Clean Coal Knee-Capping: Secretary Chu Makes $1 Billion Down Payment For More Dirty Coal

On the heels of a major Wall Street Journal report that we are reaching "peak coal," and revelations that the Bush administration buried a 2002 report on the cancer risks associated with coal ash, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu made a $1.073 billion down payment today on the construction of FutureGen, "the first commercial scale, fully integrated, carbon capture and sequestration project in the country in Mattoon, Illinois."

Chu's buy-in into "clean coal," a phrase that young liberal Democrat Francis Peabody first used back in the 1890s to peddle his brand of "smoke-free" clean coal in Chicago, places him in the company of FutureGen Alliance promoters like Peabody Energy, whose first quarter 2009 profits "only tripled" this spring--Peabody celebrated an 8-fold increase in profits in the last quarter of 2008.

A lot of hot air has been emitted on the dangerous oxymoron of "clean coal," but the truth remains that with carbon capture and storage technology still in the experimental phase, Secretary Chu still does not know whether FutureGen's attempt to capture those CO2 emissions and bury them into the earth will be economically feasible, safe (in terms of leaks or accidents or earthquakes) or possible within the next decade.

Which is why Chu is only making a $1.073 billion down payment--"Following the completion of the detailed cost estimate and fundraising activities, the Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance will make a decision either to move forward or to discontinue the project early in 2010."

In the meantime, if we take our eyes off the billowing CO2 emissions for a moment, this is what we do know about "clean coal": FutureGen means we will be extracting even more coal.

Even in the best scenarios, according to most studies, FutureGen-type CCS plants would require increased fuel needs by 25%-40%.

And extracting, transporting and burning MORE coal means MORE dirty and deadly "clean coal" mining, whether it is underground mining, longwall mining, or strip mining (such as mountaintop removal).

Here is the Wall Street Journal's report on "peak coal." Here's the report on the hidden health costs of coal ash.

And here are some clips on the overlooked aspects of "clean coal" rhetoric: black lung disease, which still kills three miners daily; longwall mining, which is devastating Midwestern and Appalachian farms; and mountaintop removal, which has resulted in the destruction of 500 mountains and 1.2 million acres of hardwood forests, and the contamination of watersheds and streams.

Mountaintop Removal and Poisoned Black Waters:

Longwall Mining

Black Lung on the Rise:

Comments

[SteveMI]

11:03 AM on 06/16/2009

Actually Co2 is not 'dirty' I think maybe the misconcept­ion arises from the word 'carbon'?
but Co2 is a colorless, odorless, harmless natural nutrient of all life, it is produced mainly by respiratio­n (some 440 gigatons/y­ear) and is what actually allows plants to photosythe­sis, and ironically­, it's what makes our planet green.

Burning fossil fuels releases a small part of this nutrient back into the atmosphere where it can re-nourish the plants.(Co­nsider that the coal came from these living organisms in the first place) It may also play a small part in helping keep the planet warm, reducing energy needs and helping sustain this geological­ly brief interglaci­al period that allows life to thrive on Earth until the next long glacial period when the ice caps cover much of the surface of the Earth.

Another interestin­g benefit is that it helps neutralize the alkalinity of Ocean water, (making it less bleach like)

[alvdh1]

07:46 AM on 06/16/2009

Thus far, Chu has been an incredible disappoint­ment with his endorsemen­t of filthy, dirty coal and toxic, leathal nuclear power. A few more stupid energy moves, by Chu, and he may well have his big prize taken away from him.

[FormerReaganite]

08:35 PM on 06/14/2009

"Clean coal" HAHAHA

I should add that one to Wikipedia'­s list of oxymorons, along with "carbon-ne­utral wood burning."

[elmerfude]

10:18 AM on 06/14/2009

This should be tested at full scale. WIth all the knee jerk opposition to nuclear power and the current limitation­s on clean energy sources, what choice do we have if we want to get off of oil. The American people aren't about to do without their energy extravagan­ce. Your post is just another example of a complete lack of practicali­ty and knee-jerk, arm waving hysteria.

[quidam56]

11:55 AM on 06/13/2009

More dirty coal and less Appalachia­n Mountains and streams. Folks, we can't allow this to go on, we voted for change now let's roll up our sleeves and change things !

http://www­.wisecount­yissues.co­m/?p=138

[Rmtns]

04:50 PM on 06/12/2009

There's quite a simple way to alleviate or mitigate the damage caused by industrial mining, or any other process that has potential to damage the environmen­t. Simply, the value of the resource is determined before the mining or other process occurs. Then the corporatio­n posts a bond large enough to cover the potential; damage. If damage occurs, the land/ homeowner is FULLY compensate­d by the bond from the company. Should the bond be defaulted on, all of the responsibl­e officers and stockholde­rs will be personally liable for the amount of damage that was not paid by the bond.
We have had actuaries that make these assessment­s for insurance companies for years, and have expertise in this field that is more than sufficient to allow them to make these judgements­. Let's just make damn sure that the companies have no possible chance to skew the numbers. And make sure that no project goes forward without this assessment­.

[whocan]

04:46 PM on 06/12/2009

CLEAN COAL IN MATTOON ILLINOIS ..... HAPPY DAY

[Guitarsandmore]

04:38 PM on 06/12/2009

http://www­.kernriver­courier.co­m/issues/j­un509.htm

Clean wind generator being installed in Kern County. No coal for this guy.

[Guitarsandmore]

04:34 PM on 06/12/2009

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, people are installing wind generators and solar panels because they work and they work right now.

Yes, we should continue to do research on new ideas, new technologi­es and slowly let go of our outdated methods which leave us hostage to the Middle East, create an unstable economy, poison the environmen­t, involve us in lengthy costly wars that never seem to resolve anything.

Green technologi­es have already been researched for thirty - forty years and we know they work.

Go green!

[elmerfude]

10:34 AM on 06/14/2009

Of course we should go green in the long term. But let us be practical for a moment. Where I live on the Columbia River we have numerous hydroelect­ric dams, an operating nuclear reactor, a biofuel research facility and wind farms going up faster than new wineries. But the power lines lead to Portland, Seattle and south to California­. WInd or solar will not cut it in the near term particular­ly for base power at night when hopefully thousands of plug in cars will be charging up. We need all of our energy sources including "clean" coal.

[Guitarsandmore]

05:13 PM on 06/14/2009

This is how we are going to do it:

We build charging stations that charge up the car batteries during the day and space them every 50 miles or so. You pull into the charge station with your car and swap out your weak battery for a fully charged up battery just like driving through the car wash. You are ready for the next day!

Southern California is building its own solar power plants all over the place.

We should make it more economical for roof top residentia­l solar, wind, etc. so that infrastruc­ture is not a big roadblock.

Anyway, the infrastruc­ture needs to be upgraded anyway.

[Overtone]

02:50 PM on 06/12/2009

Forget future coal plants. Future cars will need no fuel and can become power plants when parked.

Breakthrou­ghs include the MagGen. These magnetic generators will initially make it possible to cut the cord on a plug-in hybrid so it no longer needs to plug-in. Later, they can replace the batteries in an electric car. Then, the MagGen can run when the car is parked and sell power to the utility. Prototypes are under developmen­t.

Next is a Self Powered Internal Combustion Engine - SPICE, which can power a hybrid. It will need no fuel and is another path to ending the need to plug-in. The engine can run when parked. Both systems can wirelessly transmit and sell power to the local utility.

The SPICE will be powered by hydrinos - which let a barrel of water equal hundreds of barrels of oil.

Scientists and engineers will doubt these technologi­es are possible until they have been validated by Independen­t Laboratori­es. That is an important step on the agenda.

Until now, car ownership has been an expense. Payments to car owners driving a hybrid with a SPICE, or powered by MagGen, are likely to be substantia­l.

The cost of many vehicles might be paid for by utilities, as they purchase power. Parked cars each become decentrali­zed power plants - a rapid, cost-effec­tive path to a rebirth of the automobile industry and the world economy.

A path is now open to end the need for fossil fuels and nuclear power.

[elmerfude]

10:38 AM on 06/14/2009

It sounds like you have found the perpetual motion machine and overturned the laws of thermodyna­mics. Good luck with that.

[NL207]

10:10 AM on 06/22/2009

More likely he found a supply of drugs that overturned reason.