Warren Buffett (some think that he is an investment expert) is making large investments in coal-related companies. His Berkshire Hathaway fund acquired Burlington Northern Santa Fe, who gets 25% of their earnings from hauling coal, and made large investments in coal fired power companies.
An article on the Reuters website reports that coal use is expected to increase by 55 percent over the next 15 years with India and China contributing strongly to the rise.
Tony Hayward, CEO of BP, believes that in 2030 the world will consume about 30% more energy than it consumes today and that 80% of that energy will be derived from fossil fuels.
About a dozen virtual tours of global environmental “hot spots” will be featured at the December 17-18 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. One of the hotspots is a mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia.
Even with a recession starting, worldwide fossil fuel production was up 2.9% in calendar year 2008 – however, at year’s end, energy markets were in a situation of oversupply.
The community of Rock Springs, Wyoming is built over underground coal mines which are now starting to subside. This article considers the causes of this subsidence and how the subsidence impacts the town.
An angry audience at a public hearing on mountain-top removal mining in West Virginia had representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers making decisions on how to handle a crowd.
A lengthy article on the 60 Minutes website describes several places where coal as is either intentionally or unintentionally in locations where people can contact it, water that has contacted it or breathe the dust particles. Is it unsafe in any of these situations?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding 79 coal-mining permits that use the controversial mining method of “mountaintop removal”. EPA is considering their potential impact on water quality.
Fearing potential problems with carbon legislation electric companies in the southwest states such as Arizona, Nevada and southern California are looking harder at renewable sources of electricity instead of coal.
The New York Times has an article that explores some of the challenges faced by the coal-fired Bowen Power Plant on the Etowah River in northwest Georgia. It burns 9 million tons of coal per year.
Public Radio International reports on President Obama’s comments at the recent G20 Economic Summit on fighting climate change by eliminating fossil fuel subsidies that contribute to global warming.
Nick Rahall, Chairman of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bill that could change the rules for leasing and paying royalties on mineral, oil and natural gas activities on public lands.
The Illinois Geological Survey has a publication titled “Mine Subsidence in Illinois: Facts for Homeowners”. This is a useful and easy-to-understand publication that features: underground mining methods, mine maps, types of subsidence, effects of subsidence and other topics for the homeowner.
In most states mine subsidence insurance is not a hazard covered by the typical homeowners insurance policy. In Illinois, coverage is automatically added to policies in counties where 1% or more of the land has been undermined.
As Congress debates an energy bill opinions are mixed over the use of natural gas and coal as an electricity-generating fuels. Which opinions are defending home state economics and which are defending the planet?
Coal stockpiles at electric power plants are reaching very high levels. Electricity demand is down yet the power plants are taking shipments set by long-term contracts.
Stockpiled coal at electric power plants (thousands of short tons)
The Pennsylvania Geological Survey has a news page dedicated to carbon sequestration in Pennsylvania. A quote from their page: “Pennsylvania has an estimated carbon storage capacity – including croplands, forest lands, minelands, and wetlands, and most prominently in geologic formations – to store hundreds of years worth of carbon emissions at present rates.”
The fuels being used for the generation of electricity are changing over time. A new chart from the Energy Information Admisitration shows that the use of natural gas is rising slightly and the use of petroleum liquids is decreasing.
The economic downturn hit the coal industry hard. After running up significantly during early 2008, coal prices fell sharply in the fourth quarter with some types of coal declining to 1/3 of their price at the high.
One way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released from a coal-fired power plant is the “carbon capture and storage” process. This process captures carbon dioxide from the plant’s emissions and pumps it into underground storage. There are projects in the United States, Australia, China and Europe to develop this technology.
After the December 2008 dam break at a coal ash waste site near Kingston, Tennessee, the surrounding area was inundated with coal sludge. In this article, local residents talk about how the spill has affected them.
Ditlev Engel, CEO of Vestas, the world’s leading supplier of wind power, discusses the future of wind power and his expectation that its use will grow at the expense of fossil fuels – especially as carbon emissions are increasingly regulated.
Los Angeles is turning its attention to renewable energy resources, while also making an effort to reduce their usage of coal. This may cause an increase in peoples’ electricity bills; however, there are benefits to this change as well.
The EPA has created a list of over 40 coal ash waste sites that are potentially hazardous. The list was made in response to a dam failure at a Tennessee facility in December 2008.
The air in China’s Shizuishan City is heavily polluted from factories. The government is trying to alleviate the problem while still keeping the economy growing.
In December a dam failure at a coal ash waste storage facility in Tennessee released over a million cubic meters of ash slurry that swamped about 300 acres down slope from the facility. There are many other ash storage facilities in the United States – should their locations be published?
Geology is on the minds of political leaders across our planet. Our “Politics and Geology” category tracks this activity with posts about laws, policies, nationalization, regulations, taxes, trade agreements, stimulus packages, lease sales, appointments and more. Perhaps a course in political science should be required of undergraduates?
A new bill in Congress proposes to establish the “Clean Energy Deployment Administration” within the Department of Energy. The agency would work to increase the diversity of US energy supplies and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
An article on ScienceMag.org poses the question: “What would happen if the United States stopped building coal-fired power plants?” The short answer: “more electricity is generated using natural gas.” This article looks at the results of a computer model that compares coal to natural gas.
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Hobart King
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