Tag Archives: coal

Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

Posted on February 18, 2017 by

[ The extract of a Senate hearing below is mostly spent on testimony by utilities bashing the railroads for not delivering enough coal due to a disaster in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming area, where coal dust infiltrated the stone … Continue reading →

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Germany’s “Energiewende” may need to be rescued with nonrenewable coal power

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

[ Below is my summary of The Energiewende is Running Up Against Its Limits (October 24, 2016) by Jeffrey Michel at the Energy Collective. Wealthy, well-educated Germany has tried harder and longer than most nations to make a transition to renewables. … Continue reading →

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Hall and Lambert: EROI of different fuels and the implications for society

Posted on May 27, 2016 by

[ Excerpts from the Hall, Lambert, and Balogh EROI paper. You may want to read the original paper here since I’ve left out charts, figures, and text.  In my opinion, EROI is important because it is  due diligence – society ought to … Continue reading →

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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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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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Coal-to-liquids (CTL) can not compensate for declining oil & natural gas production

Posted on June 6, 2015 by

Notes from 23 page: Höök, M. & Aleklett, K. 2010. A review on coal-to-liquid fuels & its coal consumption. International journal of energy research Vol. 34 10:848-864 Annual decline in existing crude oil production is around 4-8%, equivalent to an … Continue reading →

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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology roadmap 2013 IEA

Posted on June 5, 2015 by

Notes from 63 page: IEA. 2013. Technology Roadmap Carbon capture and storage (CCS). International Energy Agency. A total cumulative mass of approximately 120 Gt CO2 would need to be captured and stored between 2015 and 2050, across all regions of … Continue reading →

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Almost half of Rail Freight is Energy, increasingly Crude Oil

Posted on October 8, 2014 by

Source: American Association of Railroads. 46% of all tonnage hauled by freight trains is Energy: In 2014, crude oil will likely be 650,000 carloads — 2% of all carloads, 2.2% of tonnage.  In addition 2.6% of rail tonnage was refined … Continue reading →

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