Energy / Coal

• Shale Boom Sees Cheap US Coal Head to Europe and Asia

  We have heard a lot in the press – and indeed we have written ourselves – about the impact of shale gas and, more recently, shale or tight oil, on the energy market in the US.Lower gas prices have stimulated a pronounced switch to natural gas-powered electricity generation, provided a huge boost to the petrochemicals industry and the early steps of a switch to natural gas for transportation, but like a pebble dropping in a pond, the ripples from the shale gas revolution continue to spread outwards with consequences far beyond America’s shores.A recent note to investors by South Africa’s…

• Global Markets Hot for U.S. Coal

  US coal giants have been hit hard, unable to compete with natural gas at home, but overseas this market is getting hotter by the minute. Illinois is a key coal state benefitting from this development, with the latest reports showing that it exported a record 13 million tons of coal last year. This is a major increase over the previous years, with only 5.5 million tons of exports in 2011 and 2.5 million tons in 2010. So now production is back on the rise. Illinois’ production is up 25% over 2011, and counting—despite that fact that US coal production in…

• Coal Is the Fuel of the Past and the Future

  Hal Quinn, president of the National Mining Association, says coal in 2016 will again be the world’s favorite carbon fuel, pushing out petroleum as the world's largest source of energy.This may seem especially surprising at a time when the use of coal in the United States is in decline, edged out by cheap natural gas and increasingly strict regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency. Yet a rising tonnage of coal is being used for electric generation worldwide. The Third World is hungry for coal, as it increases electricity production. In the developed world, nuclear setbacks -- most notably the aftereffects…

• New System to Produce Energy from Coal Releases 99% Less CO2

  Ohio State University engineers are testing a clean coal technology that harnesses the energy of coal producing heat while capturing 99% of the carbon dioxide produced in the reaction.  The test combustion unit reaction ran 203 continuous hours.The new form of clean coal technology reached an important milestone with the successful operation of a research-scale combustion system at Ohio State.  The team believes the technology is now ready for testing at a larger scale.Perhaps coal as a source of energy can survive the CO2 attacks with new technology.Coal and Iron Bead Samples with Chung and Ayham.    Liang-Shih Fan, professor of…

• As Coal Use Continues to Grow, China's 'Blackest Day' is still to Come

  The “Blackest Day,” is how The Economist called January 12 when the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Beijing rose to a record 755. It was “Beyond index” on a scale where the worst level, “Hazardous,” ranges from 301-500 and carries this warning: “Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors; people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low.”On that day, airborne particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM 2.5) reached 886 micrograms per cubic meter, about 35 times the guideline set by the World Health Organization. These particulates contain…

• Sell US Coal to China and Watch Carbon Emissions Fall

  Exporting coal from the western US to China could actually lower overall greenhouse gas emissions, an energy economist argues.Western US coal companies looking to expand sales to China will likely succeed, according to Frank Wolak, professor of economics at Stanford University. But, due to energy market dynamics in the United States, those coal exports are likely to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases.Over the past several years, US natural gas prices have plummeted while coal prices have risen. That, combined with stricter environmental rules on coal burning, has caused US electric utilities to use more natural gas-fired generators and fewer…

• China Invests in Ukraine Coal Gasification

  Thanks to a $3.65 billion deal with China Development Bank Corporation, Ukraine will gradually work towards the gasification of coal to reduce its dependency on natural gas by about 4 billion cubic meters, for a savings of up to $1.5 billion. What this means, exactly, is that Ukraine will develop and use modern coal-water slurry fuel technology and construct new plants to gasify coal to allow it to reduce its consumption substantially and increase gross volumes of internal production.  What’s it all about—Russia, of course. Ukraine is on a relentless (though so far fairly unsuccessful) path to squeezing out from…

• China to Dominate the 2013 Coal Market

  China is the world's largest coal producer and consumer and currently accounts for about half of the global coal consumption.The U.S. Energy Information Agency noted in its 2012 country analysis brief on China, “Coal supplied the vast majority (70 percent) of China's total energy consumption of 90 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2009,” adding, “EIA projects coal's share of the total energy mix to fall to 59 percent by 2035 due to anticipated higher energy efficiencies and China's goal to reduce its carbon intensity (carbon emissions per unit of GDP). However, absolute coal consumption is expected to double over…

• Why does World Coal Consumption continue to Grow?

  A primary reason why coal consumption is rising is because of increased international trade, starting when the World Trade Organization was formed in 1995, and greatly ramping up when China was added in December 2001. Figure 1 shows world fossil fuel extraction for the three fossil fuels. A person can see a sharp “bend” in the coal line, immediately after China was added to the World Trade Organization. China’s data also shows a sharp increase in coal use at that time.Figure 1. World fossil fuel supply based on world production data from BP’s 2012 Statistical Review of World Energy.China and…

• Is the US Coal Industry Drawing its Last Few Breaths?

  After the reelection of President Barack Obama, big coal has come under the threat of imminent extinction in the United States. With the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules under the current administration, coal plants face stricter pollution rules, making many facilities unprofitable and forced to shut down altogether. Some companies, like Mitt Romney-endorsing Murray Energy, laid off hundreds of workers days after the results of November's presidential election, knowing full well that they would not be able to survive a second term under President Obama. But are politics really to blame?First things first: the US coal industry is indeed in…