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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #300 on: October 11, 2014, 02:42:53 AM »
The politics of coal in the upcoming US Senate election in Kentucky.

Quote
But the industry that Grimes and McConnell have spent so much time and money fighting over is a bit of an illusion, several experts said. Coal has been dying for decades within Kentucky.

Production has plummeted in recent years, dropping 11.8 percent in 2013 to 80.5 million tons, the lowest level since 1963. The number of coal workers dropped from more than 75,000 in the 1940s to 11,885 in 2013. The state lost 2,222 mining jobs in 2013 alone. Coal currently makes up only .06 percent of Kentucky's total employment.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20141008/coal-fired-politics-kentucky-senate-race-bitter-rivals-woo-dying-industry
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #301 on: October 11, 2014, 04:17:39 AM »
Coal jobs largely went away due to the incorporation of large machines and then mountain top removal.  Not many guys going down into the Earth's innards with a pick and shovel in Kentucky any longer.

And then there's both western open pit mining as well as a shrinking market.  It's about the end of trying to pump up coal miners for votes.  Time to start working on getting some job replacement programs in place.  Start building some geothermal and wind in the eastern coal areas.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #302 on: October 11, 2014, 03:23:31 PM »
Severe coal shortage causing power cuts in India. 

Quote
State-owned Coal India, the world's largest miner of the fuel, accounts for more than 80 percent of the country's total production but has failed to raise its output fast enough to cater to the increasing needs of the power sector.

Its April-September production fell short of its target of 220.11 million tonnes by more than 9 million tonnes. Coal India's production shortfalls have already made India the third-largest importer of coal despite sitting on the world's fifth largest reserves.

But a Coal India official told Reuters on Friday that the company cannot be expected to supply all the coal that power companies need and that they should import a percentage of their requirement.

Forced by populist governments to sell power at regulated rates, many debt-laden state power companies shy away from importing coal, given the higher costs. Importing coal can cost twice as much as buying it from Coal India.
http://in.mobile.reuters.com/article/idINKCN0HZ0Z220141010?irpc=932
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Laurent

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Re: Coal
« Reply #303 on: October 14, 2014, 10:13:05 AM »

Laurent

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Re: Coal
« Reply #304 on: October 17, 2014, 06:52:41 PM »
Momentum Builds in Louisiana, the Latest Front in the Fight Against Coal Exports
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-anne-hitt/momentum-builds-in-louisi_b_6003088.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

Laurent

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Re: Coal
« Reply #305 on: October 20, 2014, 06:14:10 PM »
Are U.S. Taxpayer Dollars Supporting Coal Industry Human Rights Violations Overseas?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-guay/are-us-taxpayer-dollars-s_b_6014790.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #306 on: October 22, 2014, 07:36:41 PM »
India sees more harm than good in new mines exporting coal to them from Australia.
Quote
... when a village is more than 5km from the grid, the cost of supplying electricity from decentralised renewable sources is far below the costs of supplying from conventional sources when grid transmission infrastructure is taken into account.
...
[Australia's] Abbott said “coal has a big future as well as a big past.” He and the coal companies want us all to believe that coal is inevitable. Coal helped build the economies of developed countries and so it must be the right choice for the rest of us. Yet by that logic, the opium trade and slavery should also be reintroduced, since they also contributed to the enrichment of many countries.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/22/take-it-from-us-in-india-the-world-needs-renewables-not-more-australian-exported-coal
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wili

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Re: Coal
« Reply #307 on: October 23, 2014, 11:32:31 PM »
BW's going to eat this one up!


China's coal use falls for first time this century, analysis suggests


   
Quote
Fall of 1-2 per cent in amount of coal burned offers ‘window of opportunity’ to bring climate change under control, Greenpeace energy analysts say

    The amount of coal being burned by China has fallen for the first time this century, according to an analysis of official statistics.

    China’s booming coal in the last decade has been the major contributor to the fast-rising carbon emissions that drive climate change, making the first fall a significant moment.

    The amount of coal burned in the first three-quarters of 2014 was 1-2 per cent lower than a year earlier, according to Greenpeace energy analysts in China. The drop contrasts sharply with the 5-10 per cent annual growth rates seen since the early years of the century.

    "The significance is that if the coal consumption growth we have seen in China in the last 10 years went on, we would lose any hope of bringing climate change under control," said Lauri Myllyvirta at Greenpeace East Asia. “The turnaround now gives a window of opportunity."

    Such a turnaround would potentially have a large impact on the biggest coal exporting countries such as Indonesia and Australia, which have profited from China’s demand for the fuel.

    At the UN climate change summit in New York in September, China said it would start to reduce the nation’s huge carbon emissions "as early as possible".

    Myllyvirta warned that year-to-year fluctuations in energy use and industrial prediction could see coal burning grow again in future. "It may not be the peak yet, but it is a sign that China is moving away from coal." Climate scientists say that global carbon emissions need to peak by 2020 and rapidly decline to avoid dangerous climate change.

    Myllyvirta said the greatest significance of the current drop in coal use was that economic growth had continued at 7.4 per cent at the same time, although that is a lower rate than in recent years. "The Chinese economy is divorcing coal," he said.

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2377306/chinas-coal-use-falls-for-first-time-this-century-analysis-suggests
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Csnavywx

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Re: Coal
« Reply #308 on: October 24, 2014, 01:22:30 AM »
If true, great!

There are a few wrinkles to sort out before we start uncorking champagne bottles though:

1) Stockpile drawdowns.

2) Syngas production and natural gas imports. These will help solve the air pollution problem, but not the CO2 problem. Ironically, with a steeper drawdown of SO2 emissions, warming will accelerate. (The "Faustian Bargain" Hansen has been hammering on for a couple of decades.) As a silver lining, perhaps a strong regional temperature response will invoke more serious action from the Chinese.

3) Sustained, multiple years of decline. India needs to be on board for the cuts to be meaningful, and so far, Modi's comments haven't exactly inspired confidence.


Again: Cumulative emissions are what matters. There's a reason RCP 2.6 has to go carbon negative to stay below 2C. Removing the screening effect of aerosols means we will need to get CO2 back under 405-415 ppm to have a decent chance of staying under 2C. Risk increases exponentially from here, and the further we penetrate above the cap, the harder and riskier it becomes due to carbon cycle feedbacks.

Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #309 on: October 25, 2014, 05:49:19 PM »
"China's coal use falls for first time this century, analysis suggests"

One swallow does not the summer make.  Best we wait a bit for more data to start celebrating.  But it is a pretty swallow....

As for China importing natural gas, if leaks are controlled I'll take a GWh mix of 40% wind, 30% solar and 30% NG over a GWh of 100% coal produced electricity.  That's only 15% as much CO2 per GWh.

As storage drops in price we'll see NG forced out.  Or, if storage doesn't get cheap enough to force out NG we'll see the rising price of NG force the switch in a decade or so when our NG supplies start to tighten.

Go for what works now and keep looking for even better solutions as we go along.

Csnavywx

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Re: Coal
« Reply #310 on: October 26, 2014, 06:39:51 AM »
Oh sure, so long as the NG comes from drilled wells and not liquefaction of coal (which is great for particulate emissions and terrible for CO2). I've seen some mixed signals about syngas lately from them. The smaller plants haven't passed economic muster, but the larger ones seem to be on track.

Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #311 on: October 28, 2014, 02:05:45 PM »
First Solar just bid two new solar farms in India at $0.086 and $0.087 per kWh.

That is cheaper than coal-electricity using imported coal. 

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/solar-cheaper-in-india-than-imported-coal-latest-auction-confirms-60317

That's a price that will lower India's coal consumption and bring more damage to Australian coal exporters.

AbruptSLR

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Re: Coal
« Reply #312 on: October 28, 2014, 11:26:07 PM »
Per the linked article, the Obama admin is considering giving the coal-fired power plants more time to convert to natural gas (see extract):

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-28/power-plants-may-get-more-time-to-cut-carbon-in-epa-plan

Extract: "The Obama administration is considering a change in its timetable to curb carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants, a proposal that would give electric utilities more time to meet the reduction targets.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued additional information on its proposal after some states and utilities said the required switch to gas from coal by 2020 -- a major part of the original plan -- may cause prices to jump or crimp supplies of electricity. The agency said it would consider a “glide path” for the requirement over an additional nine years so that coal plants won’t be taken out of service early."
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #313 on: October 29, 2014, 04:47:57 PM »
Quote
Ninety-two leading banks last year provided at least EUR 66 billion in financing to the coal industry, according to new coal financing data released today in BankTrack's ‘Banking on coal 2014' report. [1] This, believes the global campaigning network, represents a highly regrettable ‘record year' for financial support extended to the top 65 coal companies in both the coal mining and power sectors.

Released just days ahead of the publication of the fifth United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report, the EUR 66 billion figure represents a more than fourfold rise in climate-busting coal financing when compared to 2005, according to BankTrack's research.

Analysing what is now one of the primary forms of life support for a global coal industry in crisis, the new report also reveals that leading banks have provided 373 billion euros (500 billion dollars) in financing for the coal industry between 2005 and April 2014. The top 20 financiers, including JPMorgan Chase, Citi and RBS in the top three, have alone provided 73% of this amount. [2]

The new BankTrack research accompanies the launch of the ‘Banks: Quit Coal' campaign that aims to pressure commercial banks to cut their ties with the coal industry and instead divert capital to clean energy and energy efficiency. A new ‘Coal banks' website, also launched today, provides extensive data about the banking industry's ongoing deep links with the coal industry, and gives people around the world an opportunity to directly encourage banks to finally end their coal financing. [3]
http://www.banktrack.org/show/news/_record_year_for_bank_coal_financing_as_latest_un_climate_warning_looms
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #314 on: October 29, 2014, 05:05:38 PM »
Quote
Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., all of the U.S., also have joined a roster of international lenders worried about Abbot Point’s environmental impact. Britain's Barclays PLC, HSBC Holdings PLC and Royal Bank of Scotland PLC also have said they were unwilling to get involved. Deutsche Bank AG in May said it wouldn’t offer funding for Abbot Point after the U.N. condemned a government plan, since reversed, to allow mud and rock dredged from the sea floor during an expansion to be dumped in waters near the reef
http://m.wsj.com/articles/morgan-stanley-to-advise-on-stake-sale-of-disputed-coal-port-1414412910
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #315 on: October 29, 2014, 05:14:11 PM »
So if the coal industry is increasingly dependent on the banks for money to survive, but the banks now increasingly refuse to give money to the coal industry….
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #316 on: October 29, 2014, 10:53:11 PM »
Fasten your seat belts.  It's going to be rough landing in Coalville...

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #317 on: October 31, 2014, 01:43:54 AM »
Quote
Denmark is looking into how the country can stop using coal as an energy supply by 2025, the Climate and Energy Minister Rasmus Helveg Petersen said on Wednesday (29 October). The Scandinavian country's centre-left government had previously aimed at being coal-independent by 2030.
The problem: how to do this without increasing importation of German energy from coal.

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/energy/denmark-wants-be-coal-free-2025-309593
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #318 on: November 10, 2014, 07:23:26 AM »
Quote
New analysis from Deutsche Bank notes the precarious nature of the coal industry even in the world’s most voracious consumer. It notes that even in China, coal is on a downward trend, and it has written down the value of some coal companies in China by an astonishing 92 per cent.

...

It shows that coal imports into China fell by half in November, and nearly that much in October.

Deutsche Bank expects that could continue for all of 2015, as the government seeks to rebalance domestic supply and demand. “There is no defying the fall,” it notes.

China coal consumption may not rise at all over calendar 2015, and new domestic projects may not be encouraged. To address the plunging cost of coal, the government is likely to focus its measures on restricting imports, with a cut in half the most likely outcome in most of the scenarios mapped by Deutsche Bank.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/china-slashes-coal-imports-coal-generation-slumps-47396

This puts the Australian government in a bind.  They've bet their economy on exporting coal to China.

Shared Humanity

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Re: Coal
« Reply #319 on: November 10, 2014, 06:04:33 PM »
Quote
To address the plunging cost of coal, the government is likely to focus its measures on restricting imports, with a cut in half the most likely outcome in most of the scenarios mapped by Deutsche Bank.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/china-slashes-coal-imports-coal-generation-slumps-47396

This puts the Australian government in a bind.  They've bet their economy on exporting coal to China.

"The government is likely to focus its measures on restricting imports."

This phrasing is very interesting. The U.S. pursues a dramatic increase in the production of unconventional sources of petroleum and natural gas and we are seeking "energy independence". China has a drop in domestic consumption of coal which results in lower demand for imported coal and they are "restricting imports".

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #320 on: November 11, 2014, 03:29:43 PM »
Quote
Australia continues to frustrate efforts by fellow G20 members to include climate change on the agenda at the upcoming leaders' summit in the eastern city of Brisbane this weekend.
...
Campbell Newman, premier of Queensland state, put the political equation bluntly in June, saying: "We are in the coal business. If you want decent hospitals, schools and police on the beat, we all need to understand that."
...
"Australia's politicians should take a deep breath and look for other options," said Tom Sanzillo, director of finance at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. "Realistically, there will be no recovery of coal prices in the foreseeable future, and a response other than one that produces more of something that's not profitable is required."
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/11/coal-versus-climate-australia-2014111012491252509.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #321 on: November 11, 2014, 03:33:08 PM »
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #322 on: November 14, 2014, 08:24:16 AM »
The wolves drag down the weakest first

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141113/GZ01/141119629
http://www.wvgazette.com/assets/PDF/CH62291113.pdf

Hey, Don, thought you were in the predator class ? I guess they cut you loose ... so sad.

sidd


Neven

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Re: Coal
« Reply #323 on: November 14, 2014, 09:00:40 AM »
The wolves drag down the weakest first

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141113/GZ01/141119629
http://www.wvgazette.com/assets/PDF/CH62291113.pdf

Hey, Don, thought you were in the predator class ? I guess they cut you loose ... so sad.

sidd

This bit on Wiki says it all really: "When groundwater pollution from coal slurry injection by Massey Energy, began contaminating wells around Blankenship's home, Massey paid to build a water line to his home from a neighboring town. Blankenship did not offer to provide uncontaminated water to any of his neighbors."

I wonder if he will really be imprisoned...
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sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #324 on: November 14, 2014, 10:42:39 PM »
That sleazeball has a lot of blood on his hands. He was so wired into the West Virginia power structure that he was untouchable for a long time. That's why it's a federal indictment. It took a couple of his major henchmen rolling over on him to get this to trial.

He will try a plea deal eventually, if not he will appeal. Will probably wind up in Club Fed. Best justice money can buy.

I am looking carefully at Alpha who bought Massey out, and has lost a large fraction of a billion on that deal.

sidd

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #325 on: November 18, 2014, 03:21:10 AM »
Quote
India’s Energy Minister Piyush Goyal, who is in Australia for the G20 meet, recently announced that India plans to completely stop coal imports within a period of 2 to 3 years.
Because India's domestic coal is so much cheaper.  But still, it's another nail in the coffin for Australia coal exports.  And, I imagine, a boost for renewables, when India's domestic coal production continues to fail to hit targets.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/11/14/india-shocks-australia-stop-coal-imports-three-years/
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deep octopus

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Re: Coal
« Reply #326 on: November 18, 2014, 04:48:38 PM »
Then there's this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/world/coal-rush-in-india-could-tip-balance-on-climate-change.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Emphasize mine in bold.

Quote
Coal Rush in India Could Tip Balance on Climate Change

DHANBAD, India — Decades of strip mining have left this town in the heart of India’s coal fields a fiery moonscape, with mountains of black slag, sulfurous air and sickened residents.

But rather than reclaim these hills or rethink their exploitation, the government is digging deeper in a coal rush that could push the world into irreversible climate change and make India’s cities, already among the world’s most polluted, even more unlivable, scientists say.

“If India goes deeper and deeper into coal, we’re all doomed,” said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and one of the world’s top climate scientists. “And no place will suffer more than India.”

India’s coal mining plans may represent the biggest obstacle to a global climate pact to be negotiated at a conference in Paris next year. While the United States and China announced a landmark agreement that includes new targets for carbon emissions, and Europe has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, India, the world’s third-largest emitter, has shown no appetite for such a pledge.

...

Mr. Goyal has promised to double India’s use of domestic coal from 565 million tons last year to more than a billion tons by 2019, and he is trying to sell coal-mining licenses as swiftly as possible after years of delay. The government has signaled that it may denationalize commercial coal mining to accelerate extraction.

...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also vowed to build a vast array of solar power stations, and projects are already springing up in India’s sun-scorched west.

But India’s coal rush could push the world past the brink of irreversible climate change, with India among the worst affected, scientists say.

India is intent on delivering electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It has more than one way to skin a cat--"all of the above"--and coal is a key way it plans to see this through. Fair access to cheaper solar power should be pushed to the extent possible to compete with coal. More tragically, in spite of air and water pollution coming into sharp relief, on par with or even worse than Chinese cities, awareness of coal's dangers has not yet reached critical mass in a call for action as it has in China (particularly with respect to respiratory problems):

Quote
One reason for the widespread domestic support for India’s coal rush is the lack of awareness of just how bad the air has already become, scientists say. Smog levels that would lead to highway shutdowns and near-panic in Beijing go largely unnoticed in Delhi. Pediatric respiratory clinics are overrun, but parents largely shrug when asked about the cause of their children’s suffering. Face masks and air purifiers, ubiquitous among China’s elite, are rare here. And there are signs Indian air is rapidly worsening.

“People need to wake up to just how awful the air already is,” said Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading intergovernmental organization for the assessment of climate change.

India has a mixed record at best on its approach to climate, having the largest solar plant in Asia and yet intent on doubling coal consumption in five years--reading this article, I think India has substantially little concern for climate at this time, especially following from what it sees as Western hypocrisy.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2014, 05:29:25 PM by deep octopus »

Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #327 on: November 18, 2014, 08:17:14 PM »
I think you sell Indian citizens short.  Many (I'd guess most) are very aware of how bad their air is and the dangers of climate change.  But life is still difficult for most people living in India.  When one is concerned with feeding their family today it's hard to put much energy into worrying about your health 10, 20 years from now or how climate changes will impact  your grandchildren and their grandchildren.

China is in the initial stages of fighting back pollution.  That didn't get underway until China had achieved some degree of wealth.

I suspect increasing domestic production of coal and reducing/eliminating imports is all about improving the economy.  And while coal consumption is being moved from offshore to onshore India is pushing ahead with wind and solar and increasing their push.

It has to be very clear to the decision makers in India that new wind and solar are cheaper than new coal plants.  The first step is to slow/stop the construction of new coal plants, then to start closing the most inefficient.  Where the coal comes from is less important or perhaps is very important if it means that India's economy is stronger, allowing more investment in renewables.

deep octopus

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Re: Coal
« Reply #328 on: November 18, 2014, 08:52:21 PM »
I think you sell Indian citizens short.  Many (I'd guess most) are very aware of how bad their air is and the dangers of climate change.  But life is still difficult for most people living in India.  When one is concerned with feeding their family today it's hard to put much energy into worrying about your health 10, 20 years from now or how climate changes will impact  your grandchildren and their grandchildren.

That observation originally came from the article as I quoted, though you're right, I don't think "awareness" is really the appropriate choice of word, at least as a generalization (for instance, some regions may be more exposed to acute pollution than others.) I also agree with the quandary you observe, which is that abject poverty in India presents difficult choices of priorities for many of its people. I don't think mining owners and industry at-large are particularly worried about the financial well-being of its poorest citizens however and aren't pushing for coal out of altruism as much as they are profits, but that's solely my opinion (I suspect I'm not alone.) It would be beneficial to the world at large for wealthier countries to continue to push for fairer access to cheaper solar to developing countries. Whether or not the coal is burned here, there, or anywhere else, it adds to our existential crisis--so for the better do we remove coal from the equation as soon and as efficiently as possible.

P-maker

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Re: Coal
« Reply #329 on: November 18, 2014, 11:29:28 PM »
Chinese coal imports 22 % lower in Q3 2014:

http://shippingwatch.com/secure/carriers/Bulk/article7198460.ece

That is what you could call coal-lateral damage!

On the other hand, empty ships may be used for something more valuable, such as this:

http://shippingwatch.com/secure/carriers/Bulk/article7216170.ece

It could be a way forward for the shipping industry, if they figure out how to drive their engines on sustainable biomass.

wili

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Re: Coal
« Reply #330 on: November 19, 2014, 06:30:46 PM »
"coal-lateral damage" Nice!

Here's something to warm (or cool?) Bob's heart:

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/19/3593567/china-climate-target-peak-coal-2020/

China To Cap Coal Use By 2020 To Meet Game-Changing Climate, Air Pollution Targets

Quote
The Chinese government announced Wednesday it would cap coal use by 2020. The Chinese State Council, or cabinet, said the peak would be 4.2 billion tonnes, a one-sixth increase over current consumption.

This is a staggering reversal of Chinese energy policy, which for two decades has been centered around building a coal plant or more a week. Now they’ll be building the equivalent in carbon-free power every week for decades, while the construction rate of new coal plants decelerates like a crash-test dummy.

The 2020 coal peak utterly refutes the GOP claim that China’s recent climate pledge “requires the Chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years.” Indeed, independent analyses make clear a 2020 coal peak announcement was the inevitable outcome of China’s game-changing climate deal deal with the U.S. last week, where China agreed to peak its total carbon pollution emissions in 2030 — or earlier.

I would think that if their coal use really peaked by 2020 that they would be able to get to peak CO2 emissions well before 2030. Are they really thinking that NG and petrol will increase that much from 2020 to 2030?
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #331 on: November 20, 2014, 09:20:48 AM »
A few years back China stated that they were going to hit peak coal, then later they said that was impossible but were shooting for 2017.

I think China's leaders really, really dislike missing goals.  I'd watch for Chinese coal use to peak before 2020 by a year or three.  I'm hoping we see firm signs of a slowdown by this time next year.  A conformation of the slowing we seem to be seeing followed by an even  larger drop in coal consumption.

If China shows significant slowing over the next couple of years watch for India to step up their game.  I really don't think India wants to be a left-behind country.  Moving off coal is likely to be seen as a sign of progress.


Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #332 on: November 21, 2014, 08:50:19 PM »
NRG Energy, the US's largest independent power company, has committed itsel to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050.  NRG operates about 20 coal-fired plants.

They expect to do some of the job with carbon capture but I suspect that idea won't fly far and they'll find a cheaper route.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/11/20/nrg-sets-ambitious-target-of-90-cut-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-2050/

sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #333 on: November 23, 2014, 07:27:37 AM »
No one has explicitly mentioned this, but the Chinese announcement of peak coal at 15% over current in 2020 will bankrupt several Australian coal operations. Billiton and Peabody take a hit too, which is all good. I wonder if anyone shorted Australian coal longterm debt before the announcement ...

sidd

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #334 on: November 24, 2014, 04:01:16 PM »
Germany aims to shut down eight additional coal plants.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL6N0TD0EG20141123?irpc=932
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SATire

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Re: Coal
« Reply #335 on: November 24, 2014, 06:25:20 PM »
Germany aims to shut down eight additional coal plants.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL6N0TD0EG20141123?irpc=932
Sigmetnow - not so fast please. Remember last weeks news
http://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1009.msg40150.html#msg40159
and keep in mind, that Mr. Gabriel and the head of the economy ministry in your link are the same person. After last weeks news the green poeple shouted loudly. Today there was a scream from industry thinking about bringing the government to trial if forced to shut down 8 plants.

This is the process to get a law in Germany: It bounces from left to right and each time a lot of voices ask for corrections and slingering to some point in the middle. This way a consensus is derived which could also last a change of government. So please be patient and wait until all parties said there thing and finaly agreed to a law. Neither will 8 plants be forced to shut down nor will Germany move away from targets. Perhaps they will agree on reaching that target freely somehow. We will see - but it can not be seen today.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #336 on: November 24, 2014, 06:51:48 PM »
Well, OK, how about:  German economy ministry drafts legislation that could require 8 additional coal-powered power stations to be shut down.   ;)
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #337 on: November 24, 2014, 06:57:12 PM »
India coal miners have threatened to strike over the government's planned divestment from coal.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/coal-india-trade-unions-call-off-monday-strike-114112300816_1.html
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #338 on: November 24, 2014, 07:50:53 PM »
RE:  Germany and India.

No one expected fossil fuels to go down without a fight.  Coal has slowed progress in the US and taken Australia hostage.

Coal will slow things down as they squeeze some more revenue out of their dying industry but they'll loose. 

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #339 on: November 24, 2014, 09:00:14 PM »
Yes; it seems to me the India government wants to reap what it can from selling out Coal India while it's still worth something.  Private coal companies going bankrupt -- someone else's problem!
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Re: Coal
« Reply #340 on: November 24, 2014, 09:22:41 PM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #341 on: November 24, 2014, 11:38:42 PM »
Hedge funds betting that coal companies will go bankrupt...  and that future coal prices will rise.

http://m.wsj.com/articles/hedge-funds-bet-on-coal-mining-failures-1416790137
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Re: Coal
« Reply #342 on: November 25, 2014, 08:20:26 AM »
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Citigroup says the impact of the China-US climate deal signed earlier this month could total $US3.9 trillion ($A4.5 trillion) – that’s the loss in revenue for Big Oil and Big Coal over the next 15 years from the joint undertaking on greenhouse gas emissions by the world’s two biggest economies.

Citi’s global commodities team say the most tangible impact of the US-China climate deal will be a $US1.3 trillion revenue hit for Big Oil between now and 2030, and a $US1.6 trillion hit against Big Coal.

That is the loss in revenue compared with commonly used baseline assumptions, just for those countries – as oil demand growth rates slow as engines become more efficient and many go for electric vehicles, and renewable are used in place of coal.

But the impact could be greater if the world moves towards an agreement in Paris next year that sets it on a path to limit average global warming to 2C.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/china-us-climate-deal-delivers-4-5-trillion-blow-big-oil-coal-82211

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Laurent

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Re: Coal
« Reply #343 on: November 27, 2014, 09:52:44 AM »

Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #344 on: November 29, 2014, 01:11:11 AM »
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France will eliminate export credits for energy projects in developing countries which involve coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, President Francois Hollande said on Thursday.

The European Union is phasing out subsidies for domestic coal plants by 2018 in line with its efforts to take a global lead in the fight against climate change.

But an EU policy paper seen by Reuters in June said European makers of coal-fired power plants such as France's Alstom should get financial help to export the equipment, flying in the face of environmental opposition to any form of subsidy for coal.

"Eventually, subsidies to all fossil fuels should be phased out," Hollande said at France's annual environmental conference. "We are eliminating all export credits in the support that we give to developing countries whenever coal is used."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/27/us-france-energy-coal-idUSKCN0JB17J20141127?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #345 on: December 01, 2014, 04:12:55 PM »
West Virginia coal country sees new era as mine boss Donald Blankenship is finally indicted for actions disregarding mine safety.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/us/west-virginia-coal-country-sees-new-era-as-a-mine-boss-is-indicted.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #346 on: December 02, 2014, 02:19:35 AM »
EPA says Texas must act to clear up its hazy skies.
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The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday rejected parts of a key Texas clean-air plan, setting up a conflict with deep implications both for the state’s electricity mix and air quality across much of the country.

The partial rejection of Texas’ regional haze plan, a federally required strategy for reducing pollution that causes hazy skies, would require 15 coal-burning generating units at eight Texas power plants to install or improve controls that limit emissions of sulfur dioxide.
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/11/epa-rejects-a-texas-clean-air-plan-orders-pollution-upgrades-on-some-big-coal-plants.html/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #347 on: December 03, 2014, 09:54:34 PM »
Germany's plan targeting coal plants is moving forward:
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BERLIN, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Germany's cabinet will on Wednesday agree plans to cut CO2 emissions by up to 78 million tonnes by 2020, pushing operators to shut some coal-fired plants, to help Europe's biggest economy meet ambitious targets to fight climate change.
...
The most contested step in the package will be compelling operators of coal plants to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 22 million tonnes, equivalent to shutting about eight coal plants.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL6N0TM2W720141202
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #348 on: December 06, 2014, 02:25:49 AM »
Coal ash waste from closed Duke Energy plant threatens river in North Carolina.
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Contaminated waste from a retired coal plant in Rowan County, North Carolina, has been found leaking into a tributary of the second largest river in the state, environmental groups charged on Thursday.

The groups Waterkeeper Alliance, Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Yadkin Riverkeeper said they discovered extensive leaks of coal ash coming from Duke Energy’s Buck Power Plant flowing into High Rock Lake, a tributary of the Yadkin River. Though the power plant no longer actively burns coal, it is surrounded by ponds filled with more than six million tons of coal ash — a waste byproduct from coal-burning.

Pete Harrison, an attorney representing the groups, told ThinkProgress that the seep was initially discovered in mid-November, after reports of a quarter-mile long area of orange-colored streaks along the river bank. The groups took samples of the seep, and found that it contained high levels of pollutants such as arsenic, lead, and selenium, the groups said in a press release. Coal ash usually contains similar chemicals.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/05/3600131/thick-orange-gooey-stuff/
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Coal
« Reply #349 on: December 06, 2014, 06:00:06 AM »
Lovely.

I wonder if we will be able to make Duke pay for the cleanup or whether taxpayers will have to foot the bill?