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Hillary Clinton Unveils Plan to Aid Coal Communities Hit By Shift to Cleaner Energy

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Thursday released a $30 billion plan aimed at revitalizing communities dependent on coal production, seeking to mitigate the economic impact of the nation’s shift from an electricity source that is both plentiful and polluting. Coal emits more pollution than any other energy type and its use has been on the decline as the nation works to adopt cleaner sources of energy. Mrs. Clinton’s plan includes federal money to spur new types of economic development in coal dependent communities, such as those throughout Appalachia, by building up infrastructure, expanding broadband access and giving tax breaks for new investment in communities hit by a decline in coal production. “Building a 21st century clean energy economy in the United States will create new jobs and industries, deliver important health benefits, and reduce carbon pollution,” the campaign said in a fact sheet. “But we can’t ignore the […]

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Want to Burn Coal and Save the Planet? Japan Touts a Solution

An employee stands in front of stockpiles of coal inside a storage yard in Fukushima. Japan is the biggest backer of public coal financing globally, according to a June report co-authored by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S. environmental group, and partners. For all the talk of a solar boom in Japan, coal still has a future there, and potentially a big one at that. Japan’s government and industry are backing emerging coal technologies they say are less damaging to the environment. While they’re pushing the most polluting fossil fuel at home and abroad, Japan’s government will be trying to burnish its environmental credentials at climate talks that begin at the end of the month in Paris. Japan is the biggest backer of public coal financing globally, according to a June report co-authored by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S. environmental group, and partners. The country also […]

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China Burns Much More Coal Than Reported, Complicating Climate Talks

BEIJING — China , the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases from coal, has been burning up to 17 percent more coal a year than the government previously disclosed, according to newly released data. The finding could complicate the already difficult efforts to limit global warming . Even for a country of China ’s size, the scale of the correction is immense. The sharp upward revision in official figures means that China has released much more carbon dioxide — almost a billion more tons a year according to initial calculations — than previously estimated. The increase alone is greater than the whole German economy emits annually from fossil fuels. Officials from around the world will have to come to grips with the new figures when they gather in Paris this month to negotiate an international framework for curtailing greenhouse-gas pollution. The data also pose a challenge for scientists who […]

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Whiplash: Shift in federal coal policies stokes fear in rural areas

Brenda Atkins, director of plant operations the Seminole Electric coal fire generation power plant, sits outside the plant in Palatka, Fla. (Garrett Hubbard/Courtesy of NRECA) PALATKA, Fla. — When the Arab embargoes of the 1970s threatened the country’s oil supply, the U.S. government issued an edict to the nation’s electricity producers: Start burning coal. So the local utility managers in rural Putnam County, Fla., did just that. The community-owned utility took out government loans and built its first power plant, using generators that made electricity from cheap Appalachian coal. Things were fine for more than three decades, until Washington delivered a new edict with precisely the opposite instructions: For the sake of the planet, stop burning coal . Now the little utility faces an uncertain future, and it is hardly alone. As the country’s electricity providers prepare to comply with new federal regulations that restrict the use of coal, […]

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Alpha Natural to Sell Inactive Coal Mines

Alpha Natural Resources is selling a collection of closed coal mines as it revamps its business in bankruptcy. At least 16 idled mines in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois are being put up for sale in Alpha’s chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding , which began in August. The company has set a Jan. 20, 2016, target date for bids and would like to seek a bankruptcy judge’s approval for sales by February, according to papers filed Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va. Alpha is one of a number of coal mining operations to take shelter in bankruptcy in a bid to weather widespread distress in the market . This week, the company said it expects to have a draft business plan ready by the end of October. Shedding unprofitable assets is part of that plan, the company said. Many of the mines have already been marketed. […]

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China 2016 coal imports could fall a further 25 million tonnes

A man stands amidst coal at a factory in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, April 29, 2014. Coal shipments to top importer China could fall a further 25 million tonnes in 2016, analysts said on Monday, with foreign suppliers struggling to compete in a massively oversupplied market. Shipments of coal to China over the first nine months to September fell 29.8 percent to 156.36 million tonnes. Volumes are on track to fall about 60 million tonnes in 2015. The recent government push to support its domestic market and focus on cleaner energy sources has raised doubts over whether its status as an importer is sustainable. "We assume a further 25 million tonne drop from China," said Fabio Gabrieli, director of dry bulk analysis at Mercuria Energy Trading, speaking at the Coaltrans world coal conference. "We believe that next year what China drops is going to impact Indonesian exports," Gabrieli said, adding […]

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Oakland Coal Terminal Becomes a Political Flash Point

A major commodities shipping terminal would be adjacent to the Port of Oakland, above. OAKLAND, Calif.—A proposal that could make this city a gateway for Utah coal to be shipped overseas has become a political flash point and put pressure on Gov. Jerry Brown, a former mayor known for his warnings on climate change, to come out against the project. The proposed deal would grant four coal-producing counties in Utah rail access to a major commodities shipping terminal under development on city land, adjacent to the Port of Oakland, in exchange for a $53 million investment. City officials hope the redevelopment plan, on an old Army base, would bring thousands of jobs to a city that still has pockets of poverty and violence even as the region’s tech sector booms and housing costs rise. California ports in Stockton, Richmond and Long Beach export coal, but because of climate change […]

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U.S. coal sector in downturn

Fitch Ratings finds regulatory policies in part behind a downturn in the U.S. coal sector. File photo by Debbie Hill/UPI NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) — The mineral mining sector in the United States is showing signs of serious decline brought on by bankruptcies in the coal sector, Fitch Ratings said. "A spate of coal defaults has resulted from unsustainably high debt leverage from past acquisitions amid an environment of weak coal pricing," Fitch said in an industry profile. "The low pricing and defaults were driven by over-supply of steam coal and metallurgical coal, burdensome regulations, and competition from low priced natural gas for electric generation business." A federal Clean Power Plan set a goal of cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, by 32 percent of their 2005 baseline by 2030, 9 percent more than in the original proposal. States need to meet specific emission reductions […]

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US 2015 coal consumption for power sector to fall 8.2% to 781.4 million st: EIA

US coal consumption for the power sector will total an estimated 781.4 million st in 2015, down 8.2% from last year and the lowest amount since 1989, according to the October edition of the US Energy Information Administration’s Short Term Energy Outlook released Tuesday. A projected 28% drop in natural gas prices compared with 2014 and weak demand due to mild weather have continued to drive consumption estimates down, said Elias Johnson, coal analyst for the EIA. "We’re not having any of the problems with adequate supplies in storage that we had last year," Johnson said. "The mild summer weather didn’t put pressure on generation of any type." Should the figure hold, it would be the lowest overall coal consumption since 1987, when 836.9 million st was consumed, according to the agency. Article continues below… Sign up to Electricity Alert today. Platts Electricity Alert provides real-time news and market […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple