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Polar Vortex Emboldens Industry to Push Old Coal Plants

The polar vortex may give new life to aging coal and nuclear power plants in the U.S. Masses of arctic air rolling down from the North Pole have driven electricity prices to more than 10 times last year’s average in many parts of the country and have threatened some cities with winter blackouts. They’ve also emboldened energy companies to call for extending the lives of older and dirtier coal plants, as well as aging nuclear reactors. Despite a concerted campaign by environmentalists and public health experts to stanch its use, coal, the most plentiful and cheapest fuel in the world, is proving globally resilient. In the U.S., rising natural gas prices are prodding utilities to switch back to coal at levels not seen since 2011. Now, Edison Electric Institute, the Washington-based trade group of U.S. investor-owned utilities, is turning to the latest series of cold snaps to bolster their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US rail congestion forcing utilities to idle units due to dwindling coal stocks

Washington (Platts)–6Mar2014/404 pm EST/2104 GMT Increased congestion across the US rail network due to several weeks of extreme winter cold has forced some utilities to pull coal-fired units out of service in order to preserve dwindling stockpiles, according to testimony Thursday at the Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee meeting at the US Surface Transportation Board. Jeff Wallace, vice president of fuel services for Atlanta-based Southern Company, told STB commissioners and energy and railroad executives the cold weather has increased the company’s coal burn "significantly" and that a number of utilities are "very concerned about our ability to get [coal] supplies." Wallace estimated coal burn this winter will be more than 15 million st above industry projections due to the cold weather. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Coal Trader Platts Coal Trader provides:The latest prices for key benchmark coals Daily pricing for tons and allowances for SO2 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tech Talk – Coal prospects

Last week was the annual Society of Mining Engineers annual meeting, this year in Salt Lake City, with the title “ Leadership in Uncertain Times .” To illustrate the point it had some 6,000 members or more in attendance, as I hear and was quite successful from that point of view. However, through the grapevine I also heard that some of the mining companies are less optimistic of the future, with job offers made for this summer being withdrawn in several cases. There is a considerable question as to the future of coal, as the title reflects, and this has as much to do with concerns over the construction or not of additional coal-fired powered stations around the world and the changing market as older plants are withdrawn from service. Some of the reason for uncertainty can be seen in the predictions from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Coal crunch gives impetus to India’s solar switch

For six years in a row, India’s monopoly coal producer has missed its production targets, leading to chronic electricity shortages and sending power producers scrambling for pricier imports. But what looks like a looming crisis could turn out to be an almost accidental energy overhaul. Like many developing nations, India has relied for decades on cheap coal to provide electricity for burgeoning industry and fast-expanding cities, putting aside worries about pollution and global warming. But from three years ago when solar capacity was almost zero, the country has added 2.2 gigawatts of solar to its electricity grid, enough to power 20 million Indian homes. It plans another 2 GW this year, toward a total 15 GW addition by 2017. Individual states plan even more. India has also added about 26 GW in coal-fired capacity since 2011, but already plants are sitting idle for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Coal crunch gives impetus to India's solar switch

For six years in a row, India’s monopoly coal producer has missed its production targets, leading to chronic electricity shortages and sending power producers scrambling for pricier imports. But what looks like a looming crisis could turn out to be an almost accidental energy overhaul. Like many developing nations, India has relied for decades on cheap coal to provide electricity for burgeoning industry and fast-expanding cities, putting aside worries about pollution and global warming. But from three years ago when solar capacity was almost zero, the country has added 2.2 gigawatts of solar to its electricity grid, enough to power 20 million Indian homes. It plans another 2 GW this year, toward a total 15 GW addition by 2017. Individual states plan even more. India has also added about 26 GW in coal-fired capacity since 2011, but already plants are sitting idle for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Wildlife group says China can still prosper with reduced coal use

China can still prosper economically while removing coal from its power mix, a report from the World Wildlife Fund said Wednesday. "By fully embracing energy conservation, efficiency and renewables, China has the potential to demonstrate to the world that economic growth is possible while sharply reducing the emissions that drive unhealthy air pollution and climate change," Lunyan Lu, WWF’s China Climate and Energy Program director, said in a release. The report, prepared by the Energy Transition Research Institute in Annapolis, Md., used computer modeling to simulate four possible scenarios in China: a baseline, high efficiency, high renewables and low-carbon mix scenarios. "This research shows that with strong political will, China can prosper while eliminating coal from its power mix within the next 30 years," Lu said. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, in its most recent analysis of China released this month, said coal accounted […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Rising Coal Use Clouds Europe's Future

The European Union sees itself leading the world in curbing carbon-dioxide emissions and doing more than any other region to mitigate climate change. But it is also increasing the share of electricity being generated by the most carbon-intensive energy source of all: coal. Coal-fired electrical-generation plants are being started up in Europe—and comparatively clean gas-fired generating capacity is being shut down. That is hardly what the climate doctor ordered—and it is part of what many experts see as an energy-policy mess that is weighing on the Continent’s industrial base. So who is to blame? We could start with Americans. They have turned the energy world on its head by exploiting large amounts of shale gas—natural gas tightly embedded in rocks deep underground. As a result, natural-gas prices in the U.S. have fallen, displacing coal as the country’s least-expensive energy source. Losing their home market, U.S. coal producers have sought […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Rising Coal Use Clouds Europe’s Future

The European Union sees itself leading the world in curbing carbon-dioxide emissions and doing more than any other region to mitigate climate change. But it is also increasing the share of electricity being generated by the most carbon-intensive energy source of all: coal. Coal-fired electrical-generation plants are being started up in Europe—and comparatively clean gas-fired generating capacity is being shut down. That is hardly what the climate doctor ordered—and it is part of what many experts see as an energy-policy mess that is weighing on the Continent’s industrial base. So who is to blame? We could start with Americans. They have turned the energy world on its head by exploiting large amounts of shale gas—natural gas tightly embedded in rocks deep underground. As a result, natural-gas prices in the U.S. have fallen, displacing coal as the country’s least-expensive energy source. Losing their home market, U.S. coal producers have sought […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US coal railcar loads up 6.4% on year in week ended Saturday: AAR

Coal car loads originated by US railroads totaled 111,269 in the week that ended Saturday, up 6.4% from the corresponding week of 2013, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday in its weekly traffic report. In the year-to-date period through Saturday, total US-originated coal carloads totaled 430,476, essentially unchanged from the same period of last year, AAR said. In the week ended Saturday, Canadian railroads, including the US operations of Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, originated 8,127 coal carloads, down 8.9% from the year-ago level, AAR said. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Coal Trader Coal Outlook Platts Coal Trader provides:The latest prices for key benchmark coals Daily pricing for tons and allowances for SO2 and NOx emissions The exclusive Platts OTC Broker Index, a market assessment compiled from three of the largest and most respected coal brokers What happened in yesterday’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's first direct coal liquefaction line produces 866,000 tonnes

China’s first direct coal-to-oil project, operated by the country’s leading coal producer, Shenhua Group, produced 866,000 tonnes of oil products last year. The direct coal liquefaction line is located in Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos City in northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It produces 3,000 tonnes of oil products with consumption of nearly 10,000 tonnes of coal per day, said Shenhua Coal Liquefaction and Chemical Co., Ltd. With an investment of 12.6 billion yuan (2.06 billion U.S. dollars), Shenhua Group began construction of the project in 2004, using self-developed technologies. The project began trial production at the end of 2009 with a designed annual capacity of 1.08 million tonnes of diesel, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas. Proven coal reserves around Ordos are estimated at 160 billion tonnes, or 11.4 percent of the country’s total coal reserves. As part of its clean energy strategy, China has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple