4781257.stm
Not convinced myself. 200 years of proven UK coal reserves at current production rates could soon be depleted by a massive dash to coal to support a business-as-usual/increasing energy demand scenario - especially seeing as carbon sequestration reduces the overall efficiency of the power station by 10 - 40%.[/b] |
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