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THE Coal Thread pt 4

Discussions of conventional and alternative energy production technologies.

THE Coal Thread pt 4

Unread postby kublikhan » Sun 30 Jul 2017, 18:49:05

Fossil fuel sees ‘decisive break’ from period of demand growth. Carbon emissions show little or no growth for third year: BP.

It’s the end of an era for coal. Production of the fossil fuel dropped by a record amount in 2016. China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, burned the least coal in six years and use dropped in the U.S to a level last seen in the 1970s.

Coal, the most polluting fuel that was once the world’s fastest growing energy source, has been a target of countries and companies alike as the world begins to work toward the goals of the Paris climate agreement. Consumption is falling as the world’s biggest energy companies promote cleaner-burning natural gas, China’s economy evolves to focus more on services than heavy manufacturing and renewable energy like wind and solar becomes cheaper.

Global consumption dropped 1.7 percent last year compared with an average 1.9 percent yearly increase from 2005 to 2015. “At the heart of this shift are structural, long-term factors,” Dale said. These include “the increasing availability and competitiveness of natural gas and renewable energy, combined with mounting government and societal pressure to shift away from coal towards cleaner, lower-carbon fuels.”

Consumption of coal fell in every continent except Africa. Germany, Europe’s biggest user, consumed 4.3 percent less coal. U.K. demand fell 52.5 percent, the biggest percentage decline among the world’s major economies.

Global carbon emissions, which grew at an annual average rate of about 2.5 percent in the 10 years to 2013, remained stagnant in the past three years. While some of this reflects weaker economic growth, the majority reflects faster declines in “the average amount of carbon emitted per unit of GDP.”
World Coal Production Just Had Its Biggest Drop on Record

Global coal consumption declined by 1.7 percent to its lowest level since 2010. Coal consumption has been falling for a couple of reasons. Countries around the world are passing legislation to limit carbon dioxide emissions, and cheap natural gas and renewables are providing economic alternatives to coal. Last year’s decline marks the second consecutive annual decline in coal consumption.

Almost every region of the world saw a decline in coal consumption. In the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries — primarily the world’s developed countries — coal consumption fell by 6.4 percent. In the European Union, it declined by 8.9 percent. U.S. coal consumption continued to fall sharply. The 8.8 percent decline in consumption took U.S. coal demand to its lowest level since 1978. U.S. coal production followed, with a 19.0 percent decline to levels also not seen since the 1970’s. China’s consumption declined last year as well, which accounted for about 50 percent of the global drop in coal consumption.
Graph: Global Coal Consumption

The Natural Gas Boom Shows No Signs Of Slowing

BP 2017 energy outlook is out: BP Energy Outlook 2017
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby kublikhan » Sun 30 Jul 2017, 19:08:03

Once the engine of the Industrial Revolution and employer of nearly 1.2 million people, the fall of old king coal in the UK has been precipitous. Only five years ago, the fuel was generating more than 40% of the UK’s electricity, but new analysis by Imperial College London reveals coal supplied just 2% of power in the first half of 2017. More than 1,000 deep mines and nearly 100 surface ones operated until the early 1960s – today there are just 10 tiny mines left. Half a century ago it was the UK’s main source of energy, but last year windfarms provided more power.

This week, it emerged that ministers are disbanding a government and industry body created to secure the long-term future of coal power and mining, in the latest sign of the dirty fuel’s rapid demise. The 11-year-old UK Coal Forum will be wound down because it “no longer serves a purpose”, said Richard Harrington, the new energy minister. Pollution laws and carbon taxes have forced large, ageing plants to close in the past five years, with three major ones closing in 2016 alone. Coal supplies so little power today that in April the National Grid reported the UK had gone the first day without the fossil fuel since Thomas Edison opened the country’s first coal power station at Holborn, London, in 1882.

“It’s unprecedented, the speed at which it declined,” said Iain Staffell of Imperial College. “We’ve never had anything like this. In the 1990s there was the dash for gas, and that probably was a quarter of the speed of this.”
The coal truth: how a major energy source lost its power in Britain

Wind, solar and energy efficiency have replaced the vast majority of power previously provided by the UK’s coal fleet, a new analysis shows. But the gap has not been plugged by natural gas, the UK’s now primary source of electricity. Renewables and energy efficiency* have together covered nearly 85% of the power the UK no longer gets from its coal plants. Though gas power surged in 2016 as coal’s fall accelerated, and may yet rise still in the coming years, it is actually producing significantly less power than it was at the beginning of the decade.In 2010 fossil fuels were producing nearly 100TWh more power than they are now, while renewable generation more than tripled by 2016.
What has replaced coal power in the UK?
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sun 30 Jul 2017, 20:08:38

"Global coal consumption declined by 1.7 percent to its lowest level since 2010." Which is great. But that stat also means current coal consumption exceeds any time in the previous 100+ years. The decline is positive but hardly represents the "end of an era". Hopefully as NG eventually declines the alts will be there to pick up the slack. If not the billions of pounds of proven coal reserves will still be waiting.
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Re: Article: "The Alternatives—Coal..." by Dale Allen Pfeif

Unread postby AdamB » Sun 30 Jul 2017, 20:28:38

annie wrote:The Alternatives—Coal...by Dale Allen Pfeiffer
new article posted on his blog this morning (27 Nov 2005): link


OMG talk about memories of the good ol' days! Dale Allen was Mike Ruppert's personal geologist and sidekick before they had some kind of falling out.

For those who don't remember, Ruppert was a beat cop turned pamphleteer who got into using doom stories early on to sell website subscriptions. Hell bent on connecting dots that weren't in the same universe, a 9/11 truther, someone who cured his own alcoholism by <wait for it> continuing to drink!, a resident of Bellevue...yes..BELLEVUE, someone who fled the US vowing to never come back and after a little vacation time...came back!!

Yes, that was where Dale Allen got his start. And Dale did this absolutely horrible peak oil primer, and confused the word permeable, with impermeable. Rockman and RocDoc would yuck it up over that one, the best way to describe it to a non-geologist would be to say that it is as fundamental a screwup as an emergency room doctor confusing a human heart with a foot.

But thanks for the trip down memory lane! As far as the "alternatives" in the eyes of a geologist who I'm not sure know the difference between sedimentary and igneous, I'm not sure they matter because one thing Dale never would have done is supposed that peak coal might happen willing, and because it was displaced by plentiful natural gas.

Now I wonder what happened to old Dale, if he ever went out and got any geologic experience? Joined a doomer support group? Wrote any other awful and ignorant peaker articles? Gotta go find out...
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby AgentR11 » Mon 31 Jul 2017, 10:20:43

Article about coal (and other) shipments; interesting notes are are the shifts allowing Russia to export much more coal to China, and its neighbors, as well as Eastward within Russia as a result of railway modernization in the far East.

You don't modernize rail for something you only plan to ship for a few years. China and Russia will be burning plenty of coal, 50 years from now, shipped on those same rail lines, to generate electricity so middle class Chinese can enjoy the wonders of air conditioning.

According to the plans of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Russia will increase its share in the APR markets from 8% to 15%. That will be facilitated with the certification of Russian coal in China. In the result, more than a half of Russia’s export coal will flow to the APR markets.


http://en.portnews.ru/comments/2364/
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby Tanada » Sat 26 Aug 2017, 12:25:31

Lawrence Solomon wrote:Singing the praises of coal — the virtuous stone that liberated humanity

Lawrence Solomon: Among coal’s virtues is its small ecological footprint, in startling contrast to the clodhoppers that are renewable energy

Oil, gas, and hydroelectricity. Important though they’ve been to the economic life of mankind, none can hold a candle to coal, the most consequential energy source of all. This virtuous fuel — the Romans called it “the best stone in Britain” for its polished beauty when carved into jewelry — did more than power the Industrial Revolution, bringing unprecedented prosperity. Coal also brought enormous social and environmental blessings.

Centuries before the Industrial Revolution, during the reign of Elizabeth I, England was being rapidly deforested by the growing demand for wood fuel — the iron industry had an insatiable desire for charcoal, the navy warned the wood shortage in ship building posed a national security threat, London’s breweries alone required 20,000 wagon loads a year and the poor were especially hard hit, with the wood needed to cook and keep warm increasing in cost at rates far exceeding inflation. Dozens of commissions confirmed the threat to the nation’s forests and even in rural areas the law called for those who stole wood to be “whipped till they bleed well.” Hardships for the poor were especially cruel because England was then in the grips of the Little Ice Age, which hurt the economy as well as increasing the need for home heating.

Coal then came to the rescue, providing heat and warm meals for those who would otherwise have died while slowing the ruinous rate of deforestation the way laws — including a three-mile-wide green belt around London — never could. By the end of Elizabeth’s reign, coal had become England’s main source of fuel.

Coal, though then a dirty fuel, was liberating humanity, and being appreciated for it. As put in the mid 19th century by the great American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Every basket is power and civilization. For coal is a portable climate. It carries the heat of the tropics to Labrador and the polar circle; and it is the means of transporting itself whithersoever it is wanted. Watt and Stephenson [inventors of the steam engine and locomotive] whispered in the ear of mankind their secret, that a half-ounce of coal will draw two tons a mile, and coal carries coal, by rail and by boat, to make Canada as warm as Calcutta; and with its comfort brings its industrial power.”

Coal would soon electrify the Western world, raising literacy, standards of living and the human condition. Its one great drawback — soot and other harmful emissions — would also be eliminated as harmful levels of mercury, nitrous and sulfurous oxides were abated. Modern coal plants today emit little aside from carbon dioxide, a tasteless, odourless, and colourless gas that is known as “Nature’s fertilizer” — thanks to the ever-increasing levels of carbon dioxide, the world’s forests and other biota are flush to overflowing, making Planet Earth the greenest in recorded history.

Among coal’s virtues is its small ecological footprint, in startling contrast to the clodhoppers that are renewable energy. Meeting the world’s energy needs with biofuels would require three times the land area now needed for farming. The land hogs that are solar and wind farms likewise consume far more land than coal mines. And massive hydro dams have been the most ruinous of all the renewables, having flooded the agriculturally and aquaculturally rich river valleys that housed and sustained millions of farmers and fishermen.

Even today, with the world awash in oil and gas, coal continues to shine. Third world countries — China and India especially, but increasingly those in Africa, too — recognize low-cost coal as the key to raising hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest out of poverty, and are building coal plants at a supercharged rate. Coal is so cost-effective that — in a twist on the coals to Newcastle meme — the Middle East is also turning to coal. Coal is also the world’s go-to fuel when disaster strikes — when nuclear plants in Japan and France failed them, dependable coal was there to save the day.

With the Paris climate accord in shambles, the jig is up for renewable energy and nuclear, sham industries that soon will no longer be able to transfer taxpayer subsidies into shareholder pockets. These ephemerals are now going up in smoke, declaring bankruptcy in their hundreds. In their stead coal giants like Peabody, previously bankrupted by Obama, have risen from the ashes, along with the U.S. coal mining industry. Virtue is overcoming the venal in the energy world, to the good of the needy, of the environment, and of society as a whole.

Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Toronto-based Energy Probe


http://business.financialpost.com/opini ... d-humanity
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sat 26 Aug 2017, 14:26:14

Not sure I would tag coal as virtuous. But with respect to the US it is very, very abundant. Decades down the road, when NG becomes less available and/or too expensive, if the renewables can't supply our electricity needs, is there any doubt we won't turn to coal? Texas, even with our world class renewable energy, isn't abandoning coal today: Texas is #1 in coal generated electricity and produces 3X as much as #2 Indiana.
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby kublikhan » Sat 26 Aug 2017, 20:15:30

Tanada wrote:Among coal’s virtues is its small ecological footprint, in startling contrast to the clodhoppers that are renewable energy. Meeting the world’s energy needs with biofuels would require three times the land area now needed for farming. The land hogs that are solar and wind farms likewise consume far more land than coal mines.
Incorrect. 8.4 million acres of land have been surface mined for coal in the US alone. To continue current rates of surface mining for the next 60 years would require an additional 7 million acres. This is more land area than to power the entire US with solar alone. Wind's land requirement is even smaller. Coal actually has a larger land footprint than solar or wind. Further, solar can be mounted on rooftops, wind turbines can be mixed with farmland or ranches, etc, further curtailing their land requirement. Finally, trying to use an argument that coal requires less land, which is a BS argument to begin with, misses the huge elephant in the room that coal is the absolute dirtiest form of power generation there is.
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sat 26 Aug 2017, 22:11:41

k - As I said: if renewables are meeting the electricity demand no problem. If not coal will still be there. Only time will tell. But it will be the consumers who make the choice. Not politicians here or in Europe.
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby kublikhan » Sun 27 Aug 2017, 00:29:54

You can say that again. Trump is trying to bring coal back. The utilities didn't bite and are continuing to close coal plants. Cheaper alternatives and expectations of future carbon taxes are turning US utilities off to coal.

Executives at the nation’s largest electric utilities say Mr. Trump’s announcement and the eventual fate of the regulations known as the Clean Power Plan make little difference to them. They still plan to retire coal plants — although perhaps at a slightly slower pace — and, more significant, they have no plans to build new ones.

“For us, it really doesn’t change anything,” said Jeff Burleson, vice president of system planning at Southern Company, an Atlanta-based utility that provides electricity to 44 million people across the Southeast, of the prospective rollback of the Clean Power Plan. “Whatever happens in the near term in the current administration doesn’t affect our long-term planning for future generation.” As do most electric utilities, Southern Company plans its investment on a 50-year horizon, the expected life span of a new power plant. Its planners do not see coal as economically viable in that time frame.

With or without the Clean Power Plan, power companies say, coal is simply no longer the fuel of choice for keeping the lights on in America — and they do not expect it to make a comeback. Cheaper natural gas and renewable sources like wind and solar power have replaced it. “We’ll continue to grow the renewables portion of our business and meanwhile rely on natural gas, but we don’t see investing in new coal.”

“This is not an environmentally driven trend we are seeing,” said Jairo Chung, an associate vice president at Moody’s Investors Service. “What we are seeing now is in the interior of the U.S., where wind is very rich, states and utilities are pushing ahead in investing in it — not because of regulation or environmental concerns, but because it’s economically driven.”

Natural gas produces just half as much planet-warming carbon dioxide pollution as coal — an additional benefit, electricity generators say, as they invest in the new power generators that will provide electricity to America for the next half-century. This decision is also driven by economics. Electric company executives are including in their long-term profit-and-loss calculations an expectation that the federal government will eventually tax or regulate carbon dioxide pollution.

Several electric utilities, including Southern Company of Atlanta, have already incorporated an anticipated carbon tax into their business models, plugging in estimated fees of $10 to $40 per ton of carbon dioxide pollution. “We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but we hold a presumption that there will be a price on carbon on the horizon, either from legislation or regulation.”

While Mr. Trump tries to roll back the rules today, executives of electric power generators assume that his successors will eventually reinstate them in some form. Essentially, they say, Mr. Trump’s moves are a bump on the road to a future in which the government constrains climate-warming pollution and consumers increasingly demand cleaner power.

“This is our long-term view — unless the entire issue of climate change goes away,” he said. “And we don’t expect that to happen.”
Coal Is on the Way Out at Electric Utilities, No Matter What Trump Says
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby Tanada » Sun 27 Aug 2017, 02:18:27

kublikhan wrote:You can say that again. Trump is trying to bring coal back. The utilities didn't bite and are continuing to close coal plants. Cheaper alternatives and expectations of future carbon taxes are turning US utilities off to coal.

Executives at the nation’s largest electric utilities say Mr. Trump’s announcement and the eventual fate of the regulations known as the Clean Power Plan make little difference to them. They still plan to retire coal plants — although perhaps at a slightly slower pace — and, more significant, they have no plans to build new ones.

“For us, it really doesn’t change anything,” said Jeff Burleson, vice president of system planning at Southern Company, an Atlanta-based utility that provides electricity to 44 million people across the Southeast, of the prospective rollback of the Clean Power Plan. “Whatever happens in the near term in the current administration doesn’t affect our long-term planning for future generation.” As do most electric utilities, Southern Company plans its investment on a 50-year horizon, the expected life span of a new power plant. Its planners do not see coal as economically viable in that time frame.

With or without the Clean Power Plan, power companies say, coal is simply no longer the fuel of choice for keeping the lights on in America — and they do not expect it to make a comeback. Cheaper natural gas and renewable sources like wind and solar power have replaced it. “We’ll continue to grow the renewables portion of our business and meanwhile rely on natural gas, but we don’t see investing in new coal.”

“This is not an environmentally driven trend we are seeing,” said Jairo Chung, an associate vice president at Moody’s Investors Service. “What we are seeing now is in the interior of the U.S., where wind is very rich, states and utilities are pushing ahead in investing in it — not because of regulation or environmental concerns, but because it’s economically driven.”

Natural gas produces just half as much planet-warming carbon dioxide pollution as coal — an additional benefit, electricity generators say, as they invest in the new power generators that will provide electricity to America for the next half-century. This decision is also driven by economics. Electric company executives are including in their long-term profit-and-loss calculations an expectation that the federal government will eventually tax or regulate carbon dioxide pollution.

Several electric utilities, including Southern Company of Atlanta, have already incorporated an anticipated carbon tax into their business models, plugging in estimated fees of $10 to $40 per ton of carbon dioxide pollution. “We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but we hold a presumption that there will be a price on carbon on the horizon, either from legislation or regulation.”

While Mr. Trump tries to roll back the rules today, executives of electric power generators assume that his successors will eventually reinstate them in some form. Essentially, they say, Mr. Trump’s moves are a bump on the road to a future in which the government constrains climate-warming pollution and consumers increasingly demand cleaner power.

“This is our long-term view — unless the entire issue of climate change goes away,” he said. “And we don’t expect that to happen.”
Coal Is on the Way Out at Electric Utilities, No Matter What Trump Says



Greenwashing BS. On the world stage the USA is a small portion of the world current and future coal market. Currently in the USA Natural Gas is cheap, thanks to the Fracking industry, but the same metric does not hold true in China, India, Turkey or most of the rest of the world where the electric grids are still currently in a rapid growth phase.

To continue pretending the USA is the world is parochial in the extreme, not to mention foolishly narrow minded.
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sun 27 Aug 2017, 12:41:51

"On the world stage the USA is a small portion of the world current and future coal market." Hmm: the US is the second biggest coal consumer on the planet. At lot less then #1 China but more the 4X as much as #3 Japan.

IMO regulations, who is the POTUS (remember coal production from federal leases were higher under President Obama then any other POTUS in history), Paris Climate Accord, etc. won't be the determining factor. It will be economics. I guarentee you: if NG gets above $8/mcf Texas will switch back to burning as much coal as possible. And if NG prices stay high long enough you'll start hearing discussions about building new coal plants in areas where the haven't been built for decades.

As I said earlier if the renewables don't ramp up fast enough we'll still have a lot of coal reserves as we run out of affordable NG.
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby kublikhan » Sun 27 Aug 2017, 14:24:06

Tanada wrote:Greenwashing BS. On the world stage the USA is a small portion of the world current and future coal market. Currently in the USA Natural Gas is cheap, thanks to the Fracking industry, but the same metric does not hold true in China, India, Turkey or most of the rest of the world where the electric grids are still currently in a rapid growth phase.

To continue pretending the USA is the world is parochial in the extreme, not to mention foolishly narrow minded.
What was greenwashing BS was that original article you posted Tanada. I agree with you that coal is still a big deal on the world stage and even here in the US. But to praise coal as "virtuous" and with a small "ecological footprint" is simply greenwashing BS.
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Re: THE Coal Thread pt 3 (merged)

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sun 27 Aug 2017, 15:20:45

"...but the same metric does not hold true in China, India, Turkey or most of the rest of the world..."

Not exactly sure what that means. But the US produces more electricity from coal then any other country except China. And twice as much as #3 India. And Turkey? Not even in the top 10. And #10, England? The US produces more then 10X the amount of electricity from coal as England.

No, the US isn't "the world". But noting that the US is one of the largest producers and consumers of coal on the plant as well as a leading electricity generator from coal is not f*cking "parochial" by any measure.

Anyone can try to pretend it is not true but by any measure China and the US are King Coal and Queen Coal. LOL. So it isn't just President Trump telling the Paris Accord to go f*ck itself: so did the collective citizens of the USA. Including President Obama and all the D's in Congress: their words may have represented otherwise but their actions did not.
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US DOE to subsidize Coal & Nuclear Power $88 Billion !!

Unread postby KaiserJeep » Fri 20 Oct 2017, 01:08:31

The Next Solyndra: DOE Proposing Massive Energy Subsidies

Rick Perry retains his weakness for crony capitalism.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry has come up with a proposal for nuclear energy and coal that would make the Obamacrats “who cooked up the famously botched bailout of defunct solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra blush.”

That’s according to Mark Perry, the American Enterprise Institute scholar and University of Michigan economics professor, writing in U.S. News last week:

Washington, D.C. has a funny, if not sad, way of changing the way folks think and act. Many officials ride into town with clear eyes and deeply rooted market-based principles only to have their outlooks fundamentally — and often rapidly — changed.
....

Remainder is at: https://spectator.org/the-next-solyndra-doe-proposing-massive-energy-subsidies/

I'm actually kinda keeping score. Let me point out that:

1) The $88B in subsidies is about 8X the $11B that Obama spent on renewable energy stimulus over 8 years.

2) The two energy sources coal and nuclear are the cheapest we have according to the IER:

Coal : $0.032/kWh and 10,000 deaths/Trillion kWh (US figure, global average is 10X)

Gas: $0.045/kWh and 4,000 deaths/Trillion kWh

Solar PV: $0.160/kWh and 440 deaths/Trillion kWh
(rooftop)
Wind: $0.100/kWh and 150 deaths/Trillion kWh

Nuclear: $0.022/kWh and 0.1 deaths/Trillion kWh

(Yes, I have used the same figures in two other threads, but with different topics.)

3) Coal is the most dangerous, and nuclear energy the safest, so this is not about health effects or fatalities in the power industry.

4) I HATE this idea, because I hate the toxics released with coal energy.

5) Obviously, the idea is to make power cheaper.
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Re: US DOE to subsidize Coal & Nuclear Power $88 Billion !!

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Fri 20 Oct 2017, 02:00:19

The article seems to imply the govt is contributing monies or providing tax breaks. But the article itself states that's not the case: "Perry's proposal would be to require utilities (and by extension, consumers) to buy electricity from coal- and nuclear-powered generators, covering all of their marginal and fixed costs, plus a guaranteed profit, no matter how uncompetitive the producers are."

But if you accept KJ's numbers the costs will be lower. Which ignores whether you like coal or nukes. And again if KJ's cost numbers are valid the govt isn't picking winners and losers: it's going with proven winners.
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Re: US DOE to subsidize Coal & Nuclear Power $88 Billion !!

Unread postby KaiserJeep » Fri 20 Oct 2017, 02:59:14

Here is where those energy figures came from:

http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/topics/policy/electricity-generation-cost/

The IER is generally considered a "shill for the power industry" according to the AGW fanboys here at PeakOil.com. As I remember, that label was applied in one of the threads on carbon taxes/carbon cap & trade. The figures were plucked from a 2016 graph and represent a single point in time, I realize the relative cost of power generation by type varies over time. They also are raw generating cost, without any grid or power company markups. The current average after markups is just short of $0.13/kWh nationwide.

I'm not at all sure if the DOE actions can actually change the retail pricing, as each utility is basicly a monopoly.
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Re: US DOE to subsidize Coal & Nuclear Power $88 Billion !!

Unread postby Subjectivist » Tue 24 Oct 2017, 17:52:42

OCT 23, 2017

GENERATION ATOMIC'S COMMENT ON THE RECENT NOPR

Generation Atomic submitted an official comment on the US Department Of Energy's recent Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. You can read the full transcript of the comment here.



To​ ​the​ ​FERC:

On​ ​October​ ​12,​ ​2017,​ ​Secretary​ ​of​ ​Energy​ ​Rick​ ​Perry​ ​appeared​ ​before​ ​the​ ​US​ ​House​ ​Energy and​ ​Commerce​ ​subcommittee,​ ​emphasizing​ ​that​ ​his​ ​recent​ ​Notice​ ​of​ ​Proposed​ ​Rulemaking (NOPR)​ ​was​ ​intended​ ​to​ ​spark​ ​a​ ​national​ ​discourse​ ​on​ ​energy​ ​resilience.​ ​The​ ​position​ ​of Generation​ ​Atomic​ ​is​ ​that​ ​this​ ​dialogue​ ​is​ ​long​ ​overdue​ ​and​ ​the​ ​United​ ​States​ ​public​ ​is​ ​ready​ ​for it.

Generation​ ​Atomic​ ​is​ ​a​ ​501(c)3​ ​nonprofit,​ ​incorporated​ ​in​ ​the​ ​state​ ​of​ ​Minnesota​ ​on​ ​December 23,​ ​2016.​ ​Generation​ ​Atomic​ ​was​ ​founded​ ​to​ ​energize​ ​and​ ​empower​ ​citizens​ ​of​ ​all​ ​generations to​ ​engage​ ​in​ ​our​ ​national​ ​discourse​ ​on​ ​the​ ​need​ ​for​ ​clean,​ ​reliable​ ​energy​ ​-​ ​specifically,​ ​our nation’s​ ​largest​ ​and​ ​most​ ​reliable​ ​source​ ​of​ ​carbon-free​ ​electricity:​ ​nuclear.​ ​Through​ ​its​ ​501(c)4 affiliate,​ ​the​ ​Generation​ ​Atomic​ ​Movement​ ​Mobilizing​ ​Alliance​ ​(GAMMA),​ ​Generation​ ​Atomic​ ​has begun​ ​the​ ​work​ ​of​ ​engaging​ ​thousands​ ​of​ ​citizens​ ​in​ ​that​ ​discourse.

In​ ​Ohio​ ​alone,​ ​Generation​ ​Atomic​ ​has​ ​knocked​ ​on​ ​46,741​ ​doors,​ ​held​ ​9,047​ ​conversations,​ ​and committed​ ​5,348​ ​supporters​ ​of​ ​nuclear​ ​energy.​ ​Door​ ​to​ ​door​ ​campaigning​ ​and​ ​other​ ​grassroots organizing​ ​efforts​ ​have​ ​resulted​ ​in​ ​9,015​ ​direct​ ​actions​ ​to​ ​the​ ​state​ ​legislature.​ ​The​ ​high​ ​level​ ​of conversion​ ​indicates​ ​to​ ​us​ ​that​ ​the​ ​public​ ​in​ ​Ohio​ ​is​ ​inclined​ ​to​ ​support​ ​nuclear​ ​power​ ​for​ ​a variety​ ​of​ ​reasons​ ​that​ ​cut​ ​across​ ​the​ ​political​ ​spectrum​ ​including​ ​economic​ ​factors​ ​(50%​ ​of supporters),​ ​community​ ​and​ ​tax​ ​implications​ ​(32%),​ ​and​ ​support​ ​for​ ​nuclear​ ​as​ ​a​ ​carbon-free energy​ ​source​ ​(18%).

Through​ ​our​ ​work,​ ​we​ ​have​ ​found​ ​that​ ​thousands​ ​of​ ​thoughtful​ ​citizens​ ​understand​ ​and​ ​have​ ​a desire​ ​to​ ​participate​ ​in​ ​a​ ​discussion​ ​about​ ​how​ ​we​ ​power​ ​our​ ​economy​ ​and​ ​our​ ​lives.​ ​Based upon​ ​those​ ​conversations,​ ​Generation​ ​Atomic​ ​would​ ​like​ ​to​ ​observe​ ​the​ ​following​ ​to​ ​the Commission:

Our​ ​work​ ​indicates​ ​that​ ​the​ ​public​ ​values​ ​nuclear​ ​as​ ​an​ ​energy​ ​source.​ ​As​ ​the​ ​Department​ ​of Energy’s​ ​own​ ​Staff​ ​Report​ ​to​ ​the​ ​Secretary​ ​on​ ​Electricity​ ​Markets​ ​and​ ​Reliability​ ​(“Grid​ ​Study”) suggests:​ ​“Most​ ​…​ ​benefits​ ​[specific​ ​power​ ​plants​ ​offer]​ ​are​ ​not​ ​recognized​ ​or​ ​compensated​ ​by wholesale​ ​electricity​ ​markets,​ ​and​ ​this​ ​has​ ​given​ ​rise​ ​to​ ​a​ ​variety​ ​of​ ​state​ ​and​ ​private​ ​efforts​ ​that include​ ​keeping​ ​open​ ​or​ ​shutting​ ​down​ ​established​ ​baseload​ ​generators​ ​and​ ​incentivizing [variable​ ​renewable​ ​energy]​ ​generation.”​ ​Indeed,​ ​the​ ​public’s​ ​interest​ ​in​ ​energy​ ​resilience appears​ ​to​ ​end​ ​at​ ​the​ ​outlet,​ ​and​ ​is​ ​disconnected​ ​from​ ​state​ ​and​ ​local​ ​initiatives​ ​that​ ​are increasingly​ ​altering​ ​the​ ​energy​ ​policy​ ​landscape.​ ​As​ ​the​ ​Grid​ ​Study​ ​notes,​ ​policy​ ​instruments like​ ​Renewable​ ​Portfolio​ ​Standards​ ​(RPS)​ ​currently​ ​enacted​ ​in​ ​29​ ​states​ ​and​ ​the​ ​District​ ​of Columbia​ ​that​ ​represent​ ​55%​ ​of​ ​electricity​ ​sales​ ​are​ ​driving​ ​deeper​ ​penetration​ ​of​ ​variable renewable​ ​energy​ ​(VRE)​ ​technologies.​ ​These​ ​policies​ ​have​ ​created​ ​market​ ​pressures​ ​that​ ​favor generation​ ​sources​ ​-​ ​such​ ​as​ ​natural​ ​gas​ ​-​ ​that​ ​can​ ​more​ ​quickly​ ​ramp​ ​up​ ​and​ ​down​ ​to​ ​track VRE​ ​output.​ ​The​ ​contours​ ​of​ ​this​ ​emerging​ ​policy​ ​landscape​ ​uniquely​ ​disadvantage​ ​nuclear,​ ​as evidenced​ ​by​ ​the​ ​Grid​ ​Study’s​ ​citing​ ​of​ ​“market​ ​conditions”​ ​as​ ​a​ ​contributing​ ​or​ ​decisive​ ​factor​ ​in the​ ​closure,​ ​announced​ ​closure,​ ​or​ ​averted​ ​closure​ ​of​ ​12​ ​of​ ​16​ ​nuclear​ ​facilities.

Policymakers​ ​and​ ​the​ ​public​ ​must​ ​be​ ​better​ ​engaged​ ​in​ ​a​ ​holistic​ ​discussion​ ​around​ ​energy policy​ ​to​ ​align​ ​its​ ​stated​ ​values​ ​with​ ​the​ ​instruments​ ​that​ ​drive​ ​electricity​ ​markets.​ ​Our​ ​data supports​ ​the​ ​assertion​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Grid​ ​Study​ ​that​ ​foremost​ ​among​ ​these​ ​values​ ​is​ ​economic​ ​growth; yet,​ ​despite​ ​the​ ​Nuclear​ ​Energy​ ​Institute’s​ ​finding​ ​that​ ​nuclear​ ​energy​ ​creates​ ​ten​ ​times​ ​the​ ​jobs of​ ​either​ ​wind​ ​or​ ​natural​ ​gas​ ​per​ ​megawatt​ ​of​ ​generating​ ​capacity,​ ​market​ ​conditions​ ​are​ ​driving up​ ​the​ ​share​ ​of​ ​electricity​ ​generated​ ​from​ ​VRE​ ​and​ ​gas​ ​sources​ ​at​ ​the​ ​cost​ ​of​ ​nuclear generation.​ ​Nuclear’s​ ​waning​ ​contribution​ ​to​ ​the​ ​nation’s​ ​electricity​ ​generation​ ​mix​ ​also​ ​directly undermines​ ​the​ ​goals​ ​of​ ​energy​ ​security​ ​and​ ​resiliency;​ ​nuclear’s​ ​performance​ ​during​ ​extreme weather​ ​events​ ​such​ ​as​ ​the​ ​2014​ ​Polar​ ​Vortex​ ​and​ ​Hurricane​ ​Harvey​ ​underscore​ ​the importance​ ​of​ ​nuclear​ ​energy​ ​to​ ​grid​ ​resiliency.​ ​Ironically,​ ​the​ ​public’s​ ​environmental​ ​goals​ ​have been​ ​undercut​ ​by​ ​the​ ​very​ ​state​ ​and​ ​local​ ​initiatives,​ ​designed​ ​ostensibly​ ​to​ ​lower​ ​emissions, that​ ​have​ ​contributed​ ​most​ ​significantly​ ​to​ ​these​ ​new​ ​market​ ​conditions;​ ​according​ ​to​ ​the​ ​US Energy​ ​Information​ ​Administration,​ ​the​ ​lost​ ​low-carbon​ ​electricity​ ​generation​ ​from​ ​the​ ​five nuclear​ ​generating​ ​stations​ ​closed​ ​between​ ​2013​ ​and​ ​2017​ ​are​ ​nearly​ ​equal​ ​to​ ​that​ ​of​ ​all​ ​US solar​ ​generation​ ​in​ ​2015.

The​ ​facts​ ​are​ ​on​ ​the​ ​side​ ​of​ ​nuclear,​ ​and​ ​exposure​ ​to​ ​these​ ​facts​ ​through​ ​candid,​ ​thoughtful conversation​ ​leads​ ​to​ ​a​ ​high​ ​percentage​ ​of​ ​support​ ​from​ ​all​ ​types​ ​of​ ​citizens.​ ​Nearly​ ​three decades​ ​of​ ​state-​ ​and​ ​locally-led​ ​policymaking​ ​around​ ​VRE​ ​technologies​ ​have​ ​provided​ ​a​ ​clear path​ ​for​ ​achieving​ ​a​ ​robust​ ​policy​ ​framework​ ​that​ ​is​ ​federally-backed.​ ​Secretary​ ​Perry’s leadership​ ​in​ ​calling​ ​for​ ​a​ ​national​ ​dialogue​ ​by​ ​issuing​ ​this​ ​NOPR​ ​is​ ​therefore​ ​appreciated​ ​by Generation​ ​Atomic.​ ​Our​ ​work​ ​demonstrates​ ​that​ ​citizens​ ​do​ ​have​ ​a​ ​clear​ ​grasp​ ​of​ ​their​ ​values and​ ​goals​ ​with​ ​regard​ ​to​ ​powering​ ​their​ ​communities​ ​and​ ​our​ ​nation​ ​-​ ​even​ ​if​ ​current​ ​state​ ​and local​ ​policies​ ​neither​ ​reflect​ ​these​ ​values​ ​nor​ ​achieve​ ​these​ ​goals.​ ​Individual​ ​states​ ​must, therefore,​ ​be​ ​active​ ​participants​ ​in​ ​engaging​ ​the​ ​public​ ​in​ ​a​ ​discussion​ ​about​ ​resilience, carbon-intensity,​ ​and​ ​security​ ​of​ ​our​ ​energy.​ ​Much​ ​as​ ​state​ ​and​ ​local​ ​leaders​ ​have​ ​crafted​ ​policy instruments​ ​that​ ​have​ ​led​ ​to​ ​market​ ​conditions​ ​requiring​ ​this​ ​discussion,​ ​Generation​ ​Atomic submits​ ​that​ ​the​ ​next​ ​three​ ​decades​ ​of​ ​energy​ ​policy​ ​should​ ​follow​ ​a​ ​state-led,​ ​federally-backed pathway,​ ​focused​ ​on​ ​clearly​ ​enunciated​ ​values​ ​instead​ ​of​ ​preferred​ ​technologies.​ ​FERC​ ​can play​ ​a​ ​valuable​ ​role​ ​by​ ​directing​ ​states​ ​and​ ​regional​ ​transmission​ ​organizations​ ​to​ ​properly​ ​value the​ ​important​ ​attributes​ ​that​ ​nuclear​ ​power​ ​provides.

-The Generation Atomic Team


https://www.facebook.com/generationatomic/
II Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
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Re: US DOE to subsidize Coal & Nuclear Power $88 Billion !!

Unread postby Subjectivist » Wed 25 Oct 2017, 10:28:36

pstarr wrote:Pls summarize sub. Tnx in advance :)


Here n Ohio the voters prefer nclear power keep running instead of shutting plants down that could run safely for another 10-25 years like they are doing in California and New England.
II Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
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