Grist | Topics | 35 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 35
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
CCS: Environmental whack-a-mole	Sean Casten	07 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Carbon capture and sequestration gets heralded as a great way to lower CO2 emissions and keep burning coal. Unfortuantely, it also kills the efficiency of the coal plant, meaning that every other environmental externality associated with coal-fired generation -- from mountaintop removal to power plant siting -- is exacerbated by CCS. Planet Ark puts it succinctly: The process called carbon capture and sequestration requires as much as 20 percent of the electricity ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Nice way of life. Shame if something happened to it.	David Roberts	31 May 2008	Gristmill
According to ACCCE, if we don't use coal, we'll have to wave goodbye to the American way of life:
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy, lying liars, messaging (all these topics)

Coal: looks kinda hot, but only because America is wearing beer goggles Heinberg raises doubts about coal reserves	David Roberts	30 May 2008	Gristmill
Energy analyst Richard Heinberg is working on a book about coal, tentatively titled Coal's Future/Earth's Fate, to be published by Post Carbon Press in spring 2009. It's sure to be vital reading for anyone interested in tracking, understanding, and battling the enemy of the human race. Happily, Heinberg is publishing working drafts of various parts of the book on his website. A few months ago he ran the introduction: 'The Great Coal Rush (and Why It Will Fail).' This ...
Topics: books, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, fossil fuels (all these topics)

A future for FutureGen? Senate slips life support for 'clean coal' boondoggle into war supplemental package	Kate Sheppard	16 May 2008	Gristmill
Remember FutureGen, the pilot program that was supposed to yield the nation's first zero-emissions, 'clean coal' power plant? The one that even the Bush administration realized was a bad idea, after the price tag on the project ballooned to $1.8 billion? Well, some senators just don't want to see it die ($ub req'd). Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved language to force the Department of Energy to continue funding FutureGen until March ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, Department of Energy, energy, Illinois, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics)

Coal moratorium now! Preventing dirty coal plants is the most urgent climate policy	Joseph Romm	07 May 2008	Gristmill
A livable climate can (probably) survive the burning of almost all of the world's conventional oil and gas -- but not if we also burn even half the coal (see here [PDF] and figure below). So the top priority for any climate policy must be to stop the building of traditional coal plants -- which is why that has become the top priority of NASA's James Hansen (see here). The next priority is to replace existing coal plants with carbon-free power, which could include c ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, carbon trading, climate, climate science, coal, energy (all these topics)

Fortune Brainstorm Green An unusually interesting discussion of 'clean coal'	David Roberts	21 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Earlier today I attended a small roundtable discussion about clean coal. Most of the people there were basically pro-clean coal: people from NRG energy, railroad companies, venture capital firms, and David Hawkins from NRDC. Some other folks were uncommitted. In the anti column were me and Mike Brune from Rainforest Action Network. Also in attendance: Fred Krupp of EDF and eco-oldtimer Stewart Brand. There were pockets of agreement. To his credit, the guy from NRG l ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy (all these topics)

Can the coal industry be saved in spite of itself? Should it be? New analysis explores whether Congress can do a better job with CCS than Bush administration	Joseph Romm	20 Apr 2008	Gristmill
One of biggest debates about climate solutions is whether coal generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is going to be practical and affordable on the timescale needed to avoid catastrophic outcomes. And, of course, there are many who don't think coal should be saved at all. I am not in the second camp, but I doubt coal with CCS is likely to exceed one wedge (I'll discuss this more next week). And we probably need 14 wedges to stay below 450 ppm. I have ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, Congress, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Cheap clean coal now dirty, expensive	David Roberts	13 Apr 2008	Gristmill
The WSJ energy blog points out that skyrocketing demand for coal in the developing world is rapidly driving up the commodity price. (And WSJ proper points out that rising prices for coal mean rising prices for steel.) Meanwhile, Reuters says 'clean coal' is 'elusive' and the head of one of Australia's biggest energy companies -- AGL -- says that coal's days are numbered: ... Michael Fraser said it is unlikely any new coal generators will be built without significa ...
Topics: Australia, business, carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy (all these topics)

Mr. Rogers responds Duke Energy CEO responds to climate scientist Jim Hansen	Guest author	02 Apr 2008	Gristmill
The following is a response from Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, to an open letter from climate scientist Jim Hansen. ----- Dear Dr. Hansen: I am happy to meet with you as you suggest in your letter dated March 25, and will work with my staff to find a time that is mutually convenient to discuss climate change. I am in New York City on a regular basis and also open to scheduling a special trip to meet with you. I look forward to spending some time together t ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy, James Hansen, nuclear power, renewable energy (all these topics)

Darth Vader and Mr. Rogers James Hansen writes to Duke Energy on coal	Guest author	01 Apr 2008	Gristmill
This is a guest post by noted NASA climate scientist James Hansen. ----- The captains of industry, perhaps more than anyone else, have the ability to solve the global warming problem, so they deserve attention. But different strategies are needed for a Mr. Rogers or a Darth Vader. Some may argue that Mr. Rogers, $28M/year chairman of Duke Energy, is just another executive focused on short-term profits, with any concern for his children and grandchildren directed t ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy, James Hansen, nuclear power, renewable energy (all these topics)

Another entrant in the $1/watt solar sweepstakes Cost of solar cells may be driven down dramatically	David Roberts	26 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Well lookie here! A series of manufacturing process improvements could make the cost of electricity from silicon-based solar cells comparable to today's prices for coal generation within about four years, according to a company emerging out of stealth today. The company, 1366 Technologies, will be using technologies developed in MIT labs to reduce the manufacturing costs of standard-issue multi-crystalline silicon solar cells. They say they can ultimately reduce ...
Topics: business, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Why FutureGen had to die The blind alley of more coal	John McGrath	25 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Thomas Homer-Dixon, whose book I adore, has written an op-ed in The Globe and Mail arguing in favor of large government investments in carbon capture and sequestration technology. His advocacy of CCS has long confused me -- my reading of his book suggested (to me, anyway) that large-scale CCS was precisely the kind of technology we should avoid like the plague. To recap: Homer-Dixon builds on the work of Joseph Tainter, who argues that societies respond to pressures ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy, fossil fuels, renewable energy, wind power (all these topics)

Run your car on coal? Maybe not CTL fuels: still a bad idea	Guest author	25 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay from Peter Montague, executive director of the Environmental Research Foundation. ----- As the price of oil rises, coal company executives smell a huge opportunity: they are planning to ramp up a new global industry to turn coal into liquid fuels (diesel, kerosene and jet fuel), plus basic feedstocks for the chemical industry to make plastics, fertilizers, solvents, pesticides, and more. The coal-to-chemicals industry is already going ga ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy, politics (all these topics)

Thought: Control Waxman and Markey introduce bill to ban new dirty coal plants		11 Mar 2008	News
Posted at 10:09 AM on 11 Mar 2008 House Representatives Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) have introduced the "Moratorium on Uncontrolled Power Plants Act of 2008," which would do pretty much what it sounds like: prevent new coal plants in the U.S. unless they're built with advanced pollution controls. Says Waxman, "The altemative is senseless -- locking in decades of additional global war ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, Ed Markey, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics)

Coal: getting expensiver	Sean Casten	11 Mar 2008	Gristmill
More details on the new, really-really-expensive AEP coal plant in West Virginia. It seems like just yesterday that I wrote that the 17 percent rate increase announced by AEP would not be the last one, given the cost of this plant. Two days later, here they come. Specifically, 'Customers could start paying as early as next year with rate hikes starting at $1 per month in 2009 and eventually climbing to $7.70 per month. AEP customers could pay nearly $160 million du ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy, West Virginia (all these topics)

Alternate futures Two huge power plants offer different paths forward	David Roberts	22 Feb 2008	Gristmill
In Sweetwater, Texas, a company called Tenaska has applied to build what will be the nation's first bona fide "clean coal" plant -- an IGCC plant that will capture and sequester CO2 emissions. (Said emissions will be used to pump more oil out of the Permian Basin oil fields, which will then be burned and create more CO2, but who's counting?) The 600MW plant is projected to be completed in 2014. Meanwhile, Spanish engineering firm Abengoa has signed a deal w ...
Topics: Arizona, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, Texas (all these topics)

Quick, change more lightbulbs! China kicks off the coal-to-liquids rush	David Roberts	21 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Looks like China is about to uncork the CTL genie, opening a plant to produce liquid fuel from coal. This won't be the last: A study last year by the Chinese Academy of Sciences said: 'Production of liquid fuels from coal is practically the most feasible route to cope with the dilemma in oil supply.' It concluded: 'Establishing large-scale CTL [coal-to-liquids] plants on the pitheads of several main coalfields is feasible and competitive when oil price is well o ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, China, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

Flipflopping on FutureGen Bush drops mismanaged 'NeverGen' clean coal project	Joseph Romm	31 Jan 2008	Gristmill
For those remaining seven or eight three or four people who still buy the Bush rhetoric that he cares about global warming and is committed to addressing the problem with new technology, Exhibit 435C for the prosecution is the just-canceled 'clean coal' project called FutureGen. [Amusing anecdote for FHA (Future Historians of America): I once had a boss at the U.S. Department of Energy who practiced repeating 'clean coal' in front of a mirror so as not to break out ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy, politics (all these topics)

PastGen Department of Energy backs away from funding FutureGen project		29 Jan 2008	News
Posted at 5:04 PM on 29 Jan 2008 Well let us just pick our grinning jaws up off the floor: The U.S. Department of Energy has told lawmakers that it plans to pull funding for FutureGen, its ambitious and crazily expensive "clean coal" demonstration plant. The feds had planned to cover some three-quarters of the $1.8 billion price tag, and cited ballooning costs as its reason for backing out. The announcement pissed ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, Department of Energy, energy, Illinois, news, politics (all these topics)

Pity West Virginia The backlash against coal has not made it to the halls of power in WV	David Roberts	11 Dec 2007	Gristmill
There are some heartening recent stories from the land of Coal Backlash. Portland-based PacifiCorp is giving up on new coal plants entirely -- not for environmental reasons but for economic ones. (Lesson: coal isn't cheap.) Missouri is probably the most hostile state for climate activists. It ranks among the top five states for emitting CO2, its emissions are growing faster than any other state's, 85% of its power comes from coal, it is 46th out of 50 state in terms o ...
Topics: West Virginia, coal, energy, carbon sequestration (all these topics)

How not to make an energy policy A strong and realistic energy policy is not dependent on any one fuel, technology, or supplier	Kristina & Jason Makansi	27 Nov 2007	Gristmill
First a caveat: When it comes to electricity generation, I (Jason) am an agnostic. In other words, I try to evaluate energy sources on their own merits, from cradle to grave, and I try my best to keep ideology out of the analysis. When we're talking about our energy future, it is essential to look at the big picture. We should evaluate each fuel source -- its pros, cons, and its potential for the future -- in light of all the geopolitical, economic, a ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, energy, nuclear power, politics (all these topics)

Carbon sequestration and the precautionary principle A guest essay from Peter Montague raises questions about the rush to sequestration	David Roberts	12 Nov 2007	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay from Peter Montague, executive director of the Environmental Research Foundation. ----- In response to a relentless stream of bad news about global warming, a cluster of major industries has formed a loose partnership with big environmental groups, prestigious universities, philanthropic foundations, and the U.S. federal government -- all promoting a technical quick-fix for global warming called "carbon sequestration." ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation, greenhouse-gas emissions, energy, climate, coal (all these topics)

U.S. Mayors Climate Conference: Gore IV Gore: no more coal plants without sequestration	David Roberts	02 Nov 2007	Gristmill
Mayor Mark Stodola of Little Rock, Ark., asked Gore squarely about coal. He said that his city's electrical rates had been rising, but that a new coal plant opening soon was going to lower the bills. Naturally, my ears perked up. Gore said coal is where "the rubber meets the road." We have enough coal here and in China to "incinerate the planet." And right now, electricity is being "recarbonized." "We just can't do that." ...
Topics: coal, Al Gore, energy, carbon sequestration (all these topics)

Coal is the enemy of the human race: New Republic edition Editorial questions the sequestration promise	David Roberts	25 Sep 2007	Gristmill
The New Republic has a fine, fine editorial about coal today. It calls into question whether spending up to $40 billion on the ten-years-hence promise of carbon sequestration in order to save the coal industry from obsolescence is the best investment we could make to fight global warming. The weak link in the argument is here: Nor is it clear that sequestration will be economical: One GAO analysis predicts that electricity from carbon- capturing plants will co ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, energy (all these topics)

Edwards not as green as you thought: When a ban isn't a ban Why Edwards' 'ban' on coal plants does little good against climate change	David Roberts	10 Sep 2007	Gristmill
John Edwards. Photo: kk+ via flickr One of the most meaningful steps the U.S. can take to fight climate change is to forbid construction of new coal plants unless they capture and sequester their carbon emissions. If we allow more dirty coal plants, all our other efforts will be in vain. That's why James Hansen and Al Gore return to the subject so often. Dem presidential candidate Chris Dodd has called for such a policy in blunt language: "The Do ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, elections, energy, John Edwards, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

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