For months nationwide we see TV adds by a skinny nice looking women in a suit telling us about clean gas, oil and in some adds, clean coal. Here's why clean coal is a bunch of crap, a steaming pile.
Coal burning releases carbon.
Carbon capture has only been done in labs and now in one coal fired plant, a gizzilion dollar system that catches only 5% of the carbon from one power plant.
To catch all the CO2 at a coal burner, the plant must be twice the size, it takes that big a device to catch it.
Most coal burner plants don't have enough space to add this so retrofits will never occur.
The cost jumps to the cost of a nuke plant.
The carbon catcher consumes around 30% of the plants energy production to work it's magic.
Additional water is required, not good news in western states.
To pump the C02 underground takes pipelines to appropriate geological locations and lots of wells and pumps to force it into the earth.
This infrastructure of pipelines will require the usual imminent domain and property rights fights.
Clean coal will never be a reality in the market. Utilities do not want it, only to sell the fantasy of it to delay other actions, and to pretend.
So true...so very very true...But that's the nature of the greedy lobbyist getting paid by the coal (and other) industries.... It never ceases to amaze me just how stupid or gullible they think the public at large is....
ReplyDeleteThe shame of it is that they will pour enough money into DC that they will have nothing to worry about and little will change..It's ok in Washington to keep poisoning the planet as long as the money keeps rolling in......
There actually might be such a thing as clean coal, but the cost of producing it is prohibitive.
ReplyDeleteSeems like clean coal is only mentioned when a politician or industry wants to appear green.
ReplyDeletefringe -
ReplyDeleteRight you are. I have my own distain for that women that talks about clean coal and all those jobs. Clean coal is an oxymoron! Here are a few of my other favorites - caring Republican, representative Democracy, military intelligence, corporate ethics, brave politician and creation science. Thank God I'm an atheist!
TAB -
ReplyDeleteGullible, I love that word, and all the folly of over-trusting sheepism that goes with it. Advertising works, since those adds have been running, there are lots of people who already believe there are clean coal plants being built.
Isn't it amazing that lobbyist can throw around company money in such volumes, while ethics back at the main office prohibit giving or receiving gifts more expensive than pens, pencils, calendars.
Whit,
ReplyDeleteThere is indeed the possibility, actually the reality of clean burning of coal. Well the coal burns as normal, but the smoke is scrubbed clean (or mostly clean). But as I wrote, it is prohibitive in cost, size of machinery to do it, and consumption of the energy to run it, it is an energy hog machine to clean the smoke.
This does not mean we should burn coal and let the CO2, formaldihide, mercury, lead, and low level radiation fly because it is hard to capture. We need to at a minimum continue to install the small scrubbers now available which catch a little of the acid and some of the above elements, but most of all we need to stop building new coal burning plants and phase out the old ones.
Skinny,
ReplyDeleteYou hit it on the head, green washing is the name, appear green by PR campaigns, small gifts to the local zoo, and proper use of environmental terms.
Illuminated One:
ReplyDeleteYour list of oxymorons gave me a good belly laugh. Voting rights may now qualify as an oxymoron with Kansas and Florida's new GOP inspired laws going into place.
Thank God I'm a democrat. I renounced the church (I mean my GOP registration) in 08.