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OilPrice.com | Energy | Coal Analysis of global coal markets, coal mining and production and consumption of coal. Coal to liquids and other technologies are covered. http://oilprice.com/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:41:25 GMT Oilprice.com (info@oilprice.com) Enter the Dragon - China to Increase Energy Investment in Pakistan http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Enter-the-Dragon-China-to-Increase-Energy-Investment-in-Pakistan.html The current administration of Pakistani President Asif Zadari is beset by multiple problems. Relations with its ally in the “global war on terror,” the U.S. have plummeted to their lowest ever level. But for the average Pakistani, of more immediate concern is the country’s ongoing energy crisis. The nation’s problem is summed up by the following figures. Pakistan’s current electricity demand is about 25,000 megawatts per day but national current electrical production is less than 20,000 megawatts per…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Thu, 26 Jan 2012 0:06:16 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Enter-the-Dragon-China-to-Increase-Energy-Investment-in-Pakistan.html Australia's Ongoing Coal Boom Could Provide a Safe Haven for Investors http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Australias-Ongoing-Coal-Boom-Could-Provide-A-Safe-Haven-For-Investors.html Investors spooked by three years of global recession have nervously scanned the globe for failsafe, sure-fire places to park their surplus capital. The rise of the non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries is fundamentally altering the world's energy markets, which underwent a historic shift in 2007 when non-OECD demand surpassed that of OECD. Demand growth outside traditional OECD markets is now the driver in the world's energy, with fossil fuels continuing to account for 88 percent of global energy demand and for over…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Tue, 17 Jan 2012 3:41:00 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Australias-Ongoing-Coal-Boom-Could-Provide-A-Safe-Haven-For-Investors.html India’s Coal Shortages to Worsen as Coal India Reduces Production Target http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Indias-Coal-Shortages-To-Worsen-As-Coal-India-Reduces-Production-Target.html State-controlled Coal India Limited (CIL) announced that it has lowered its production target for the fiscal year to 440 million metric tons, down from the 452 million tons initially outlined in the company’s annual plan, according to an Economic Times article. Indian news agency PTI has quoted CIL Chairman N.C. Jha as confirming that they have kept the production target of at least 440 million tons. While speaking to media on the sidelines of the International Conference of Safety in Mines Research Institutes in New Delhi, the chairman cited…

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]]> agmetal@oilprice.com (Ag Metal Miner) Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:30:36 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Indias-Coal-Shortages-To-Worsen-As-Coal-India-Reduces-Production-Target.html South Africa's Effort to Wean Itself Off Coal Dependency Proving Difficult http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/South-Africas-Effort-To-Wean-Itself-Off-Coal-Dependency-Proving-Difficult.html Coal is one of the fossil fuels most responsible for generating greenhouse gases. The effect of such emissions on the atmosphere and the consequences for long-term global warming are a major topic at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting currently underway in Durban, South Africa. Dampening the expectations of South African environmentalists, on 1 December South African Energy Minister Dipuo Peters told journalists that Pretoria could not ignore the fact that South Africa is a coal-rich economy, "nor can we…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:59:50 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/South-Africas-Effort-To-Wean-Itself-Off-Coal-Dependency-Proving-Difficult.html Are Coal Power Plants Now too Expensive to Pursue? http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Are-Coal-Power-Plants-Now-Too-Expensive-To-Pursue.html A couple years ago I had lunch with a top executive of one of the state’s leading utilities. Here’s the gist of the question I put to him. “I know you guys want to build a new coal plant nearby here, and I believe you when you say you fully intend to sequester CO2 down the road. But here’s the problem. You can’t even begin building without first raising the price of electricity. We can argue how much – 15, 20, 30 percent – but we all know it’s going to go up.” He nodded. “Well, I’m…

]]> sinclairp@oilprice.com (Peter Sinclair) Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:27:52 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Are-Coal-Power-Plants-Now-Too-Expensive-To-Pursue.html Where Can we Expect Coal Prices to go From Here? http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Where-Can-We-Expect-Coal-Prices-To-Go-From-Here.html While most commodities have suffered something of a roller-coaster ride in terms of prices, coal and iron ore have weathered the storm much better. Coal in particular has benefited from natural disasters such as the Queensland floods that removed a significant source of supply from the seaborne supply market earlier this year, and while spot prices for both coking coal and thermal coal have come off, they have not seen the swings of the more volatile base metals. As with iron ore, however, coal demand is very lopsided. In Asia, demand has remained…

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]]> Burnss@oilprice.com (Stuart Burns) Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:36:57 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Where-Can-We-Expect-Coal-Prices-To-Go-From-Here.html The Price Tag for Clean Coal http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/The-Price-Tag-For-Clean-Coal.html I wanted to get the low down on clean coal to see how clean it really is, so I visited some friends at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The modern day descendent of the Atomic Energy Commission, where I had a student job in the seventies, the leading researcher on laser induced nuclear fission, and the administrator of our atomic weapons stockpile, I figured they’d know. Dirty coal currently supplies us with 50% of our electricity, and total electricity demand is expected to go up 30% by 2030. The industry is spewing out 32 billion…

]]> jimonline@irelandmail.com (Mad Hedge Fund Trader) Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:13:42 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/The-Price-Tag-For-Clean-Coal.html Rio Tinto Looking to Satisfy India’s Growing Hunger for Coal http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Rio-Tinto-Looking-To-Satisfy-Indias-Growing-Hunger-For-Coal.html The Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is aiming to provide a coal supply line to the rapidly growing Indian thermal coal market. Indian business daily Business Line, in its report dispatched from Perth, quoted Nik Senapati, Rio Tinto India’s managing director, as saying that his company wants to supply coal to India because India’s coal imports are projected to touch about 200 million tons over next few years. Last year, Rio Tinto supplied three million tons of coking coal to Indian steel companies such as JSW Steel and Tata Steel.…

]]> agmetal@oilprice.com (Ag Metal Miner) Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:43:38 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Rio-Tinto-Looking-To-Satisfy-Indias-Growing-Hunger-For-Coal.html Canada's Environment Ministry Getting Tough with Coal Industry http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Canadas-Environment-Ministry-Getting-Tough-With-Coal-Industry.html Canada’s environment ministry has proposed tougher regulations for coal-fired power plants, but they do not go far enough to help the country achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets, according to an environmental NGO. The rules proposed last week by Environment Canada apply a performance standard to coal-fired units that are either new or have reached the end of their economic life. The standard, which will affect 20 power plants, will require the power stations to achieve parity with the emissions performance of high-efficiency…

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]]> ruyi@oilprice.com (Gloria Gonzalez) Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:40:31 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Canadas-Environment-Ministry-Getting-Tough-With-Coal-Industry.html The Importance of Coal to India's Economy http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/The-Importance-Of-Coal-To-Indias-Economy.html India’s coal reserves have been assessed at about 286 billion tons this year, about 3.25 percent higher than the previous year’s 276.8 billion tons, according to a published report. Citing the National Inventory on Indian Coal Resources published by the Geological Survey of India, the Indian newspaper Business Line reported that of this, the Geological Survey estimates proven reserves to be 114 billion tons, or 40 percent of the total reserves. The latest proven reserves represent a 3.6 percent increase over the previous year’s…

]]> agmetal@oilprice.com (Ag Metal Miner) Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:31:45 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/The-Importance-Of-Coal-To-Indias-Economy.html Clean Coal and Underground Coal Gasification http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Clean-Coal-And-Underground-Coal-Gasification.html The reserve limits for coal, for China as well as the rest of the world, can be postponed for several generations if the technology to gasify coal underground can be commercialized. Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) enables the access of deeper coal layers hitherto unavailable through conventional mining. Several modern pilot projects have been successfully completed in recent years and commercial projects are underway. _Rembrandt The writer known as "Rembrandt" provided a very useful article on underground coal gasification at the Oil Drum blog.…

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]]> thyu@oilprice.com (Al Fin) Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:37:36 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Clean-Coal-And-Underground-Coal-Gasification.html Why Coal Prices Will Soar in the Coming Years http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Why-Coal-Prices-Will-Soar-In-The-Coming-Years.html World energy policy is gripped by a fallacy — the idea that coal is destined to stay cheap for decades to come. This assumption supports investment in ‘clean-coal’ technology and trumps serious efforts to increase energy conservation and develop alternative energy sources. It is an important enough assumption about our energy future that it demands closer examination. There are two reasons to believe that coal prices are likely to soar in the years ahead. First, a spate of recent studies suggests that available, useful coal may…

]]> postcarbon@oilprice.com (Post Carbon) Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:18:19 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Why-Coal-Prices-Will-Soar-In-The-Coming-Years.html Is Coal Actually Saving us from Global Warming? http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Is-Coal-Actually-Saving-Us-From-Global-Warming.html In a contradiction that scientists, skeptics, businesses, governments and the media never saw coming, coal emissions may actually be both contributing to global warming and reducing it. While this may seem like an oxymoron, it turns out that while excess carbon dioxide from coal emissions creates a warming effect in our atmosphere, the sulfur emitted by coal actually cools the atmosphere. While scientists have argued that carbon dioxide emissions will lead to a warming trend, the facts and figures aren’t holding true to their predictions. …

]]> energydigital@oilprice.com (Energy Digital) Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:57:19 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Is-Coal-Actually-Saving-Us-From-Global-Warming.html Peak Coal and Chinese Economic Growth http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Peak-Coal-And-Chinese-Economic-Growth.html This is a guest post by Dr. Minqi Li. Dr. Li was a political prisoner in China from 1990 to 1992. He received a PhD in economics from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2002, and he has been teaching economics at University of Utah since 2006. He has published many articles on peak oil, climate change, and global economic crisis in journals such as Monthly Review, Science & Society, Review, Journal of World Systems Research, Development & Change, and Journal of Contemporary Asia. His book The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist…

]]> tol@oilprice.com (The Oil Drum) Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:17:00 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Peak-Coal-And-Chinese-Economic-Growth.html A Clean Way to Use the United States Abundant Coal Reserves http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/A-Clean-Way-To-Use-The-United-States-Abundant-Coal-Reserves.html The US has roughly 1 trillion barrels of oil equivalent in coal resources, or more. It has twice that amount in kerogen resources, but we are looking at coal specifically. The challenge has been to find ways to burn this massive coal resource cleanly, so as to provide abundant and inexpensive electrical power and heat to what should have been a healthy economy -- if not for a government policy of planned energy starvation. Georgia Tech. researchers have devised self-cleaning anodes for a solid oxide fuel cell, which may provide yet another clean…

]]> thyu@oilprice.com (Al Fin) Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:34:43 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/A-Clean-Way-To-Use-The-United-States-Abundant-Coal-Reserves.html Indian Coal Shortages has Steel Producers Worried http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Indian-Coal-Shortages-Has-Steel-Producers-Worried.html Recent research on coal imports in India has worried the country’s steelmakers, which are already under pressure from the rise in iron ore prices and coal prices. According to the latest research conducted by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), India may triple its coking coal imports within five years to meet surging demand from steelmakers and power producers. Mark Pervan, the head of commodity research at ANZ, was quoted as saying that steel production in India might increase by about 10 percent a year in the next five…

]]> agmetal@oilprice.com (Ag Metal Miner) Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:03:40 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Indian-Coal-Shortages-Has-Steel-Producers-Worried.html High Coal Prices Leading to Increased Power Shortages in China http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/High-Coal-Prices-Leading-To-Increased-Power-Shortages-In-China.html China may be the world’s largest producer of coal for power generation, but as the world’s largest consumer, the proportion that it imports is still arguably the single biggest driver of global prices. China often faces power shortages in the middle of winter and middle of summer, respectfully, when heating and cooling demands are at their highest; but this year, power shortages have started two months early and look to be the worse yet, according to a recent Reuters article. The blame falls largely on the shoulders of Beijing. For…

]]> Burnss@oilprice.com (Stuart Burns) Mon, 09 May 2011 12:41:53 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/High-Coal-Prices-Leading-To-Increased-Power-Shortages-In-China.html Historical Insights into the Dark Side of Coal http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Historical-Insights-Into-The-Dark-Side-Of-Coal.html I have a special emotional relationship with Telemaco Signorini's painting "The Riverbank." The area shown in the panting has changed very little from the time when the painting was made - mid 19th century - and, today, I could take you to exactly that place, in Florence, Italy. It is not far from where I was born and raised; it is the area where my family used to live for generations. Everytime I see that painting (and I have seen the original twice, in two different expositions) I can't avoid the sensation that those men, so hard working, could…

]]> tol@oilprice.com (The Oil Drum) Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:17:32 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Historical-Insights-Into-The-Dark-Side-Of-Coal.html China's Enormous Appetite for Coal Causing Environmental Concerns http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Chinas-Enormous-Appetite-For-Coal-Causing-Environmental-Concerns.html Even as developed countries close, or limit construction of, coal-fired power plants out of concern over pollution and climate-warming emissions, coal has found a rapidly expanding market elsewhere: Asia, particularly China. At ports in Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia and South Africa, ships are lining up to load coal for furnaces in China, which has evolved virtually overnight from a coal ex-porter to one of the world’s leading importers. The United States now ships coal to China via Canada, but coal companies are scouting for new…

]]> caplo@oilprice.com (David Caploe PhD) Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:22:30 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Chinas-Enormous-Appetite-For-Coal-Causing-Environmental-Concerns.html An In Depth Look at Coal http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/An-In-Depth-Look-At-Coal.html The energy we get from coal today comes from the energy that plants absorbed from the sun millions of years ago. All living plants store solar energy through a process known as photosynthesis. When plants die, this energy is usually released as the plants decay. Under conditions favourable to coal formation, the decaying process is interrupted, preventing the release of the stored solar energy. The energy is locked into the coal. Coal formation began during the Carboniferous Period - known as the first coal age - which spanned 360 million to 290…

]]> thyu@oilprice.com (Al Fin) Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:24:27 GMT http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/An-In-Depth-Look-At-Coal.html