Coal Case
Wherein AEman will attempt to articulate a short but coherent case in support of broader US use of coal power. First of all, let's admit that coal used to be for choo choos and is today best suited for power plants and steel production, not to power cars and light trucks. Second, let us note that the WSJ had an article yesterday titled: "Global Surge in Use of Coal Alters Energy Equation" which among other things said:
A world-wide surge in the mining and use of coal is helping offset some of the economic strains of rising oil demand and marks an important shift in energy consumption with long-term consequences for the global energy equation and the environment. The trend is especially notable in the two countries that are the biggest new sources of global energy demand: China and India. These nations have enormous coal reserves but not nearly enough oil and gas. By some measures, world-wide coal consumption has been rising faster than the use of any other source of energy, including crude oil, natural gas, hydroelectricity and nuclear power. Last year, world coal consumption rose 6.9%, compared with 2.1% for oil, according to BP PLC, the global energy company.
AEman's three-pronged checklist for the soundness of a particular power tech includes economics, geopolitics and environment aspects. With these lenses in mind, coal scores as follows:
- Economics - nothing to talk about. On the face of it, keeping it simple, coal is freaking cheap and easy to transport and work with. It doesn't blow up. It's like a rock.
- Geopolitics - people are not shooting each other over coal. I suppose they could, but they just aren't. Religion, oil, politics - those are worth dying for, but so far, not coal.
- Environmental - Oops, coal falls down big time here both domestically and globally. AEman will investigate "clean coal" in a future post but guesses that that phrase relies on "big lie" rhetoric. Call it clean and so it is. So it is not.
If India, China and the US attempt to circumvent oil problems by increasing coal's contribution to the total energy equation we may be appeased in the short term while truly well-fucked in the mid/long. Coal is the poster child fuel for production of CO2 and other nasty greenhouse products. If it can really be cleaned up via tech, then God bless it. Otherwise, we might want to avoid the easy short term solution that trades on the futures of our kids and grandkids. If it's coal vs. oil for power plants, though, methinks I'd choose coal which requires much less blood.
posted by Andy Bochman at 3:06 PM
 
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