Your tax dollars at work

Coal is the enemy of the human race. Coal is the enemy of the human race

Posted by Adam Browning (Guest Contributor) at 9:34 AM on 03 May 2007

Read more about: energy | coal | fossil fuels | national security

The Office of Fossil Energy (no, not Dick Cheney's office -- apparently there is another one) released a new report this week: "Tracking New Coal Fired Power Plants."

An excerpt from the press release:

If built, the plants will be critical in helping to meet future electricity demand in the United States. The new and proposed plants would theoretically produce enough electricity to power 90 million homes.

Coal is vital to the nation's energy security. Providing more than 50 percent of U.S. electricity, coal is an abundant, domestic energy source with more than a 250-year supply at current use rates. America's coal reserves, estimated at 272 billion tons, contain more energy potential than all of the oil in the Middle East.

Your tax dollars at work.

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Put this in your tail pipe and smoke it

The USA consumes more oil than all the oil produced in the Middle East.

In 2002 the region's major oil producers - Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Qatar - produced approximately 18.54mn b/d of crude and condensate.

http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/a46n40d01.htm

by sunflower at 10:18 AM on 03 May 2007

Peak Coal

I wonder if those knuckleheads know about peak coal yet. Sure we've got a big supply of it, but it's of a lesser quality than it used to be, and so it ain't gonna go as far. But their ears are stuffed with mountain-top-removing industry dollars, I'm afraid.

And there's this, brand new from Richard Heinberg:

"A soon-to-be-released study by the Energy Watch Group in Germany on the future of global coal supplies has implications so surprising and far-reaching that energy policymakers may take years to digest it. This essay is intended to help speed that process. The report's central conclusions are that minable global coal reserves are much smaller than is commonly thought, and that a peak in world coal production is likely within only ten to fifteen years."

Full thing is here:

http://globalpublicmedia.com/richard_heinbergs_museletter ...

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by Erik Hoffner at 10:49 AM on 03 May 2007

Republican Thinks:

America's coal reserves, estimated at 272 billion tons, contain more energy potential than all of the oil in the Middle East.

"Gee, thats a lot of energy. Sure would be nice if I could put it inside my gas tank. Ooh, look, we can, all our problems are solved!"

-David Ahlport

by GreyFlcn at 11:14 AM on 03 May 2007

Check out the briefing ...

It truly gets impressive when you check out the briefing.

Slide 3 (pdf of entire presentation at: http://www.netl.doe.gov/coal/refshelf/ncp.pdf ) shows the additional power generation: natural gas, renewables, coal.

Several points:

Have to wonder, considering the noise about it, why there is no nuclear?
The Renewables ... roughly showing a 10 Gigawatt capacity addition 2005-2010 (which understates, wind/biomass/solar capacity addition but not hugely) ... For all the remaining 5-year periods, renewable capacity addition is perhaps at 1 gigawatt per five year period. Thus, this work has renewables dropping an order of magnitude in terms of added capacity rather than every reasonable prediction showing growing capacity from a variety of renewables.

Blogging regularly at Get Energy Smart. NOW!!! to Energize America .

by A Siegel at 11:40 AM on 03 May 2007

ADVERTISING POLICY

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