Saying Adios to Coal
Our civilization may decide to take care of our environment because it’s the right thing to do. More likely, however, we’ll wind up with cleantech because of its relative affordability vs. things like coal-fired power plants. As we’ve mentioned, ironically, coal retirements have continued piling up under Trump. S&P’s recently published investigation shows that this year the pace of coal retirements doubled.
Here’s a terrific article on the subject from my buds at GreenTechMedia.
Craig,
I’m afraid your friends at GreenTechMedia are guilty of wishful thinking and lazy analysis.
Global demand for coal is increasing, even the NYT concedes more than 1,600 coal plants are planned or under construction in 62 countries. The new plants will expand the world’s coal-fired power capacity by 43 percent.
Like your photo, much of the developed world coal fired generation consists of small, very old plants built to service old industrial facilities that no longer exist and derive coal from long depleted fields.
In the US, a combination of Government anti-coal policies, loss of industrialization, and competition from natural gas have starved the coal industry of investment to modernize.
Coal fired generation requires large scale, concentrated industrial customers to be truly efficient. Like all 24 hour, 7 days a week, 12 months a year, generators, Coal fired generation needs large scale “power on demand”, high consumption, industrial, customers located in relatively close proximity to generate maximum profits and efficiencies.
Much of the Western World’s coal fleet is old and located to service clients that no longer exist. Transmission and transport logistics for aging, relatively small, high maintenance plants without the sort of heavy use, industrial customers they were originally designed to service, make such facilities vulnerable from competition from natural gas and renewable power generation.
Coal power is a little like rail roads, designed in a different era with different logistics.
Gloating about the “demise” of Coal because three old, obsolete, plants close down in favour of one new hi-tech, super efficient, mega-capacity plant is a deliberate distortion.
Coal fired generation will never again be the only, or even most suitable, technology for power generation as it was in the 19th and early 20th century, but it still has an important place in the world’s energy mix of energy generation for decades to come.
Advanced Clean(er) coal technology is making huge strides, becoming not only environmentally less harmful, but environmentally positive as Coal by-products significantly reduce emissions from other high polluting industries. These by-products also help to increase the profits of coal production.
Competition from fellow fossil fuels, including gas, will always be intense. However,natural gas prices are already responding to increasing demand and the vulnerability of pipelines, while Clean coal technology has already shown an ability to match, and better, the environmental competition from natural gas.
Emma Foehringer Merchant’s articles typify the worst kind of advocacy posing as serious journalism. He stories always begin with a preconceived premise and fit only information that supports her original premise. She deliberately omits or distorts any information that doesn’t suit her prejudices, which serves to make her popular with those of her fellow advocates seeking confirmation of their shared prejudices.
Emma’s articles, like most committed green advocates, always ignore the qualifications when reporting on the statements by politicians, expert commentators etc.
The Peoples Republic of China has never said it will phase out Coal fired generation, only that it would reduce emissions by replacing old, low tech generators with Hi-tech, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology, with no acidification potential or photo-oxidant formation.
These new plants would also possess CCS capacity and technology to turn otherwise pollutant emissions into valuable commercial by-products.
Naturally, the capital cost of such technology is expensive and requires a suitable customer base to justify the cost of investment. For small coming nations, especially those without industry or domestic coal, the investment may not be justified as consumer power needs can be met by a combination of other technologies.
Australia’s power generation is in a state of bitter dispute. The drive to replace aging coal based generation with renewable energy or natural gas, has led to blackouts, shortages and strain on existing coal plants.
A combination of failure by renewable sources and competition from Asian demand for LPG, has almost doubled the price of electricity and domestic gas, while even in a heavily subsided renewable energy market, renewable production has proved inadequate.
Germany, Poland and Hungary are all burning more coal than ever, and very dirty coal at that in reopened, old mothballed plants, due to the failure of renewable energy to met demand. German prices have tripled and the economy is beginning to suffer.
Even tiny Holland is experiencing problems as it has become heavily reliant on buying power from neighbors to make up shortfalls.
Finally, even the UK which was one of the first nations to move away from coal, is now investing in experimental IGCC/CCS technology as a means of reducing dependency on unreliable, inadequate renewable generation, and reducing power costs.
Craig, repeating “over the rainbow”, super optimistic, inaccurate articles by advocates like Emma Foehringer Merchant, may make you feel good, but they are unhelpful in the real world.
While I absolutely condemn the methods and conduct of the demonstrators in France, it was only to be expected when expectations were raised so high, only to be betrayed by an arrogant government, puffed up with self importance, desperate to stride the world stage at the expense of the domestic economy.
It’s amazing how silent the leftist media has been (including advocates like yourself) about the uprising in France. It’s as if you hope by pretending it’s not happening, it will just go away!
(Imagine if those demonstrations were anti-Trump, boy, would you be ranting delightedly !).