Category Archives: Coal

Peak Fossil Fuels: overview of peak oil, coal, and natural gas

Posted on August 21, 2016 by

[ Below are overviews of peak oil, coal, and natural gas, each followed by additional reading material from my book “When trucks stop running”. My book also explains why we are unlikely to be able to electrify transportation, as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Coal, How Much Left, Natural Gas, Peak Coal, Peak Natural Gas, Peak Oil | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Dennis Coyne predicts world coal production peak in 2025-2030

Posted on April 5, 2016 by

See Coyne’s article at: Dennis Coyne. March 11, 2016. Coal Shock Model. peakoilbarrel.com [ The IPCC has not invited geologists to estimate fossil reserves, and sides with the “no limits to growth” economists.  The IPCC believes that too expensive or … Continue reading →

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Coal plants are causing water shortages in China

Posted on March 25, 2016 by

Wong, E. March 22, 2016. Report Ties Coal Plants to Water Shortage in Northern China. New York Times. China’s consumption of coal, a major contributor to climate change and the country’s horrific air pollution, is worsening a severe water shortage … Continue reading →

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Why we need a diverse electricity generation portfolio: House hearing 2013

Posted on March 15, 2016 by

House 113-12. March 5, 2013. American Energy security and innovation. The role of a diverse electricity generation portfolio. House of Representatives. 135 pages. June 5, 2015. Proposed Clean Power Plan would accelerate renewable additions and coal plant retirements. U.S. Energy … Continue reading →

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USGS says Powder River Basin has 40 years of coal reserves, not 250

Posted on February 29, 2016 by

[ The Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyoming and Montana supplies 42% of coal in the United States, mainly to generate electricity across the nation.  So far 11 billion tons of coal filling 95 million rail cars have been removed. … Continue reading →

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Carbon Capture and Storage not likely to ever be commercial: too expensive, uses up to 30% of the power

Posted on January 26, 2016 by

[It’s 2016 and CCS still isn’t working: Austenmarch, I. March 29, 2016. Technology to Make Clean Energy From Coal Is Stumbling in Practice. New York Times. Although this technology worked in a small demonstration project, it didn’t scale up: “An … Continue reading →

Posted in CCS Carbon Capture & Storage, Congressional Record U.S. | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

U.S. taxpayers lose billions from Powder River Basin bad lease deals and undervalued coal

Posted on December 3, 2015 by

According to the Center for American Progress: For decades the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has run a fundamentally noncompetitive leasing program, which has been a boon to industry. Since 1990, 96 of the 107 coal-lease sales held by the … Continue reading →

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New Alaskan strip coal mine for China, there go the salmon

Posted on November 28, 2015 by

McGrath, M. 2015-11-25. The Alaska fishing village taking on ‘Godzilla’. BBC News Image copyright Pete Niesen [See original article for details, what follows is reduced and most pictures removed] Alaska is a vast wilderness of natural beauty. But it also … Continue reading →

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Industrial Waste Heat – more BTUs than all renewable energy resources combined

Posted on November 3, 2015 by

Industrial waste heat Coal, natural gas, and oil are essential for the high temperatures required in the thermal processing of metals, cement, fertilizer, glass, processed foods, and so on. About 420 trillion Btus of this is wasted, and some of … Continue reading →

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Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) & Coal-to-liquids (CTL) can not compensate for declining oil production

Posted on June 6, 2015 by

[ Some of the points made include: As a rule-of-thumb, a 50-60% thermal efficiency can be used for hydrocarbon liquefaction in general assessments. This implies that only half of the coal energy invested in liquefaction will come out as energy … Continue reading →

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