Coal

[Sigmetnow]

8 Black Lung Indictments Allege Coal Mine Managers Lied About Health Safety
Former Kentucky miners described being pressured to cover up coal dust monitors meant to protect them. New research shows a resurgence in black lung disease.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11072018/kentucky-coal-mining-black-lung-disease-armstrong-indictments-parkway-kronos-mine-safety-health

[gerontocrat]

From earther.com

https://earther.com/the-former-coal-lobbyist-now-leading-the-epa-just-gutte-1827695510

The Former Coal Lobbyist Now Leading the EPA Just Gutted Coal Ash Regulations

Our boy Andrew Wheeler has wasted no time during his takeover at the Environmental Protection Agency. Scott Pruitt may be out, but that doesn’t mean propping up the fossil fuel industry is. First on Acting Administrator Wheeler’s checklist? Easing restrictions on coal ash.

Coal ash is what’s left behind after a power plant is done burning the coal itself. In 2015, former President Barack Obama put out a rule to help regulate it. A final version of the Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities rule, aka the CCR rule, took effect in 2016, but once President Donald Trump took office, coal ash companies began petitioning the EPA to do away with it. Now, they’ve scored $28-31 million in savings through a revision that removes key elements of the rule that helped protect communities.......

After analyzing industry data on coal ash earlier this year, environmental groups found groundwater contamination throughout Oklahoma—the same state Pruitt approved just last month to regulate its own coal ash. And Oklahoma’s not alone: In Puerto Rico, a study in March uncovered that a major coal ash dump was contaminating groundwater in Guayama. The rollback of this rule will impact people there, too.......

Wheeler’s sign-off on the revision shouldn’t come as a surprise: The man is a former coal lobbyist, after all. This is just his first move, which the EPA has dubbed “Phase One, Part One.” What’ll Phase Two hold?

Scott Pruitt was incompetent, this guy Wheeler is good at what he does.

[Shared Humanity]

This is just his first move, which the EPA has dubbed “Phase One, Part One.” What’ll Phase Two hold?[/size]

[/quote]

Coal Ash will be added to the food pyramid.

[Sigmetnow]

U.S.:  Montana

If a major coal plant goes down and no one notices, can it impact reliability?

• Talen Energy's Colstrip coal generating facility in Montana has been shut down for a month or more, the Billings Gazette reports, due to difficulties meeting emissions standards. Colstrip is one of the largest coal plants in the country.

• The outage comes in the midst of a national debate over the necessity of fuel-based power plants and the federal government's consideration of a plan to stem a wave of coal and nuclear plant retirements.

• Talen already planned to shutter units 1 and 2 by 2022. Those units were offline for scheduled maintenance, so compliance issues with units 3 and 4 put the entire plant offline.

Dive Insight:
Montana has reduced its coal-fired capacity down to 37% from around 55% in 2015, according to a report this year from the state's Legislative Services Division. The decline in Montana mirrors resource changes across the country, and is part of the reason the White House is discussing plans to halt more power plant retirements.

But it is also why the shutdown of Colstrip, and how little news it generated, is significant. While the older Colstrip units are being phased out, units 3 and 4 were expected to continue operating. ...

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/if-a-major-coal-plant-goes-down-and-no-one-notices-can-it-impact-reliabili/528632/

[AbruptSLR]

The linked article projects that global coal power capacity should peak by about 2022; unfortunately this cut-back in the rate of coal power use will not be sufficient to meet the Paris goals:

Title: "Guest post: ‘Peak coal’ is getting closer, latest figures show"

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-peak-coal-is-getting-closer-latest-figures-show

Extract: "Total global coal capacity continues to inch up, but a peak is on the horizon. In the first half of 2018, retired capacity has nearly matched newly operating plants and the global pipeline for proposed coal is quickly eroding."
…
While significant, the amount of coal power capacity that began operating during the first half of 2018 (20GW) was nearly matched by the amount retired (16GW), for a net increase of just 4GW – the slowest rate of growth on record. If the slowdown continues global coal capacity should peak by 2022, if not sooner.
…
Coal is the biggest global contributor to heat-trapping CO2, making it essential to phase out its emissions to meet international climate goals.

The most cost-effective route to meeting the Paris Agreement’s “well below” 2C limit would see richer OECD and EU nations ending unabated coal use by 2030, China by 2040, and the rest of the world by 2050, according to climate science NGO Climate Analytics. (The IEA’s “well-below 2C” scenario sees unabated coal use ending by 2040 worldwide.)

However, just the currently operating coal capacity of these regions already exceeds those targets, even without new development."

[jacksmith4tx]

China Releases 2020 Air Pollution Action Plan
July 30 2018
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=afe1ce4d-d61c-4d44-a0dd-12380c653c96

Conclusion

China’s new action plan represents notable progress in combatting climate change and air pollution, by requiring “large reductions in total emissions of major pollutants in coordination with reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases”. Under the stricter and more targeted requirements, a broader range of regions are likely to substantially cut PM2.5, VOC, and nitrogen oxide production, while decreasing coal consumption.

[sidd]

An article about the blighted lands and water along the Susquehanna. I have travelled extensively in those parts, and seen this ruin of a once beautiful land. The tailings piles go on for miles.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/07/anthracite_minings_long_legacy.html

sidd

[rboyd]

China restarts coal plant construction after two-year freeze

The problem with 6-7% a year growth - energy efficiency plus decarbonization (e.g. wind, solar, nuclear, hydro etc.) cannot offset it enough to maintain even stable CO2 emissions. China is trying quite hard, but like every other country when the choice is between growth and reducing emissions, growth wins. Short of a new Global Financial Crisis like 2008, emissions will continue increasing given the slow policy actions in the West, and the need to grow rapidly in China, India, Indonesia etc.

http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/08/07/china-restarts-coal-plant-construction-two-year-freeze/

[rboyd]

India has massively expanded coal capacity, and now has a target for increasing the utilization of that capacity from 60% to 80% - thats would produce a 33% increase in the use of coal.

In fact, there is still more coal capacity in the pipeline, so the utilization rate may drop to 50%, meaning that coal derived electricity generation could jump by 60% before hitting the targeted capacity. As the capital expenditure is already done, only marginal costs will be the decider in the market for these coal plants.

India has targeted a 33%-35% reduction in carbon intensity, relative to 2005, by 2030. At 7% growth the economy will double every 10 years. Carbon Brief estimated that India could nearly double its CO2 emissions while meeting its Paris commitments.

"India’s pledge under the Paris Agreement is to reduce the carbon intensity (see below) of its economy by 33-35% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. Given projections of very strong economic growth over this period, emissions are expected to grow significantly."

"the steep capacity development of grid-connected coal (and lignite) power stations in India, with capacity reaching almost 200GW in 2017, more than doubling since 2007 ... Renewables in India generate electricity, on average, about 30% of the time, while the figure for coal is about 60%. This is low for coal. The government’s target for coal is 80%.

So while renewables made up 18% of total capacity at the end of 2017 – up from 15% the year before – it contributed only 7.5% of generation for the year. (Gas capacity is also misleading: with very constrained supplies, gas-powered stations in India operate at only 20% of capacity.)"

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-indias-co2-emissions-grew-strongly-in-2017

[rboyd]

Indonesia neglects renewables in export and domestic-driven coal boom

"Indonesia’s coal industry is enjoying a resurgence, driven both by rising demand from China—the world’s biggest consumer of the fossil fuel—and a push by the government in Jakarta to build more coal-fired power plants."

"Domestic demand is also driving the boon for Indonesia’s coal producers, thanks to an ambitious government plan to add 56 gigawatts (GW) of electricity capacity across the archipelago by 2027, mostly through the construction of new coal-fired power plants."


http://www.eco-business.com/news/indonesia-neglects-renewables-in-export-and-domestic-driven-coal-boon/

[rboyd]

The "contraction and convergence" proposals that died a quick death a decade ago captured the issue very well. The rich countries need to drastically cut their emissions to make way for the poorer ones to raise their people out of poverty, and at the same time help fund the poorer ones to put in clean energy. The real "climate criminals" are the rich countries that wont do what's needed to significantly cut their emissions, the top 10% of the Earth's population in income/wealth terms.

A none starter given that they would have to accept that they would become less wealthy on a relative basis (or perhaps even absolute) and their countries would lose power on a relative basis as per capita GDP started to converge. Given the populations of China, India and Indonesia etc., this is of course a huge nightmare for the Europeans and North Americans who are used to dominating the globe.

[Sigmetnow]

Colorado approves Xcel plan to retire coal, shift to renewables and storage

Colorado's Public Utility Commission (PUC) voted unanimously on Monday to give preliminary approval to Xcel Energy's Clean Energy Plan, which would see the utility close 660 MW of coal-fired generation a decade earlier than scheduled and shift to renewable resources.

Under the plan, Xcel will close units 1 and 2 at the Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo and invest $2.5 billion in renewable energy and battery storage. The utility expects the plan to save ratepayers $213 million.

In January, the utility solicited notably low bid prices for wind-plus-storage, $21/MWh, as well as $36/MWh for solar-plus-storage, some of the lowest bids for renewable energy plus storage on record. ...

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/colorado-approves-xcel-plan-to-retire-coal-shift-to-renewables-and-storage/531098/

[sidd]

That colorado plan calls for 275 MW battery, but how many hours can it supply that ? then theres 380 MW natgas, which i suppose is backup. 1.1GW wind, 0.7GW solar panels.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/08/27/xcel-plan-boosting-renewables-greenlighted/

sidd

[Sigmetnow]

That colorado plan calls for 275 MW battery, but how many hours can it supply that ? then theres 380 MW natgas, which i suppose is backup. 1.1GW wind, 0.7GW solar panels.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/08/27/xcel-plan-boosting-renewables-greenlighted/

sidd

If the battery in South Australia is any guide, the “hours supply equivalent” is unimportant, in regular operation, compared to its grid-balancing and “auxiliary grid services,” using power from the solar and wind.  The only time the batteries would be a pure supply source would be in the case of a major grid failure — and batteries are at their best at preventing that.

[sidd]

Going, going ...

"FirstEnergy Solutions said Wednesday it plans to shut down its remaining four coal plants by 2022. The three Ohio plants are on the Ohio River in Stratton. Its last Pennsylvania coal plant is in Shippingport."

Thats a hard hit to jobs in Steubenville and Shippingsport. I go thru those areas. Ain't much there. Trump country, but that's for another thread ...

There's seven 180MW units in Steubenville, 4 are already gonna shut in 2020, last three axed now. Shippimgport is 2.5GWatt total, 3 units. A few gigawatt here, a few gigawatt there, pretty soon you talking serious coal tonnage.

https://www.10tv.com/article/utility-close-coal-power-plants-ohio-pennsylvania

sidd

[sidd]

Coal dies, and many towns die with it: West Virginia in China:

"The immediate reason for the protest was a local government decision to cut costs in government-funded schools by relocating all fifth and sixth grade students to private schools."

"Leiyang has been heavily dependent on the coal industry which has been in continuous decline leaving the city’s government in a deep financial crisis."

"Many areas of China have been hit by closures and retrenchments as the central government has restructured the coal and steel industries to wind back capacity and destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs."

Aye, coal must die, but what of those left behind ?

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/09/10/prot-s10.html

sidd
 

[sidd]

Surprise, surprise. Pruitt to become coal consultant. Mebbe good news, his incompetence might hasten coal demise. He's made a dog's breakfast of everything else.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/406353-former-epa-head-in-talks-to-be-coal-consultant-report

sidd

[Sigmetnow]

States Begged EPA to Stop Cross-State Coal Plant Pollution. Wheeler Just Refused.

Maryland and Delaware had asked EPA to require upwind coal plants to reduce their emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution under a provision of the Clean Air Act. Maryland's petition, for example, asked that the EPA to require about three dozen plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to run their already-installed pollution control equipment during the summer months.

EPA: There Isn't Sufficient Evidence
Pruitt had sat on the petitions, along with a similar request from the state of Connecticut, for months without acting. Federal courts ruled four times this year that such delays were illegal—most recently on June 13, when a federal judge in Maryland ordered the EPA to act on that state's petition.

In the notice signed by Wheeler on Friday, the EPA said that it does not have sufficient evidence that upwind states and sources are significantly contributing to the downwind states' problems with ground-level ozone, or smog. ...

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17092018/coal-plant-smog-pollution-epa-ruling-state-border-health-maryland-delaware-andrew-wheeler

[jacksmith4tx]

EPA: There Isn't Sufficient Evidence
Pruitt had sat on the petitions, along with a similar request from the state of Connecticut, for months without acting. Federal courts ruled four times this year that such delays were illegal—most recently on June 13, when a federal judge in Maryland ordered the EPA to act on that state's petition.

In the notice signed by Wheeler on Friday, the EPA said that it does not have sufficient evidence that upwind states and sources are significantly contributing to the downwind states' problems with ground-level ozone, or smog. ...

If you think the EPA is in the pocket of big business now... well it's going to get a lot worse.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/407247-epa-inspector-general-to-resign
Now the Rs have the opportunity to put in a industry compliant toadie should we should worry?
6 to 1 odds it will be a former industry lobbyist or CEO.

[sidd]

Navajo coal plant to close, 2+gigawatt.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/407780-navajo-owned-coal-plant-to-shutter-despite-interior-push-to-keep

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Generating_Station

sidd

[Sigmetnow]

Navajo coal plant to close, 2+gigawatt.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/407780-navajo-owned-coal-plant-to-shutter-despite-interior-push-to-keep

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Generating_Station

sidd

Great news.  Now get Zinke out of the way and replace the coal plant with solar.

[sidd]

Another 700MW coal gone:

https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Texas-coal-plant-to-shut-down-by-2020-13255710.php

sidd

[gerontocrat]

Whoops!

While the US of A and Europe gradually close their coal-fired power stations, it looks like another 259GW is coming on-stream in China.

Satellite images show 'runaway' expansion of coal power in China
Extra 259GW capacity from coal in pipeline despite Beijing’s restrictions on plants

Chinese coal-fired power plants, thought to have been cancelled because of government edicts, are still being built and are threatening to “seriously undermine” global climate goals, researchers have warned.

Satellite photos taken in 2018 of locations in China reveal cooling towers and new buildings that were not present a year earlier at plants that were meant to stop operations or be postponed by orders from Beijing.

The projects are part of an “approaching tsunami” of coal plants that would boost China’s existing coal capacity by 25%, according to the research group Coalswarm.

The total capacity of the planned coal power stations is about 259GW, bigger than the American coal fleet and “wildly out of line” with the Paris climate agreement, the group said in a new report.

“This new evidence that China’s central government hasn’t been able to stop the runaway coal-fired power plant building is alarming – the planet can’t tolerate another US-sized block of plants to be built,” said Ted Nace, executive director of CoalSwarm, which is funded by international green groups and private donations.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/26/satellite-images-show-runaway-expansion-of-coal-power-in-china

Link to CoalSwarm
http://coalswarm.org/trackers/a-shrinking-coal-plant-pipeline-mide-2016-results-from-the-global-coal-plant-tracker/

[gerontocrat]

Germany joins China & Australia in "The Great Coal Comeback"

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/01/german-minister-backs-plan-to-cut-down-forest-to-build-coal-mine

German energy secretary backs forest clearance to build coal mine
Thomas Bareiß says use of polluting fuel at RWE plant is needed to keep the lights on

Controversial plans to chop down a German forest to build a vast coal mine should proceed because Germany needs the polluting fuel to keep the lights on, according to the chief of the country’s state secretary for energy.

Dozens of treehouses built and occupied by campaigners for years have been recently cleared by police to make way for plans by energy firm RWE, which owns Hambach forest near Cologne, to expand its nearby opencast coal mine.

Environmental groups have rallied against the project, which they argue would lock the country into higher carbon emissions, just as a government-appointed commission simultaneously debates a timeline for Germany to phase out coal.

“It should go ahead,” said Thomas Bareiß when asked by the Guardian if the Hambach clearance should proceed when the “coal exit commission” is still deliberating.

Bareiß said RWE had “a right to do this”, noted that the regional government had already agreed the clearance and said Germany needed the mine to maintain its energy supplies in the short term. “We still need lignite [brown coal] for our reliable coal supply.”

[rboyd]

China is building coal power again - but already massive overcapacity

Looks like a short-term jump in electricity demand, plus power shortages in some areas, has meant  a relaxation of control. Longer term though looks like many of these plants are simply not economically viable - unless China very significantly ramps up coal usage, which will effect its clean air targets and its new "good climate citizen" image. Interesting to see if they reign things back later, looks like there will still be a coal consumption increase this year though (which means that global CO2 emissions will most probably be up in 2018).

"One of the biggest issues facing China’s coal sector since 2016 has been too much generating capacity, not too little. So what changed? Recently published economic data for the first half of 2018, along with the latest policy adjustments, indicate that China’s power demand is rebounding.
So will this year’s sudden leap in demand for electricity end China’s two-year policy of reducing coal-power capacity?

It’s worth noting that the policy of reducing capacity only temporarily reined in a trend towards overcapacity in the sector. Utilisation rates for coal-fired plants recovered slightly from a 50-year low in 2016, but are still nowhere near a healthy level of about 5,500 hours a year, and have not even returned to 2015 levels. In other words, there is still too much coal-fired power. Li Fulong said that due to a hike in coal prices, half of the country’s coal power plants were running at a loss in the first six months of the year. The sector is in poor shape generally and is still trying to recover from a bad 2017.

'I think once the industrial rebound runs out of steam, there will be a renewed focus on overcapacity, but for now the issue seems to be firmly on the back-burner,' Greenpeace's Lauri Myllyvirta said"

https://www.chinadialogue.net/blog/10761-China-is-building-coal-power-again/en

[TerryM]

IIRC Large volumes of Russian gas will begin flowing into China in the very near future. Is their any possibility that these new coal plants could be switched to gas if it became available?
Terry

[SteveMDFP]

IIRC Large volumes of Russian gas will begin flowing into China in the very near future. Is their any possibility that these new coal plants could be switched to gas if it became available?
Terry

As I recall, this question came up previously.  My recollection of the matter is that there are substantial reductions in efficiency with such a retro-fit vs custom-built gas plants.

Ordinarily, this might preclude the effort.  However, China has *critical* problems with air quality.  They might well be in a position to sacrifice quite a bit of efficiency in the interests of air quality, in the short term.  They can then build custom-built gas plants over time.

Not that this does any better for the climate over the next few decades.  I've read that Russian gas processing leaks much more methane than in the rest of the world's processing.  Maybe the Chinese can help them with that.

[sidd]

Edgewater 4 shuts down, another 380MW gone:

https://whbl.com/news/articles/2018/oct/03/sheboygans-power-plant-shut-down/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgewater_Generating_Station

sidd

[SATire]

Hambi bleibt! https://hambachforest.org/?noredirect=en_US

Hambacher forest can stay - uprooting is banned by country court. Details about the topic here: https://www.dw.com/de/hambacher-forst-verst%C3%B6%C3%9Ft-geplante-rodung-gegen-das-recht/a-45619111


This may be a first victory against the excessive lignite burning in Germany. There is a hope that "Hambi" could become a symbol just like Gorleben and Wackersdorf have been in the eighties in the preparation of the exit from nuclear. However, it took about 10-20 year for nuclear (until 2002) and it maybe necessary that the green party needs to be in government again to get that job done. But at least they are on the rise (maybe ~18% next week in Bavaria?).

Nevertheless today is party time!  20 000 people are expected today https://www.merkur.de/politik/ersten-sind-schon-da-anti-kohle-demo-und-jubel-party-im-hambacher-forst-gericht-erlaubt-hambi-demo-zr-10260530.html and the weather is fine 

[sidd]

Flickling at bloomberg has optimism on coal demise:

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-09/the-end-of-coal-could-be-closer-than-it-looks

sidd

[sidd]

White House backs off on coal, nuclear rescue:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/15/rick-perry-coal-rescue-trump-850528

sidd

[TerryM]

White House backs off on coal, nuclear rescue:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/15/rick-perry-coal-rescue-trump-850528

sidd

I spun off into Murray Coal when I remembered the mine collapse that cost 6 miners their lives. The cost to the company included fines that amounted to ~1/30th of the fines that Musk's Missive generated.


I'm sure that there is a lesson to be learned, but I'm unclear just what it might be.
Terry

[sidd]

Wales will leave unmined coal in the ground:

"Wales' new proposed plan to reject all future coal mining applications is set to be finalized by the end of the year ..."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/22/historic-moment-climate-action-wales-pledges-leave-its-remaining-coal-ground

sidd

[Sleepy]

In January - September 2018, SUEK produced 81.5 million t of coal, representing a 5% increase y/y.
https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/23102018/suek-january--september-2018-operational-results/

Sales volumes during the first nine months of 2018 increased by 9% compared to 2017, amounting to a total of 85 million t of coal and other energy goods.

International sales grew by 4% y/y to 43.3 million t of coal and other energy products. SUEK’s key export markets include South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Morocco, Vietnam, Israel, Italy and Spain.

Sales to Russian customers increased by 15% y/y. Russian customers were sold 41.7 million t of coal, 39.9 million t of which were delivered to electric power plants.

Generating assets of Siberian Generating Company (SGK), which joined SUEK Group in August 2018, produced 31.4 billion KWh of electricity and 26.6 million Gcal of heat during January - September 2018.

[rboyd]

Given that the Asia Pacific region is now about 3/4 of global coal usage (see graph below), efforts within the rest of the world (e.g. Europe and North America) may have little impact at the global level. Unless China, India, Indonesia etc. start significantly reducing coal usage global consumption will at the least stay about the same, and perhaps continue to rise. The building of so many new coal fired power stations, and the large spare capacity in India, does not bode well for such large reductions.

"Unabated coal generation (that is, from plants without CCUS) increased by 3% in 2017, more than offsetting the 2016 decline, due mainly to strong growth in Asia and particularly China and India ... Coal-fired electricity generation in India rose by 13%, a substantial rebound of growth in the country, due mainly to strong growth in power demand (+12%). Southeast Asian economies saw strong coal generation growth as well in 2017"

https://www.iea.org/tcep/power/coal/

The incredible rise of coal consumption in Asia from 2002 to 2012 is evident in the graph from BP below.

https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy/coal/coal-consumption.html

[rboyd]

India's thermal coal consumption to reach 1,076 MT by 2022-23: CRISIL

"India's consumption of non-coking coal is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4 per cent to reach 1,076 million tonne (MT) in 2022-23 from 826 MT last financial year, driven by a 6.5 per cent growth in coal-based power generation, ratings agency CRISIL said on Monday."

https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/coal/indias-thermal-coal-consumption-to-reach-1076-mt-by-2022-23-crisil/65475033

[rboyd]

Coal kicks on: Why China’s emissions have not yet peaked

If China CO2 emissions do go up by 5%, and India's continue upwards, then 2018 will be a big reversal year with respect to global CO2 emissions and coal usage.

"Looking at the numbers suggests that:
- CO2 emissions will rise in China by more than 5% in 2018 due to the pull through impacts of China construction growth;
- China coal consumption will rise this year keeping coal prices high even if domestic production increases;
- Wind, PV and Nuclear have gained electricity market share, but because of a hydro down turn, the second one in the past few years, thermal electricity share is at least as high as 3 years ago.
- As long as this state of affairs continues, coal-fuelled electricity plants are unlikely to feel excessive profit pressure. Capacity utilization will likely stay around 50% this year."

https://reneweconomy.com.au/coal-kicks-on-why-chinas-emissions-have-not-yet-peaked-51479/

[rboyd]

Indonesia 2018 coal consumption to miss target amid slow growth - PLN

Will rise less than planned but still up year-over-year

"Indonesia’s coal consumption for power is expected to reach 88.5 million tonnes in 2018, an official at state electricity utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said on Wednesday"

Thats below the 2018 target of 92 million tonnes BUT up from the previous years amount of 82.2 million tonnes.

https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN1MY26F-OZATP

[rboyd]

Coal consumption surges in Vietnam

Starting from a small base, but looking to increase coal consumption rapidly.

"The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) has topped its business goal for the first five months of the year with coal consumption reaching 17.6 million tons. This figure was 2.8 million tons over the same period last year. The nation’s consumption of 4.2 million tons of coal last month was the highest recorded in years, according to Vinacomin.

Vietnam plans to build 26 additional coal power plants after 2020 ... which have a targeted annual output of 30 Gigawatts (GW), ...Coal, despite its harmful environmental impacts, is still the dominant power source for Vietnam. By 2030, over half of the country’s power will come from coal, adding 55,300MW to the national grid from 83 plants across the country, according to the revised government Power Development Master Plan VII."

The irony of the Mekong Delta being one of the most at risk areas from sea level rise, while Vietnam increasingly burns coal, is evident.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/coal-consumption-surges-in-vietnam-3760238.html

[vox_mundi]

Another reason not to use it ...

Study Finds Unexpected Levels of Bromine in Power Plant Exhaust

A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, finds unexpectedly high levels of reactive bromine-containing chemicals in plumes emitted by coal-fired power plants not using a particular type of exhaust-cleaning technology.

Bromine species impact the chemistry occurring in the atmosphere as sunlight can convert them into extremely reactive chemicals. These could then react with and alter the breakdown process of compounds such as nitrogen oxides and ozone, which are both pollutants that can have detrimental effects on respiratory health. ... Some of the by-products produced by these reactions are considered possibly carcinogenic after long-term exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

... Some coal-fired power plants artificially enhance their fuels with bromide salts because they help reduce the emission of mercury, a chemical with highly toxic effects. But this strategy can introduce bromine-containing chemicals into the atmosphere in an uncontrolled way, according to the study's authors. ... "In their attempt to clean up the mercury, they created a secondary problem with the bromide."

Because bromine emissions from coal-fired power plants have not been studied until now, their impacts on the atmosphere, which might extend into regions far from the point of emission, are not well understood. (... Arctic?)

Ben H. Lee et al. Airborne Observations of Reactive Inorganic Chlorine and Bromine Species in the Exhaust of Coal-Fired Power Plants, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (2018)

[crandles]

Another reason not to use it ...

Study Finds Unexpected Levels of Bromine in Power Plant Exhaust

A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, finds unexpectedly high levels of reactive bromine-containing chemicals in plumes emitted by coal-fired power plants not using a particular type of exhaust-cleaning technology.

Bromine species impact the chemistry occurring in the atmosphere as sunlight can convert them into extremely reactive chemicals. These could then react with and alter the breakdown process of compounds such as nitrogen oxides and ozone, which are both pollutants that can have detrimental effects on respiratory health. ... Some of the by-products produced by these reactions are considered possibly carcinogenic after long-term exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

... Some coal-fired power plants artificially enhance their fuels with bromide salts because they help reduce the emission of mercury, a chemical with highly toxic effects. But this strategy can introduce bromine-containing chemicals into the atmosphere in an uncontrolled way, according to the study's authors. ... "In their attempt to clean up the mercury, they created a secondary problem with the bromide."

Because bromine emissions from coal-fired power plants have not been studied until now, their impacts on the atmosphere, which might extend into regions far from the point of emission, are not well understood. (... Arctic?)

Ben H. Lee et al. Airborne Observations of Reactive Inorganic Chlorine and Bromine Species in the Exhaust of Coal-Fired Power Plants, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (2018)

 (... Arctic?)
Sure you don't mean ozone holes?
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1995/press-release/

[sidd]

Screw the retirees, what have they done for us lately ?

 https://trib.com/business/energy/cloud-peak-cancels-health-care-plan-for-retired-miners/article_231867a2-a83b-52b3-a323-5d0f1f1fc9af.html

sidd

[sidd]

PJM interconnect CEO sez we dont need a bailout for coal/nuke but throws them a bone anyway:

"Government intervention is unnecessary,"

"action could come though a number of avenues, Ott said, such as compensating plants for refueling their gas or oil supplies. "

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pjm-ceo-pans-coal-bailout-but-says-plant-payments-needed-in-mid-2020s-1/541200/

sidd

[sidd]

Coal generators chuckle over loosened EPA emission rules:

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/electric-utilities-quietly-praise-epa-coal-plant-emissions-rule/541281/

sidd

[Sleepy]

_{Early oil industry knowledge of CO2 and global warming
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0349-9}

[Sigmetnow]

No surprise to most Forum readers.

It's now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running

Inflation dictates that the cost of living will continue to rise — except, it seems, when it comes to renewable energy. The cost of building a new utility-scale solar or wind farm has now dropped below the cost of operating an existing coal plant, according to an analysis by the investment bank Lazard. Accounting for government tax credits and other energy incentives would bring the cost even lower.

"There are some scenarios, in some parts of the U.S., where it is cheaper to build and operate wind and solar than keep a coal plant running," said a Lazard banker who was involved in the report. "You have seen coal plants shutting down because of this."

Every year, the investment bank analyzes the cost of different types of energy using a metric called the levelized cost of energy, or LCOE. This analysis factors in the cost of components and the cost of operations, as well as the cost of debt, to come up with the smallest dollar amount, per unit of energy, for an investor in the project to see a 12 percent return.

The LCOE for coal this year is between $27 and $45 per megawatt. That figure is $29 to $56 for a wind farm and $31 to $44 for a solar farm, depending on the technology used. ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/its-now-cheaper-to-build-a-new-wind-farm-than-to-keep-a-coal-plant-running/

[Steven]

Video: The coal companies making Europe sick



More info at
https://beyond-coal.eu/last-gasp/

[TerryM]

Steve
Nice video.


Rather than fiddling while Rome burns, Trump plays Angela to halt the importation of Russian gas, while Merkel poisons her neighbors while burning coal.
It also seems as though Bulgaria (and her neighbors) really could have benefited by accepting the South Stream gas they so bravely declined.


Terry

[Sigmetnow]

Adani's Carmichael mini-mine opens the floodgates for more Queensland coal mines

It's not the mega-mine promised, or feared — but, if we can believe Adani's assurances, it's nonetheless a game changer that will open a vast new coal-mining region, the last major untapped coal resource in Australia.

For eight years, Adani has cried wolf on the Carmichael coal mine, announcing on multiple occasions that finance was imminent and the mine would soon be underway.

Yet it failed to secure bank finance anywhere in the world or to gain government-backed funding from China, Korea or India.

Now, it's going it alone.

The giant conglomerate run by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani will, apparently, dig into its own pockets to 100 per cent finance a much pared-back mine and rail project.

Some are still sceptical. Julien Vincent of Market Forces, a long-time critic, describes the claim of "financial close" as "highly questionable".

But it's likely that the Indian group can fund some style of venture in North Queensland out of its own resources; it's also said to be squeezing contractors and suppliers to effectively help fund the mine. ...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-29/adani-mini-mine-gets-go-ahead-from-indian-parent/10568420

[sidd]

Adnani Coal is an albatross that will sink Adnani group. They have learned nothing from the coal experience in the USA.

sidd