Coal


Talk about the US electricity generation sector and most people refer to national trends, but the fact is that in recent years state and regional policy has been crucial to unique local energy developments, as this Breaking Energy infographic, using US government data, shows.

Click on the picture above for a full size version, or to download. Keep reading →


Much like alchemists toiling away in their medieval labs, contemporary firms are trying to find oil out of every other substance that might contain carbon. The challenges are manifold, but the potential prize is huge.

Accelergy, a Houston, Texas-based alternative fuels startup, is trying to commercialize its technology to convert various combinations of coal, natural gas and biomass into a liquid fuel. Keep reading →

Coal shortages in China getting worse. Will that help renewables? It appears so: http://reut.rs/qmNDVn @Stphn_Lacey


Natural gas used for power generation emits about half as many greenhouse gases as coal during its production, distribution and use, environmental research organization Worldwatch Institute said.

The group’s report is the latest contribution to a burgeoning debate on the environmental advantages of natural gas. Keep reading →

Alexandria has a deal to close the #Mirant power plant next year. The plant has been an irritant in a neighborhood’s side for years @wtop
@hsilverbergwtop


A controversy over regulation of coal ash disposal has reached fever pitch in Illinois, where a group opposing efforts to limit new regulations began briefing the public and the media on the current status of those efforts.

Eleven Illinois Representatives are voting to prevent the US Environmental Protection Agency from implementing safeguards to improve toxic coal ash waste dumps within the state. The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and the Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) hosted a live telephone conference this week, in which professionals and residents expressed their disbelief over a lack of action on coal ash dumps.

The public debate over pollution from coal is usually focused on air emissions. For more on that debate, as well as the reliability impacts from new emissions rules, read Energy’s Four Letter Word.

The act responsible for the chaos is the HR 2018 Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011 passed by the US House of Representatives on August 13. Referred to as the “Dirty Water Act” by opponents, this act puts restrictions on the EPA’s ability to monitor clean water supply. and received the support of ten state House representatives.

“Under the Obama Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has been over-aggressive and over-regulating the rights of states to make their own decisions,” said Congressman Joe Walsh, who voted in favor of the Act. “I supported this bipartisan legislation because it ensures a balance in the federal-state partnership in implementing and enforcing the Clean Water Act.” said Congressman Joe Walsh, one who voted in favor of the Act.

In addition, the eleven total representatives voted in favor of H.R. 1 Amendment 217 which prohibited use of certain funds to regulate coal combustion residuals as hazardous waste or material. Although he voted against the HR 2018, Dold is the eleventh US representative to vote against EPA intervention with his support for Amendment 217.

What To Do With The Dump?

Illinois has the second highest concentration in the US of coal ash dump sites, according to the PRN. Groundwater sampling conducted by the Illinois EPA indicated that contamination has occurred at each of the 22 sites evaluated, sparking strong opposition to the elected officials’ votes.

Additional legislative action proposed, including HR 2273, has added further complexity to the issue. HR 2273 is an amendment to the Solid Waste Disposal Act that would provide for proper management and disposal of materials generated by coal combustion. Only two of the eleven US representatives targeted by Illinois activists this week voted in favor of that bill, which focuses on what industry experts deem the beneficial aspect of the hazardous waste.

“We hope that it will be brought to the floor and will pass because rather than telling the EPA what it shouldn’t do, it is directing how coal ash should be regulated as a nonhazardous waste by the state,” said Utility Solid Waste Activities Group Executive Director Jim Roewer. “We think it offers a good solution to ensure that there will be a federal floor of regulation that the states could then build on and develop a permit program to ensure the environmentally protected management of coal ash.

“It incorporates standards for facility design, groundwater monitoring, groundwater protection programs for corrective action, closer, and financial assurance. It will assure that facilities are constructed and operated in a safe manner,” Roewer said of HR 2273

Local Voices

Participants in the conference call on Illinois’ coal waste dumps included PRN water resource scientist Traci Barkley, director of Coal Combustion Waste Initiative Jeff Stant, local minister Matthew Withers, resident Phil Marcy, and director of programs for Appalachian Voices Matt Wasson. The array of guests offered various perspectives on the situation, but all agreed that the representatives put their concern for the industry over the well-being of the citizens.

“We’d like them to step back and think about if their families lived around one of these ash ponds or dumps in the state and would they feel that it is okay to just let the status quo continue,” said Stant.

“Elected officials need to understand that they are supposed to represent all American citizens in their districts,” said Withers. “They are listening with unnecessary fervor to the coal and ash industry as opposed to the people that put them in office.”

Keep reading →


Still producing half of the United States’ electricity, the coal industry has been quietly watching as new types of generation join the fray; some say natural gas may be far less of a threat to coal than many would think.

The natural gas industry is going to have to start to deal with the same issues that coal has had to.

Director at American Coal Council Jason Hayes told Breaking Energy that despite the recent rush to natural gas and renewables, he is confident the coal industry will continue to generate at least 40% of the country’s power in the coming decades.

“The fact that we still have over two centuries of coal in the ground in the US,” he said, means the country has many years of reliable coal generation ahead.

“It’s a domestic resource that provides American jobs and still provides about 44% of our electricity. It’s not going anywhere and will be here producing clean, affordable, abundant energy certainly for decades,” Hayes said.

Natural Gas Faces Fracking Debate

Though natural gas has been presented as the clean alternative to coal for baseload power, concerns with possible groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” may soon have natural gas facing the same amount of regulatory yellow lights as coal, Hayes said.


“The natural gas industry is going to have to start to deal with the same issues that coal has had to,” said Hayes. “They may become a victim of their own success.”


Windy Days Still Ahead

Though wind power currently produces under 3% of the country’s electricity, on and offshore installations have been increasing.

Google has been investing in a 250-mile long offshore transmission line for wind turbines. Watch a video about the project: The Promise Of Offshore Wind.

Hayes said it is unlike the wind industry will reach its target of 20% by 2030. The number he said is based primarily on assumptions, one of which is that the smart meter will be fully implemented by the target date.

“Twenty percent is based on huge number of assumptions which may not all come true,” he said. “If any one of them doesn’t come true, than you can’t run that number of renewables.”

But in a recent Energy Collective webinar titled “Growing Wind Power: The Future of Wind and the Quest for Cleaner Energy,” four wind advocates said they were confidence in the industry’s ability to reach its target and level the playing field in terms of renewable energy sources.

Of the four, VP for Public Affairs for the American Wind Energy Association Peter L. Kelly expressed the greatest support for the industry claiming that if anything, 20% may be too small a target.

Read more about the webinar and the other opinions offered by the experts: Talking Twenty In Wind Power. Keep reading →


As the next stage of the US recession and financial crisis emerges, energy markets are taking a hit.

Data from the July 2011 US Energy Information Administration Monthly Energy Report shows that total energy imports– including oil, gas and electricity–were down this year from previous years along with production and consumption of energy. Although data from the most recent months is not yet available, market trends from March and April show a downward turn. Keep reading →


One of the country’s most troubled energy firms has reorganized itself and simplified its borrowing structure in a bid for survival.

The entire board of electricity producer Dynegy resigned earlier this year, along with much of the senior executive leadership, leaving the once high-flying firm adrift just ahead of the summer peak-generation season. With new management in place for the past month, and a new board of directors sworn in on June 15, the company’s second-quarter results were met with more curiosity than ire by investors and analysts accustomed to extreme volatility in the company’s outlook. Keep reading →


It was unnecessary to feign surprise when a planned advanced coal gasification technology project was put “on hold” at the University of Wyoming late last week.

“Capital from the private sector only flows to large and ambitious projects when there is reasonably regulatory, legal and financial certainty,” Wyoming Governor Matt Mead said in responding to the delay on the $100 million High Plans Gasification – Advanced Technology Center. “This is a real world example of the local impact of the federal government’s failure to provide a policy path forward for energy use in America.” Keep reading →

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