Rise of China’s Xinjiang as coal hub undercuts climate goals
Output has surged 22% this year, the fastest growth of any region in China.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published Friday its long-awaited new regulations aimed to set strict limits on the amount of carbon pollution generated by any new power plant in the country.
The draft rules, however, are likely to face legal challenges and a backlash from congressional supporters of the coal industry, as the guidelines will reshape where Americans get electricity. In other words, EPA will steer consumers away from a coal-dependent past into a future fired by cleaner sources of energy.
Some media reports are saying that EPA is also pushing for separate standards that will set much stricter limits on coal mines. And down the road, it is expected to tackle emissions from the thousands of existing power plants already operating.
While EPA is banning the construction of new coal-fired power plants, it said it would make exceptions for those built with innovative and expensive technology to capture greenhouse-gas emissions.
Though such carbon-capture technologies —used in the sequestration method—are available, they are extremely expensive in terms of capital costs, which is not a viable option for investors at the moment.
“If reports are true, the EPA is set to issue a rule that will completely halt the development of new coal-fuelled plants by requiring they meet unachievable carbon standards,” American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity President Mike Duncan told The Daily Caller.
“The American people should not be fooled. If the EPA overreaches, its actions could drastically reduce our nation’s fuel options, risk tens-of-thousands of jobs and destroy, not encourage, the development of new carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology,” Duncan was quoted as saying.
“In theory, this could mean a moratorium on all new coal plants for decades to come,” writes Brad Plumer in his blog at The Washington Post.
Safety concerns
Not only carbon-capture technologies are expensive, but also worrisome for some, as their use involves burying the carbon underground.
Steven Chu, until recently Obama’s energy secretary, warned in a 2007 talk sponsored by the Berkeley Lab in California that sequestration could be dangerous and bring legal challenges for those involved.
“There would be people saying, ‘I don’t want this done in my backyard,’ because if the carbon dioxide ever does bubble to the surface it could actually kill people,” he said. “Ten percent carbon dioxide is lethal. And so that’s … one of the issues.”
Not a single power plant has fully installed the technology so far.
Coal, which is already struggling to compete with cheap natural gas, accounts for 40% of US electricity.
The country’s coal industry has been struggling as of late. Total production is on track to fall to a 20-year low of a little more than 1 billion tons this year. And the lack of interest from investors is more evident than ever before. As a prove, the government held an auction for mining rights to a hot, coal-rich tract of land in Wyoming in August, and didn’t attract a single bid.
Image of coal burning plant in Utah by arbyreed.
6 Comments
RBF
Another way for the Obama Administration to kill jobs and the American economy. There is a reason that his book was titled, “Dreams of my Father”, rather than “The American Dream”. Time for this country to wake up and impeach that economic terrorist.
Talking for no charge
The comment by RBF is a typical of the westen world, they hang onto old technology as if it a fantastic gift, when other countries realise the potential in future technology and make money and employment for the country.
groundbreaker
Coal needs to be killed. And it won’t necessarily be bad for mining either. Renewables need REEs and base metals – nuclear needs uranium! And those would be boosted by the lack of coal.
Coal country
You know this is really sad. I work down in the coal country. This is the only option for these people to make a living. We have created this demand for all the power needed. Me, I prefer to use our resources. People need to educate themselves on the cost of the ” newer” options. Watch what happens to your electric and gas bill. The govt is regulating a business that is supposed to be deregulated! Once they try and kill coal, what what happens to the price of natural gas. Look at the kick backs from the govt for the use of wind or solar. Crazy stuff. We are the ones being penalized through our bills.
Las week in KY, 650 more people lost their jobs. All the people living in city areas can easily stand back and say how bad coal is. Why don’t you go down to KY, West Virginia and southwest VA and volunteer some time or money. Let’s see if you would be willing to help these people out since we all are so worried about the country and everyone should be equal. News you chance!!!
frankinca
If the threat of global warning is true, then coal has had it’s day in the USA. Exporting to energy poor areas are still an option for the mines. The cheap energy source of coal has brought the US a long way, but like buggy whips, it is the last choice for environment activated people, Safe nuclear is the true answer and the technology is there for either thorium or uranium. least environmental impact as fas as CO2 is concerned. Obviously Coal country is using a tear jerking and raising utility bill fear tactics as emotional arguments, as a solution to the environmental issue. Me thinks he works for the coal lobby who has the most to lose and will spend mightily to make things change slowly if at all. Like many of us who suffered when the defense industry shut down in the early 90’s we lost jobs, but the threat of war diminishing meant it was worth it, so the coal workers will have to see the future in a similar light.
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LOL
and yet the greenhouses continue to burn sawdust creating worse un scrubbed pollution that coal fired plants…..in british columbia the garbage dump incinerator is producing abnormal amounts of cadmiun…no one talks of what type of scrubber in the stack or what the emmissions are…!….