Monthly Archives: August 2010
Politics Aside, Natural Gas is Beating up on Clean Coal
Coal has always been cheap and dirty. And the dirty part was justifiable because it was so cheap. Now, gas prices are dropping, threatening coal’s dominance in the North American energy market. Which means gas could take over before coal gets a chance to clean up its act.
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Americans Using Less Energy, More Renewables
The United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008, and significantly more wind power. There also was a decline in natural gas use and increases in solar, hydro and geothermal power according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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Give Anyone in Kansas an Idea?
A power company plans to build a natural gas-fired plant in southern Ohio on a site where it scrapped plans for a plant using coal. Continue reading
Colorado Probes Wind Energy at State’s Ag Operations
A new study funded in part by the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy grant, finds that wind turbines can be cost-effective even at sites with moderate wind speeds.
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Great Perspective on Coal from Pennsylvania
Coal-fired electricity is responsible for 70 percent of the nation’s sulfur dioxide, 33 percent of nitrogen oxide and 23 percent of particulate matter (soot) emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Substantially reducing these emissions would prevent millions of missed work and school days, tens of thousands of heart attacks and hospital visits, and 14,000 to 36,000 premature deaths from causes like heart and lung disease annually. Continue reading
Coal’s Grip on Power Debated
The number of plants recently built and being built now represent just a fraction of the 151 total plants that the federal government had forecast several years ago. Allegrucci says that shows “coal as an electricity fuel is on the wane.” And while most of the coal plants have been canceled or put on hold, renewable energy sources have been developed at a record pace. Continue reading
Coal-Fired Units to Retire Earlier than Planned
Exelon Power will retire Unit 2 at both the Cromby and Eddystone cosl-fired power plants in Pennsylvania sooner than previously announced because of a revised analysis from the PJM Interconnection. Continue reading
Coal-Fired Power Plants to be Idled
American Electric Power Co. (AEP) plans to idle an estimated 1,925 MW at two coal-fired power plants as part of cost-cutting measures amid a slow recovery in electricity demand starting in June, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. Continue reading
Xcel Energy to Retire and Retrofit Coal-Fired Generation in Colorado
Xcel Energy filed a plan with the Colorado Public Utility Commission to retire or retrofit several coal-fired units to comply with the state’s Clean Air Clean Jobs Act. Continue reading
The Two Biggest (Non-CO2) Threats to Coal Power from the EPA
The EPA effectively went into deep freeze under George W. Bush, so there’s a lot of catching up to do to keep the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws in line with the best science. Lisa Jackson’s EPA is working furiously on just that. They’ve got several irons in the fire right now. Coal-dominated utilities are terrified. Continue reading
