Energy / Coal

• Peak Coal: The Coal Supply Situation May be Worse Than Anyone Thinks

  Claims that the world has 200 to 400 years of coal left at current rates of consumption have blinded policymakers and the public. The claims are based on two questionable notions: 1) That official coal reserve estimates are accurate and 2) that the world will experience no growth in the rate of consumption of coal over the period cited. In a new study published in the international journal Energy researchers Tadeusz W. Patzek and Gregory D. Croft suggest that actual historical coal production is a better indicator of the future trend of worldwide coal output than stated reserves which are…

• India Gets Pushy with Coal

  One of the "drums" I've been banging for awhile is coal exportable to India. The case is pretty clear. India's domestic coal prices are fixed at a level that doesn't make much profit for local miners. The result has been underinvestment and flagging supply.  The situation has grown dire. According to India's Central Electricity Authority, 24 of 84 coal-fired plants across the nation are running at "critical" coal supply levels. Meaning these facilities have less than 7 days of coal supply in inventory. That's nearly 30% of India's coal-fired power running on fumes. Even more concerning, 12 of those 24…

• Carbon Hysteria and The Benefits of Coal Gasification

  Gasification, as opposed to combustion, is the most thermally efficient and cleanest way to convert the energy content of coal into electricity, hydrogen, clean fuels, and value-added chemicals. The product of gasification the syngasis a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Sulfur, however, has to be removed from the mixture in the form of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbonyl sulfide (COS) to protect process equipment and meet environmental regulations. The T-2749 Fluidized-bed Desulfurization Sorbent, developed by Santosh Gangwal, Raghubir Gupta, and Brian Turk of RTI International, Research Triangle Park, N.C., is a regenerable desulfurization sorbent used inside a transport reactor…

• US CCS plan slated for lack of ambition

  A US interagency blueprint for commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) argues that challenging obstacles can be overcome, such as the lack of a national carbon price and questions over long-term liability. However, the plan is not decisive or ambitious enough to succeed, according to the Clean Air Task Force (CATF). In February, US President Barack Obama established an interagency task force to speed the commercial development and deployment of CCS technologies. The task force, co-chaired by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), last week proposed a plan to overcome the barriers…

• Coal to Chemicals: Can Coal be a Suitable Replacement for Crude Oil?

  Peak oil apostles claim that as oil resources dry up, the ability to maintain agriculture, plastics, and petrochemicals industries will be destroyed. But the human mind can find ways of substituting cheap and abundant resources in place of resources which may grow scarce and expensive (even if only temporarily). Olefins, also called alkenes, are unsaturated organic compounds that contain at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond. They can be used in many reactions which occur by opening up the double bond. Olefins are used as building block chemicals for making other petrochemicals and polymers. The commercially most important olefins are ethylene,…

• Coal’s Incredible Comeback – But at What Environmental Expense?

  Coal is currently experiencing a phenomenal comeback everywhere. Demand has grown considerably, making coal the second-most important energy source worldwide, after oil. Billions of people depend on coal for their electricity supply. Experts at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris estimate that demand for coal will increase in the next two decades for more than any other energy source except wind and solar – from the current level of about 6.7 billion tons per year to almost 10 billion tons in 2030. China and India are mainly responsible for the coal boom, with the two countries already accounting for…

• Coal Stocks Could be in for a Big Move

  Despite all of today's carbon concerns, the world still largely runs on coal. In fact, according to BP's recently-released annual energy review, coal's share of global energy use increased in 2009. In fact, the percentage of global energy demand met by coal was the highest since 1970! Coal is critical to energy supply in many countries. And that is leading those countries to mess with the market. India is perhaps the best example. The government sets prices for domestically-produced coal. The only problem is, they set those prices so low that most of India's miners are having trouble turning profits.…

• The Value of Zeros and Ones

  Good paper this month in the International Journal of Coal Geology on global trends in coal bed methane (CBM) drilling. CBM has been a success story in unconventional gas, currently producing some 10% of total U.S. output. And unlike shale gas, CBM has successfully "hit the road", being deployed commercially in other nations like China and Australia. It's been an interesting learning curve along the way. A few years back a number of North American CBM companies went to China, talking about Tcfs of gas potential on their acquired leases. But many of these plays exploded on the launch pad.…

• Governments, Industry Must Accelerate Pace to Meet G8 Goals on CCS, IEA Says

  Governments and industry will have to step up the pace if they want to meet the declared goal of large-scale deployment of carbon capture and sequestration for coal-fired power plants by 2020, the International Energy Agency said in a new report. Governments have made financial commitments of some $26 billion that will enable them to launch between 19 and 43 large-scale demonstration projects by 2020. But it will be a challenge to meet the initial goal of launching 20 such projects by the end of this year, the IEA said in a report to be presented to G8 leaders at…

• EPA effort to block West Virginia coal mine heats up mountaintop removal debate

  Amid probes of last month’s deep coal mining accident in West Virginia, hundreds of coal miners demonstrated in the state capital of Charleston against an attempt by federal officials to block a new strip-mining project in the state. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held a public hearing about its proposed veto of a mining permit for the Spruce No. 1 mine project of St. Louis-based Arch Coal, which would use the controversial mountaintop removal technique. The EPA says the technique, which involves blasting off the tops of mountains and shoving the rubble into valleys, causes environmental harm, including health hazards…