King Coal is Dead! Long Live the King!

Since the middle of the last century clean coal has been the Holy Grail of the power industry: highly desired but unachievable. That is not stopping greedy business and politicians from looking for money to proceed with the Great Coal Rush.

36 states are racing to build at least 94 (possibly 150) new coal-fired electric power plants with the capacity to power at least 62 million American homes. This race dubbed America's new coal rush, has utilities hell-bent on get their plants built before inevitable new federal and state regulations are passed that restrict greenhouse gas emissions. Some 62 gigawatts of new production potential are being proposed. Illinois is neck and neck with Texas for having the most proposals. Illinois might build 8 or more gigawatts of new capacity with 10+ coal plants. Add to that list one more plant that SIU President Glen Poshard now says he wants built - a new $200 million coal-fired SIU power plant to replace its existing fluidized bed boiler system on the SIU campus.

You can’t be a politician from southern Illinois without exclaiming the virtues of coal as a cure for the unemployment, better schools and roads, tourism, and a litany of other civic goals. Every downstate politician loves to promote clean coal even though it is an impossible dream. (Call me a cynic, but the best use for coal is as a transitional feedstock for creating liquid fuels before be finally switch-over to a renewables-based transportation system.)

Yes, we’ve all been told repeatedly that the total known world reserves of coal might be sufficient for 200-300 years' of humanity’s needs at current consumption levels – never mind the environmental consequences. As evident in this map, the United States is the ‘Saudi Arabia of coal.’ Despite that analogy, I say King Coal’s future is limited!

How dare I speak such heresy? I say what I say about coal because:

» The burning of coal already produces more airborne mercury and greenhouse gases than any other single source. The Illinois Department of Health has already issued fish consumption advisories for every waterway in the state due to dangerous levels of mercury. Don’t eat the fish! Texas already ranks first in the U.S. in carbon emissions.
» The soot from coal plants is a leading cause of asthma attacks, lung cancer, heart attacks, and even premature death in the region. Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism due to chronic illness (about 10 million lost school days each year). In St. Louis, estimates are that approximately 15% of children under age 18 suffer from asthma. This is more than double the national average of 6.3%.
» Coal mines will continue to kill miners. Illinois has lost 21 miners since 1996. The nation lost 819 in that same period. Think that is bad? Eighty percent of all mining deaths now occur in China even though it has only 35% of the world’s coal. While their death rate is starting to decline, in 2006 China lost 4,746 coal miners! In 1942, China lost 1,549 miners in one day due to a coal-dust explosion.
» Midwest wind energy alone could meet 25% of America’s electricity needs and create thousands of additional jobs in manufacturing, installation and maintenance of clean energy systems.
» Solar power in all its many forms has too much potential to be ignored any longer.

The amount of solar energy intercepted by the Earth every minute is greater than the amount of energy the world uses in fossil fuels each year.

Even the conservative Business Week Magazine hints that the era of coal may be ending. It will surely be a slow death for coal as we transition through technologies being touted again such as coal gasification, methanation and liquification for creating liquid motor fuels.

The extensive research into clean coal technology has resulted in the general conclusion that these conversions will create vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – “far more than is released in the extraction and refinement of liquid fuel production from petroleum.” That isn’t exactly a popular conclusion for a region like southern Illinois that is suffering from perpetually high unemployment.

Eventually the research (Follow the money!) led to proposals to artificially sequester the vast amounts of carbon dioxide into artificial trees, the deep ocean or into underground geologic repositories. (Out of sight – Out of mind). The federal government has plans to aggressively research sequestration options. Those plans bring us to Illinois’ quest to be the lottery prize recipient of FutureGen – a $1 billion, 275 MW coal power plant that would sequester carbon dioxide emissions at a rate of about one million metric tons per year. After initial proposal rejections from several states, the two Illinois cities of Mattoon and Tuscola are in very intense competition with Odessa and Jewett, TX for the FutureGen prize.

FutureGen for Illinois touts the alleged benefits to the state:

» FutureGen will create an estimated 1,300 direct jobs during construction.
» FutureGen will create an estimated 3,250 indirect jobs during construction.
» FutureGen will create 150 permanent jobs.
» FutureGen will create 375 spin-off jobs in related investments.

So, why pick Illinois? As seen in the map above, Mattoon and Tuscola both sit above vast coal reserves. Those reserves contain more energy than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined.

A long list of Illinois notables supports the project. Curiously, the group’s website makes zero mention of any negative consequences. Therefore, there must be no risk right?

“When something is too good to be true, then it isn't”

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney described the FutureGen situation another way:

“If Johnny jumped off a cliff, does that mean you should jump off a cliff?” If Texas is foolish enough to offer a taxpayer bailout for an unknown quantum of liability arising from a potential disaster of unknown proportions, does that mean Illinois should follow suit? I don’t think so. I’m not going to stick Illinois taxpayers with a commitment of unknown proportions.”

What risk is that? He’s was talking about the monumental FutureGen risks that private insurance companies won’t insure. He’s talking about the financial risk that must be so eliminated that both Illinois and Texas are falling all over themselves to legislate away any financial risk to the plant operators if their construction plans go awry and emission sequestration doesn’t work. You know simple risks like:

» An earthquake releasing to the local atmosphere the estimated fifty million metric tons of carbon dioxide that would be stored underground compressed at over a thousand pounds/inch of pressure.
» The risk of rupturing the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) pipeline that Governor Blagojevich wants to construct stretching from the coal gasification plants planned to Illinois Basin oil fields in southeastern Illinois.
» The risk that that all hydrocarbon reservoirs are likely to leak over (geologic) time?
» The risk that carbon dioxide might start filling the basements of nearby homes.
» The risk that displacement of brine (salt water) into drinking water well aquifers.
» The risk of induced earthquakes or surface land deformation. (source)

Isn’t it time to just stop the madness?

Isn’t it time to end our addiction to coal?

The pursuit of clean coal distracts us from proven solutions for energy security. We should be telling all levels of government to stop coal subsidies and support programs for efficiency and clean energy. The sooner we abandon clean coal as the Holy Grail, the faster our nation can develop a sane energy policy that makes for a sustainable environment.

20 Simple Steps to Reduce Global Warming

It is easy for the average person to say that they can’t do much about global climate change. Everybody can have an small impact and when multiplied by millions of individual actions, big change occurs. Whenever you save energy – or use it more efficiently – you reduce the demand for gasoline, oil, coal, and natural gas. Less burning of these fossil fuels means lower emissions of carbon dioxide, the major contributor to global warming. Every U.S. citizens releases on average about 40,000 pounds of CO2 per person each year. If we can reduce energy use enough to lower greenhouse gas emissions by about 2% a year, in ten years we will "lose" about 7,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per person.

Here are 20 simple steps that can help cut an individual’s annual emissions of CO2 by thousands of pounds. The CO2 reduction shown for each action is an average saving.

HOME APPLIANCES

• Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Use the energy-saving setting to dry the dishes. Don't use heat when drying. CO2 reduction: 200 pounds a year.


• Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot. CO2 reduction: (for two loads a week): up to 500 pounds a year.


• Turn down your water heater thermostat; 120 degrees is usually hot enough. CO2 reduction: (for each 10- degree adjustment): 500 pounds a year.

HOME HEATING AND COOLING

• Don't overheat or overcool rooms. Adjust your thermostat (lower in winter, higher in summer). CO2 reduction: (for each 2-degree adjustment): about 500 pounds a year.


• Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5% of the energy used. CO2 reduction: About 175 pounds a year.

SMALL INVESTMENTS THAT PAY OFF

• Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights. CO2 reduction (by replacing one frequently used bulb): about 500 pounds a year.


• Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket (but only if the water heater is over 5 years old and has no internal insulation). CO2 reduction: Up to 1000 pounds a year.
  
• Install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water. CO2 reduction: Up to 300 pounds a year.


• Caulk and weatherstrip around doors and windows to plug air leaks. CO2 reduction: Up to 1,000 pounds a year.


• Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy-inefficient. CO2 reduction: Potentially, thousands of pounds a year.

GETTING AROUND

• Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool or use mass transit. CO2 reduction (for every gallon of gasoline you save): 20 pounds.


• When you buy a car, choose one that gets good gas mileage. CO2 reduction (if your new car gets 10 mpg more than your old one): about 2,500 pounds a year.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

• Reduce waste: Buy minimally packaged goods; choose reusable products over disposable ones; recycle. CO2 reduction (if you cut down your garbage by 25%): 1,000 pounds a year.


• If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is recycled whenever you have it serviced. Equivalent CO2 reduction: Thousands of pounds.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

• Insulate your walls and ceilings; this can save about 25% of home heating bills. CO2 reduction: Up to 2000 pounds a year.


• If you need to replace your windows, install the best energy-saving models. CO2 reduction: Up to 10,000 pounds a year.


• Plant trees next to your home and paint your home a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color in a cold climate. CO2 reduction: About 5000 pounds a year.


• As you replace home appliances, select the most energy-efficient models. CO2 reduction (if you replace your old refrigerator with an efficient model): 3000 pounds a year.

SCHOOLS, BUSINESS, AND COMMUNITIES

• Reduce waste and promote energy-efficient measures at your school or workplace. Work in your community to set up recycling programs. CO2 reduction (for every pound of office paper recycled): 4 pounds.


• Be informed about environmental issues. Keep track of candidates' voting records and write or call to express concerns. CO2 reduction (if we vote to raise U.S. auto fuel efficiency): Billions of pounds!

Adapted from the Global and Regional Air and Energy Program, Environmental Defense Source