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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #550 on: April 14, 2016, 01:51:07 AM »
Peabody Energy, the world's 2nd-biggest coal miner, has officially filed for bankruptcy
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Peabody Energy, the world's largest privately owned coal producer and the second biggest on earth, has filed for US bankruptcy protection.

The bankruptcy comes after a sharp fall in coal prices that left it unable to service a recent debt-fueled expansion into Australia, saying it is taking "a major step to strengthen liquidity and reduce debt amid an unprecedented industry downturn."

The company listed both assets and liabilities in the range of $10 billion (£7 billion) to $50 billion (£35 billion), according to a court filing.

Peabody's bankruptcy filing ranks among the largest in the commodities sector since energy and metals prices began to fall in the middle of 2014 as once fast-growing markets such as China and Brazil began to slow.

http://www.businessinsider.com/peabody-energy-files-for-bankruptcy-2016-4
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #551 on: April 14, 2016, 04:56:48 PM »
As we await first quarter financial results, How Are Coal Industry Stocks Shaping Up?
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As Q1 earnings releases take center stage, let’s take a hard look at how the coal industry is placed going into the earnings season. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) in its latest release announced a gloomy picture for coal stocks. Per EIA forecasts, coal production will decrease by 143 million short tons (MMst) or 16% in 2016 and a further 3% or 26 MMst in 2017 on a year-over-year basis. EIA also estimates that export of U.S. coal will decline by 15 MMst or 21% in 2016 and by 2 MMst or 3% in 2017.

Coal usage in the U.S. electric power sector accounts for nearly 90% of total U.S. coal consumption. Per an EIA release, coal usage is expected to decline by 50MMst (7%) in 2016 as a result of mild winter weather and competition from natural gas.

Coal export will be hurt by the strong dollar and higher production from global competitors who enjoy the double benefit of cheap labor and lower transportation costs. 
http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/213192/how-are-coal-industry-stocks-shaping-up-before-q1
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AbruptSLR

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Re: Coal
« Reply #552 on: April 15, 2016, 05:46:45 PM »
It is quite the statement that the availability of natural gas due to fracking has led to the demise of Peabody Energy Corp & temporarily ended its coal production; when currently due to leaks that natural gas is currently causing more global warming than the coal was:

Benjamin Hulac, E&E reporter, ClimateWire: Thursday, April 14, 2016, "Analysts blame natural gas, not 'war on coal,' for Peabody's demise"

http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060035598

Extract: "Cheap and plentiful natural gas, as well as an oversupplied market of inexpensive coal -- not environmental regulations -- are the primary forces behind Peabody Energy Corp.'s bankruptcy and others in the U.S. coal industry, a wide range of financial experts said."
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #553 on: April 19, 2016, 01:30:58 AM »
Coal’s decline has been a slow burn that suddenly seems to be picking up
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The investment that used to go into coal is going increasingly to renewables. In 2015, investment in renewables was double that for coal and gas combined, according to a study (pdf, p.11) from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Also this week, the sun provided more power to British homes than coal for the first time in history (though admittedly only on one single day). For one month last year, coal wasn’t the biggest producer of US energy, for the first time ever.
http://qz.com/662789/coals-decline-has-been-a-slow-burn-that-suddenly-seems-to-be-picking-up/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #554 on: April 20, 2016, 01:21:30 AM »
Vattenfall exits German coal unit as it seeks sustainable energy
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Swedish state-owned energy giant Vattenfall said on Monday it had reached a deal to sell its German coal operations, employing 8,000 people, as it moves away from activities blamed for climate change.
...
“We are now accelerating our shift towards a more sustainable production. The sale means more than 75% of our production will be climate neutral compared to about 50% today,” Hall said.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/18/vattenfall-exits-german-coal-unit-as-it-seeks-sustainable-energy
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #555 on: April 20, 2016, 01:42:07 AM »
Great news about declining U.S. coal production.  (Bad news: methane emissions are up.)

These striking numbers show just how fast we’re switching off coal
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The U.S. Energy Information Administration, in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, stated that the U.S. production of coal last month totaled 52 million short tons — which was a 36 percent decrease from levels seen just one year earlier, in March of 2015.
...
The gist? Coal production in the United States is falling, faster than expected and long before the U.S. Clean Power Plan, which was stayed by the Supreme Court, has come into effect.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/04/19/these-striking-numbers-show-just-how-fast-were-switching-off-coal/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #556 on: April 27, 2016, 02:56:57 AM »
“It’s a historic day when a federal agency recognizes there’s no foreseeable future for coal.”

PRESS RELEASE: GOVERNMENT SAYS ‘NO’ TO TONGUE RIVER RAILROAD
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The Surface Transportation Board today dismissed Tongue River Railroad Company’s (TRRC) application to build the proposed coal-hauling Tongue River Railroad. The railroad would have used the power of federal eminent domain to condemn family farm and ranch land in southeastern Montana in order to haul coal from Arch Coal’s proposed Otter Creek mine to Asian export markets.
https://www.northernplains.org/11314-2/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #557 on: April 28, 2016, 02:53:20 AM »
Bill McKibben:  Plans for big Filipino power plant scrapped after citizen outcry!

Cebu city council junks coal plant project
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CEBU CITY, Philippines – Through their collective efforts, Cebuanos won against the proposed coal-powered plant in Sawang Calero, Cebu City.
...
Sheida Henry, a concerned citizen, started an online petition to stop the construction of the coal-powered plant in Sawang Calero.
http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/130965-cebu-city-council-junks-coal-plant
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #558 on: April 29, 2016, 02:25:09 AM »
Great!  Now let's do the same thing with natural gas.

U.S.:  Power sector coal demand has fallen in nearly every state since 2007
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Consumption of steam coal used for electricity generation in the U.S. electric power sector fell 29% from its peak of 1,045 million short tons (MMst) in 2007 to an estimated 739 MMst in 2015. Consumption fell in nearly every state, rising only in Nebraska and Alaska over that period. States with the largest declines were concentrated in the Midwest and Southeast, with six states in these regions accounting for nearly half of the national decline. Smaller declines in power sector coal consumption occurred in Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana, all in the Rocky Mountain region.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm
« Last Edit: April 29, 2016, 02:47:35 AM by Sigmetnow »
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TerryM

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Re: Coal
« Reply #559 on: April 29, 2016, 07:57:11 PM »
If recent studies about natural gas vs. coal prove to be correct, this push away from coal might be very counterproductive.
http://www.thenation.com/article/global-warming-terrifying-new-chemistry/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #560 on: April 29, 2016, 09:26:56 PM »
New Assessment Finds Emissions From Proposed Coal Terminal in Washington State Would be ‘Significant And Unavoidable’
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The coal industry is looking to export terminals like these as a lifeline for their declining industry — as coal consumption in the U.S. continues to decrease due to low oil prices and domestic policies, coal companies hope they can find willing buyers overseas, especially in Asia. In addition to helping add more greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, coal export terminals would require more coal-packed trains to travel from the central United States to the coast, creating a potential public health hazard from coal dust and derailments or spills.

Millennium Bulk Terminals, the company behind the project, first submitted a proposal to build a coal export terminal in Longview in 2009. The initial proposal was unanimously approved by the Cowlitz County commissioners, but Millennium was later forced to withdraw that proposal when internal documents, made public through discovery related to a lawsuit brought by environmental groups, revealed that the company intended to ship 60 million tons of coal annually through the terminal rather than the 5.7 million tons of coal that it had originally applied for.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/04/29/3774114/longview-coal-terminal-environmental-impact-statement/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #561 on: May 13, 2016, 02:18:50 AM »
The Plan To Revive Big Coal’s Fortunes Isn’t Panning Out
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In 2011, at the peak of proposed coal export terminals throughout the Pacific Northwest, there were six projects that could have shipped, cumulatively, more than 100 million tons of coal a year from the Powder River Basin to Asia. Now, just one proposal within the Pacific Northwest remains.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/05/11/3776839/coal-export-terminal-decline/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #562 on: May 14, 2016, 09:00:48 PM »
UK energy from coal hits zero for first time in over 100 years
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The amount of electricity generated from coal in the UK has fallen to zero several times in the past week, grid data shows.

In what green energy supporters have described as a “historic turning point” for the UK’s power system, coal-fired electricity first fell to zero late on Monday night and for the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to data from BM Reports.

On Thursday, there was no electricity from coal for more than 12 and a half hours, more than half the day, with it making no contribution to the UK’s power supplies late at night when demand was low and for a period in the day, the data shows.

It is thought to be the first time the UK has been without electricity from coal since the world’s first centralised public coal-fired generator opened at Holborn Viaduct in London, in 1882, according to the Carbon Brief website which reports on climate science and energy policy.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/13/uk-energy-from-coal-hits-zero-for-first-time-in-over-100-years
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #563 on: May 20, 2016, 01:41:56 PM »
U.S.:  Feds want to ensure coal companies can clean up land they damage
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The federal agency that oversees surface coal mining said Wednesday that it would consider drafting new rules to ensure that coal companies can afford to clean up land they damage – though the announcement is not likely to lead to change soon.

The announcement, by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, comes as the nation’s largest coal companies have declared bankruptcy amid a steep downturn in the coal market, putting at risk their ability to meet legal obligations under the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, which requires them to pay to restore, or reclaim, land they have mined.

“The bankruptcy of the large coal mining companies has raised grave concerns,” said Joe Pizarchik, director of the surface mining enforcement agency, in a conference call Wednesday.

The agency said it would specifically consider whether to revise what many critics say is a flawed process allowed under the 1977 law, called “self-bonding,” which some states allow coal companies to use to meet financial obligations for reclamation work. Under self-bonding, instead of having to take out third-party surety bonds or another form of insurance, companies are effectively allowed to argue that their history of financial health is all the evidence they need to prove they can pay for reclamation.

But over the last year, as companies like Arch Coal and Peabody Energy have declared bankruptcy, the possibility has increased that companies will not be able to clean up their mines. Critics and some government regulators worry taxpayers could be forced to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of reclamation.
...
Pizarchik said Wednesday that he hoped the announcement would spur a broad public response. He repeatedly noted that states have the power to change things far more quickly than the rule-making process if by simply ending self-bonding. He said it was reasonable to question whether there had been “collusion or malfeasance” to continue self-bonding among states or industry given the obvious stress on the coal industry.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-sej-coal-self-bonding-20160518-snap-story.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #564 on: May 31, 2016, 12:28:23 AM »
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sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #565 on: June 06, 2016, 12:41:20 AM »
Mebbe one day the miners will pay for cleanup ...

https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/1F012EA1238D7A3C85257F490054E52E/$file/14-1149-1596081.pdf

EPA to establish financial assurance rules for mining cleanup. Whatever the rules are, they will be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, where they will be upheld, since the Court has found for the EPA in previous similar decisions. But it will take so, so, long.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #566 on: June 06, 2016, 08:37:05 PM »
Oregon becomes first state to pass law to completely eliminate coal-fired power
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Oregon has become the first US state to pass laws to rid itself of coal, committing to eliminate the use of coal-fired power by 2035 and to double the amount of renewable energy in the state by 2040.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/03/oregon-coal-climate-law-kate-brown
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #567 on: June 16, 2016, 01:41:21 AM »
Coal Ash Mess Continues To Muddy Utilities, Citizens And Regulators
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Despite the fact that federal environmental regulators have wrapped up a coal ash rewrite, some utilities still have their toughest battles ahead of them — how to get rid of the yucky stuff that is now on their sites and how to prevent it from leaching into the drinking water supplies.

The infighting is particularly rough in Georgia and North Carolina. There, environmentalists are pushing harder to uproot existing sites while coal-burning utilities are saying it can be safe where it is. It’s a fight that will only escalate with the retirement of more and more coal plants. The Environmental Protection Agency can now regulate those sites but the states will still have a lot of say.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2016/06/15/coal-ash-mess-continues-to-muddy-utilities-citizens-and-regulators/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #568 on: June 18, 2016, 04:19:25 PM »
Japan doubles down on coal power as trading houses curb investment
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As most developed economies turn their back on coal, Japan is burning record amounts for electricity generation and plans to use even more of the dirtiest fossil fuel to fill the gap after the Fukushima disaster paralysed its nuclear sector.

But as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government pushes coal power, both at home and through exporting technology abroad, some of Japan's powerful trading houses are cutting or freezing coal investments over concerns about the environmental fallout.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-coal-idUSKCN0Z22VR
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #569 on: June 28, 2016, 09:58:26 PM »
Coal Companies Spent $95 Million on Lobbying Before Bankruptcies
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Five coal-mining companies spent $95 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers and more than half a billion dollars on salaries for top executives in the decade before they filed for bankruptcy, according to a report by an environmental group.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-28/coal-companies-spent-95-million-on-lobbying-before-bankruptcies


"Coal supplied 24.6 percent of U.S. electricity in April, compared to nearly 50 percent a decade ago."
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #570 on: June 28, 2016, 10:18:31 PM »
Phasing Out Coal: The Philippines At A Crossroad
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...environmentalist Gina Lopez [has] been offered the position of Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)...

Ms. Gina Lopez is a well-known environmentalist and vocal anti-mining advocate. In recent times she has lent her voice is and support to affected communities and the broad movement in calling for the phase-out of coal plants and coal mining in the country.

In one of her live interviews after officially accepting the offer to head DENR, Ms. Lopez candidly criticised coal use in the country. She argued against using coal when there is an abundance of solar, wind, and geothermal energy in the country, and against the use of an outdated and dirty energy source which many countries are already phasing out.
...
Solar Philippines recently announced a plan to establish the country’s first local solar manufacturing plant. 
 
This announcement adds to the declaration from a major energy utility, the Energy Development Corporation, last month that they would never develop, build or invest in any coal plant and will massively ramp up renewable energy. In the Philippines, change is starting in the private sector as more and more companies are shifting away from coal.
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerry-arances-/phasing-out-coal-the-phil_b_10707308.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #571 on: June 28, 2016, 10:28:47 PM »
Oakland, California Votes to Block Large Shipments of Coal
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SAN FRANCISCO — The city of Oakland, Calif., on Monday banned the transport and storage of large coal shipments, a blow to a developer’s plans to use a former Army base as an export terminal to ship coal to China and other overseas markets.

The terminal would have been the largest coal shipment facility on the West Coast, with a planned capacity to increase coal exports in the United States by 19 percent, according to the Sierra Club, the environmental group.

Weeks of feisty debate over the ban, which the Oakland City Council unanimously passed late Monday night and which will become law after a second reading next month, covered familiar ground: the trade-offs between jobs and environmental concerns.

But the debate also raised the larger and more unusual question of how much a city should weigh the global environmental impacts of the commodities that flow through its ports. A report prepared by the city argued for a coal ban partly because the coal, once it was burned overseas, would contribute to climate change and rising sea levels.

“Oakland cannot afford to ignore the scientific evidence that clearly show the harmful effects and risk associated with coal,” said Dan Kalb, a City Council member who proposed the ban along with the mayor, Libby Schaaf. “With this new law, we’re taking the steps needed to protect our community, our workers and our planet.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/us/oakland-coal-transport-ban.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #572 on: June 29, 2016, 01:42:23 PM »
Monthly coal use for U.S. power falls to lowest since 1978 -EIA
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Coal used to generate U.S. power fell in April to its lowest monthly level since 1978, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report.

Coal-fired power plants generated just 72.2 million megawatt hours in April, their lowest since April 1978, according to EIA data released on Friday. One megawatt is enough to power about 1,000 U.S. homes.

Natural gas, meanwhile, surpassed coal as the United States' top fuel source for the third straight month, producing 100.0 million MWh in April, the EIA said.

Of the total 293.3 million MWh generated in April, gas accounted for 34 percent and coal just 25 percent.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/usa-natgas-coal-idUKL1N19J0H4
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #573 on: July 06, 2016, 02:43:27 AM »
Murray Energy, the U.S.'s largest private coal company, announced plans earlier this week to lay off as many as 4,400 workers, or 80 percent of their remaining workforce.

Coal Baron Promises Huge Layoffs, Then Tells Workers To Vote Trump
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/murray-energy-trump_us_57792fcce4b09b4c43c0c2c3

A more local view on the issue:
Murray Energy Warns of Potential Layoffs at Ohio Valley Mines
http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2016/07/murray-energy-warns-of-potential-layoffs-at-ohio-valley-mines/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #574 on: July 08, 2016, 01:06:35 PM »
Big Coal Just Saw One Of Its Favorite Loopholes Closed
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The Obama Administration last week took a closely-watched first step in its effort to reform the federal coal program by issuing a rule that will make it harder for coal companies to dodge royalty payments when mining on taxpayer-owned public lands.

The rule, issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), closes a loophole that enabled coal companies to sell coal to their own subsidiaries — and then pay royalties on that artificially depressed price. Through these self-dealing transactions, coal companies have been able to shortchange U.S. taxpayers and state governments millions of dollars in royalty payments that are owed on federal coal.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/07/06/3795892/coal-royalty-loophole-closed/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #575 on: July 25, 2016, 08:40:04 PM »
 :o :-\ :(  >:(

Burning coal for gas in UK seabeds would flame pollution, says report
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The UK government’s Coal Authority has granted licences for underground coal gasification (UCG) covering more than 1,500 sq km of seabed off north-east and north-west England, Wales and east central Scotland.

The Scottish and Welsh governments have put temporary moratoriums on the technology because of concerns about the dangers. Scottish ministers are awaiting an independent review in September, which is likely to be critical of UCG.

But a company led by the veteran oil entrepreneur and former owner of the Spectator, Algy Cluff, is pursuing major developments near the shores of northern England.

Cluff Natural Resources has licences for nine potential undersea coalfields amounting to 640 sq km, valid until 2018-2020. Two are off the coast near Durham, two off Cumbria, two off Wales and three in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/25/burning-coal-gas-uk-seabeds-flame-pollution-report-coal-authority-ucg
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #576 on: July 26, 2016, 08:41:58 PM »
Here’s how a post-coal Appalachia could thrive
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Clean energy and energy efficiency

Analysts say the shift to clean power will create more jobs than it eliminates. Enterprising coal workers are trying to bring a few of those jobs to Appalachia.

Retired Kentucky coal miner Carl Shoupe and his colleagues on the Benham Power Board are spearheading a citywide energy efficiency program. Contractors will make homes more power-thrifty  —  installing insulation, sealing windows, etc. — and homeowners will pay for the upgrades through a charge on their monthly electric bill. The charge will be less than what customers save on energy.

Shoupe believes communities that once ran on coal can add jobs and save money by investing in energy efficiency. According to a report from Synapse, an energy consulting firm, Kentucky could create more than 28,000 jobs by embracing energy efficiency and renewable energy.
http://grist.org/climate-energy/heres-how-a-post-coal-appalachia-could-thrive/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #577 on: August 01, 2016, 11:51:59 PM »
 How much are coal-fired plants worth? It depends.

Powering Down
The owner of Texas’ biggest fleet of coal-fired power plants is trying to wiggle out of paying its property taxes.
Quote
Over the last eight years, Luminant has used Texas’ industry-friendly property tax protest system to whittle away at its bill. Just eight years ago, in 2008, the Monticello plant was appraised at $1.05 billion. Today, Luminant claims the plant is worth only $50 million — that it has lost 95 percent of its value in eight years. Even if the appraisal district wins in court, the plant’s current taxable value of $341 million has dropped by more than two-thirds since 2008, taking millions of dollars off the tax rolls for Mount Pleasant ISD, Northeast Texas Community College, Titus County and the Titus County Hospital District. Under Texas law, Luminant and other big industrial taxpayers can sue to drastically lower their property valuations, often forcing local governments to cut budgets and raise taxes to make up for the lost revenue.
https://www.texasobserver.org/luminant-corp-property-tax/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #578 on: August 02, 2016, 01:11:17 AM »
El Paso Electric celebrates coal-free status
Quote
El Paso Electric has become coal-free and no longer is using the fossil fuel to power its generators, making it the only electric utility in Texas and New Mexico to have no coal-fired power generation, officials said.
...
El Paso Electric on July 6 completed the sale of its part ownership in the Four Corners coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Indian Reservation near Farmington, N.M. That was the company's sole source of coal power.

The company sold its 7 percent ownership stake, which it held for 50 years, for $32 million to Arizona Public Service Co., or APS, a Phoenix-based electric utility, which operates the plant. Three other electric utilities in New Mexico and Arizona still have ownership interests in the plant and get power from it.

El Paso Electric won't get most of the money for the sale because it had to pay almost $28 million in future costs for when the plant closes in possibly 15 years - making the deal a virtual wash for the company, said Nathan Hirschi, the company's chief financial officer.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2016/07/29/el-paso-electric-coal-power-plant-ownership-sale-environment-energy/87707782/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #579 on: August 02, 2016, 02:28:10 AM »

TVA Won’t Clean Up Toxic Coal Ash Pits Because It’s Too Expensive
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Nearly a decade after the worst coal ash spills in U.S. history, a federally owned public utility is closing 10 toxic coal ash pits across Tennessee and Alabama. But it won’t clear up the toxic residue from the pits, leaving open the possibility of water contamination.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said Friday it planned to cap-in-place 10 unlined coal ash at six plants where the ash was dumped for some 50 years.

Coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal for energy and contains known carcinogens like arsenic, lead, and mercury. Energy companies dumped coal ash for decades into ditches they then filled with water. Usually unlined and close to waterways, coal ash ponds are known to leak, and went federally unregulated until 2014.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/08/01/3803703/tva-to-cap-coal-ash-pits-in-place/
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sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #580 on: August 02, 2016, 05:15:19 AM »
"How much are coal-fired plants worth?"

A very large and negative number.

sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #581 on: August 07, 2016, 12:52:18 AM »
First Energy discovers the cost of coal plants this quarter was minus a billion odd US$

http://powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2016/07/28/Power-plants-weigh-down-FirstEnergy-s-earnings/stories/201607280190

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/plagued-by-uneconomical-coal-plants-firstenergy-posts-11b-q2-loss/423607/

"The loss includes pre-tax asset impairment and plant exit costs of $1.5 billion related to the planned deactivation of coal-fired W.H. Sammis Units 1-4, and Bay Shore Unit 1, fueled by petroleum coke."

So sad.

sidd

mati

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Re: Coal
« Reply #582 on: August 07, 2016, 02:36:08 AM »
now what to do with all that horrible petroeum coke left over from refining alberta dilbit???
and so it goes

sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #583 on: August 07, 2016, 06:19:17 AM »
"now what to do with all that horrible petroeum coke left over from refining alberta dilbit???"

Like the doctor says, stop doin that. Oilsands will die as Tesla wins.

It does take a while for the dinosaurs to dies tho, and sometimes they reinvent themselves, like GM is trying and IBM pulled off.

TerryM

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Re: Coal
« Reply #584 on: August 07, 2016, 07:08:30 PM »
"now what to do with all that horrible petroeum coke left over from refining alberta dilbit???"


IIRC The Brothers Koch were/are stockpiling, then transporting huge volumes to jurisdictions which still allow the use of coke for energy production. Legislation is needed to prevent the sale of this nasty byproduct regardless of where the potential buyer is located.
CO2 generated in Tanzania is every bit as dangerous to us as CO2 generated in Toronto. The same rule should apply for coal. If it's too dirty to use locally, its too dirty too allow it to be shipped.

Terry

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #585 on: August 09, 2016, 08:07:01 PM »
U.S. coal regulator to crack down on cleanup coverage
Quote
U.S. states should force coal companies to set aside collateral to pay for future mine cleanups and protect taxpayers as the industry braces for further declines, a leading federal regulator said on Tuesday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-coal-cleanup-idUSKCN10K1WD
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #586 on: August 23, 2016, 02:28:35 AM »
Customers End Up Paying For The Toxic Legacy Of Coal Ash
Quote
On Wednesday, Megan Davies, a state epidemiologist with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, resigned over the controversy, stating that she felt that the Department had deliberately misled the public about the safety of potentially contaminated wells.
https://thinkprogress.org/coal-ash-carolinas-public-burden-a71cbdcd58d7
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Darvince

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Re: Coal
« Reply #587 on: August 23, 2016, 04:40:07 AM »
I checked the IEA report for this month and coal is still falling in the US at a stunning pace ;D

James Lovejoy

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Re: Coal
« Reply #588 on: August 24, 2016, 06:45:48 AM »
The weekly eia.gov coal report is shocking.

"For the week ended August 13, 2016 . . . U.S. year-to-date coal production totaled 421.6 mmst, 25.2% lower than the comparable year-to-date coal production in 2015"

Unexpectedly good news.

http://www.eia.gov/coal/production/weekly/

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #589 on: September 13, 2016, 02:42:41 AM »
“Coal plants are getting less revenue for every megawatt-hour they generate and sell, and they are also generating and selling less product.”

Report: Seven Texas Coal Plants Could Close in Coming Years
Some plants are likely to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, Public Citizen says.
Quote
The report, published by the consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen, found that seven of the state’s 19 coal plants — which represent 40 percent of the state’s coal capacity — are financially inviable and likely to hemorrhage money if power production continues to decline at coal plants and energy market prices remain low in the coming years.

The seven plants — including three owned by Luminant, one owned by Dynegy and three public utility or agency-owned plants — are likely to lose more than $160 million a year. Luminant’s Monticello plant, for instance, is likely to be worst off. It could lose anywhere from $60 million to $100 million dollars each year from 2017 to 2024, according to the report.
https://www.texasobserver.org/coal-plants-shutter-public-citizen-report/
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sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #590 on: September 17, 2016, 05:36:13 AM »
Screwing the miners. I feared this.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-envrionment/294899-miners-plead-for-pension-rescue

I know some with black lung.


sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #591 on: September 18, 2016, 12:50:17 AM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #592 on: September 21, 2016, 03:02:28 AM »
Bust Hits America’s Wyoming Coal Basin After 40 Years of Boom
Quote
The last bastion of the American coal industry has been breached.

The bust that’s devastated Appalachia for five years has finally reached cowboy country’s Powder River Basin. For four decades, the 300-mile corridor stretching from Wyoming north into Montana thrived on the strength of the cleaner low-sulfur coal carved from its vast plains. No more.

After producing more than 400 million tons every year since 2004, the region’s output this year will drop by about 100 million tons, analysts say, undercut by cheap natural gas, growing utility use of renewables and new environmental rules. Since last fall, 1,100 workers, or 17 percent of the mining workforce, have lost their jobs, leaving the industry and the economy reeling.
...
Coal has a long history in the Powder River Basin. With Appalachian coal closer to the big city populations of the northeast, though, the region early on mostly served its surrounding area.

That changed in the 1970s, when approval of the Clean Air Act combined with cheaper shipping rates from railroad deregulation to smooth the way to eastern markets. Before long, power plants as far away as Georgia were deciding whether to install expensive “scrubbers” to reduce sulfur dioxide under the new clean-air rules, or buy the Powder River Basin’s suddenly cheaper low-sulfur coal. Production soared.

The basin offers two key advantages. Having developed under fresh-water conditions dating to the age of dinosaurs, the basin’s coal has a sulfur content that’s less than a fourth of the variety that formed even earlier beneath salt water in much of competing Appalachia and Illinois.

Secondly, while the region’s coal has less carbon per ton than Appalachia’s product, forcing plants to burn 50 percent more to generate the same electricity, it makes up for that with its sheer abundance. The coal is located close to the surface, eliminating the need for deep mines. Instead, the region depends on cheaper open-pit mining, using hulking excavators.

Powder River “was just booming — 40 straight years,’’ Godby said. “The best way to forecast output was to use a straight line, linear and up.’’

Now, though, the direction of that line has changed, and industry executives and analysts have big concerns about the future.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-09-20/bust-hits-america-s-cowboy-coal-basin-after-40-years-of-boom
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #593 on: September 24, 2016, 08:22:31 PM »
Australia:
Hazelwood shutdown: Victoria's dirtiest, brown coal power station set to close early next year
Quote
Previously, a staged shutdown had been considered, but orders from WorkSafe Victoria requiring new investment are understood to have all but convinced the company the plant is no longer viable, with environmental concerns also a factor.
...
Environment Victoria chief executive Mark Wakeham said retiring Hazelwood was the single largest step that could be taken to clean up Australia's energy supply.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hazelwood-shutdown-victorias-dirtiest-power-station-set-to-close-early-next-year-20160923-grn0ph.html
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sidd

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Re: Coal
« Reply #594 on: October 08, 2016, 06:43:43 AM »
And another two bite the dust.

"Neither the 620 MW Hudson Generation Station in Jersey City or the 632 MW Mercer Generation Station in Hamilton Township cleared the last PJM Interconnection capacity auction, which was apparently the last straw for PSEG."

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/pseg-to-shutter-12-gw-of-coal-fired-generation-next-year/427659/

Hefaistos

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Re: Coal
« Reply #595 on: October 08, 2016, 07:59:29 AM »
Well, there is less of dust, and a little bit less of CO2
But a lot more of CH4. Which seems to be the national policy, see quote.

"The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects 8 GW of gas generation capacity additions in 2016, reflecting the recent trend of utilities shifting to gas fired generation. From 2000 through 2015, the U.S. added 284.36 GW of gas capacity — nearly 70% of the 410.28 GW of total utility-scale capacity added to the grid."

The climate effect is negative in the coming decades from such substitions within the FF arena, due to the very high GWP of methane, the positive effect on GW comes only later.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #596 on: October 08, 2016, 09:05:09 PM »
Scottish government to 'block' underground coal gasification
Quote
The Scottish government has said it "cannot support" underground coal gasification, after a new report raised environmental concerns.

Energy minister Paul Wheelhouse told MSPs that the gas extraction technique "poses numerous and serious environmental risks".

He said it would have "no place in Scotland's energy mix at this time".
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-37565927
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #597 on: October 27, 2016, 09:11:54 PM »
This case could spell the end for coal trains
Quote
Every day, between 80 to 100 trains laden with coal leave the mines of the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming, bound for export terminals and power plants across the country.

But coal trains can’t be covered, due to the combustible nature of coal, which means that as these trains rumble through communities, and near rivers, they can spew coal dust into the air and, potentially, into bodies of water.

For years, environmental and climate groups have tried to hold railroad companies that ship coal responsible for the pollution caused by coal trains. Now, a federal judge in Seattle has determined that, under the Clean Water Act, a case can go forward to hold BNSF Railway liable for pollution from coal trains. The judge warned that, to prevail, environmental and climate groups must show that debris from the coal trains is directly polluting bodies of water.
https://thinkprogress.org/coal-dust-clean-water-lawsuit-bnsf-b3748b74cb73
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Coal
« Reply #598 on: October 30, 2016, 01:08:34 PM »
IEEFA Update: How a ‘Clean Coal’ Myth Squandered Hundreds of Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Before It Was Unmasked
FutureGen Is Now Properly Relegated to the Past
Quote
When the U.S. Department of Energy pulled the plug in February on a $1 billion subsidy to build FutureGen, a “clean coal” plant in Illinois, it put a merciful end to a twisted tale that had been unraveling for years. The coal industry peddled influence at high levels among both Democrats and Republicans to move the project forward, but in the end it was killed—and rightly so—by economic realities.
http://ieefa.org/how-a-clean-coal-myth-squandered-hundreds-of-millions-of-taxpayer-dollars-before-it-was-finally-unmasked/
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Shared Humanity

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Re: Coal
« Reply #599 on: October 30, 2016, 04:14:28 PM »
Despite rapid growth in renewables and steady growth in nuclear with the trends forecasted to continue through 2040, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that this will not prevent fossil fuel consumption, coal included, to continue to grow to meet the world's energy needs. Without a coordinated, world wide plan that lies fully outside the markets for energy (something like the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after WWII), we are rapidly headed towards "Worst Case Scenario". We have less than 3 decades to have this Marshall Plan fully implemented.

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=12251

This essential response means, quite simply, that the energy markets, the companies that deliver these fuels, the banks that finance them, the investors whose life savings depend on their continued success will be completely and irrevocable disrupted. Fossil fuels, oil in particular, are fully monetized and, to a large extent, form the very foundation of the monetary system that allows global capitalism to exist. Were you impressed (surprised) by how a mortgage debt crisis, originating in the U.S., quickly devastated our financial system? You ain't seen nothing yet.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2016, 04:22:20 PM by Shared Humanity »