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China to ban all coal use in Beijing by 2020

BEIJING (AP) — China’s smog-plagued capital has announced plans to ban the use of coal by the end of 2020 as the country fights deadly levels of pollution, especially in major cities. Beijing’s Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau posted the plan on its website Monday, saying the city would instead prioritize electricity and natural gas for heating. The official Xinhua News Agency said coal accounted for a quarter of Beijing’s energy consumption in 2012 and 22 percent of the fine particles floating in the city’s air. Motor vehicles, industrial production and general dust also contributed to pollution in the 21 million-person city. Even with the Beijing ban, coal use is expected to soar in China. Coal-fired power and heating is a major generator of greenhouse gases and has helped turn China into the world’s largest emitter of carbon and other heat-trapping gases. Pressure is growing on China’s central government to […]

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Shipping Rates Drop as China Hydro Power Cuts Coal Need

Record production of hydropower from China ’s Three Gorges and newer dams is displacing so much coal that rates to transport it have plunged to about record lows, roiling the shipping market. Daily earnings for Panamaxes, vessels that are about 750 feet long and get most of their spot cargoes from hauling coal, slumped as much as 76 percent this year, getting to within $26 of an all-time low. China started hydroelectric plants this year with enough generation to replace 26 million tons of coal, or about 370 cargoes, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The extra power means less imports and weaker freight rates, Morgan Stanley estimates. While global shipments of iron ore and grain are rising, China’s decreasing appetite for imported coal is a challenge to transporters already seeing weaker rates because of an oversupply of Panamaxes. The world’s second biggest economy’s efforts to curb air pollution will […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Weather more than rail issues likely cause of soft US OTC prices: analyst

Mild summer weather, not rail problems, is the biggest reason for softness in the US over-the-counter coal market, Ted O’Brien, an analyst with Doyle Trading Consultants said Wednesday. The effect is most acute in the Powder River Basin market, but it has also kept Central Appalachia prices soft. "Lots of people I talk to say you look at the weather in Texas and that dictates the direction of PRB pricing," O’Brien said. "[Pricing] was pretty resilient coming out of the spring, even though we did have rail issues, but I think all the incremental weakness is driven by or attributed to very unfavorable weather." In the CAPP market, it’s the same story, he said. "It’s come off, driven almost exclusively by weather," he said. "The [barge market] probably has held up a little better than the rail contract." In Wednesday’s session, the physically-settled CAPP barge contract (12,000 Btu/lb) for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Not in my backyard: US sending dirty coal abroad

Coal from Appalachia rumbles into this port city, 150 railroad cars at a time, bound for the belly of the massive cargo ship Prime Lily. The ship soon sets sail for South America, its 80,000 tons of coal destined for power plants and factories, an export of American energy – and pollution. In the U.S., this coal and the carbon dioxide it will eventually release into the atmosphere are some of the unwanted leftovers of an America going greener. With the country moving to cleaner natural gas, the Obama administration wants to reduce power plant pollution to make good on its promise to the world to cut emissions. Yet the estimated 228,800 tons of carbon dioxide contained in the coal aboard the Prime Lily equals the annual emissions of a small American power plant. It’s leaving this nation’s shores, but not the planet. "This […]

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China’s Plan to Limit Coal Use Could Spur Consumption for Years

Under pressure to reduce smog and greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese government is considering a mandatory cap on coal use, the main source of carbon pollution from fossil fuels. But it would be an adjustable ceiling that would allow coal consumption to grow for years, and policy makers are at odds on how long the nation’s emissions will rise. Senior officials are debating these issues as they formulate a new five-year development plan, to be finalized by the end of next year. China emits more carbon dioxide than any other country, so what President Xi Jinping and his colleagues decide will have far-reaching consequences for efforts to contain climate change. China’s leaders have not detailed their views on coal or carbon emission limits. But there is robust support among senior policy advisers for a firm national cap on coal starting in 2016, Wang Yi , a […]

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Hungry U.S. Power Plant Turns to Russia for Coal Shipment

When New Hampshire ’s largest utility needed to rebuild coal supplies after the past frigid winter, it turned to Russia rather than Appalachia in the U.S. Northeast or Wyoming ’s Powder River Basin. The Doric Victory, a bulk carrier the length of two football fields, transported the fuel almost 4,000 miles (6,436 kilometers) from Riga , Latvia , last month to Public Service of New Hampshire’s Schiller power plant in Portsmouth, a 150-megawatt facility that’s produced electricity since 1952. Utilities in the U.S. are scrambling for coal, on pace to increase imports 26 percent this year, as railroad bottlenecks slow deliveries and electricity demand climbs with an improving economy. Russia, the world’s third-largest exporter of the fuel, will boost shipments 3.9 percent to 106 million metric tons this year, IHS Energy forecasts, part of President Vladimir Putin ’s plan to expand Russia’s role in the global coal market. “Everyone’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EIA cuts 2014 US coal demand, production forecasts; boosts price prediction

The US Energy Information Administration revised most of its 2014 projections for the US coal sector lower Tuesday, basing its decisions on weak electricity demand at home and oversupply in global seaborne markets. In its July Short-Term Energy Outlook, the agency said it expects US coal consumption to be 951 million st in 2014, compared with a June projection of 961 million st. The July figure is still up 2.8% compared with 2013 consumption of 925 million st. In 2015, the EIA projects US coal consumption will dip to 924.4 million st due to retirements of coal-fired power plants, slow electricity sales growth and lower natural gas prices. Article continues below… 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 […]

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War on Coal being waged by Geology and Markets, Not EPA

With the release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s  proposed rules limiting carbon pollution  from the nation’s electricity sector, you’ve no doubt been hearing a lot of industry outrage about “Obama’s War on Coal.” Don’t believe it. Despite the passionate rhetoric from both sides of the climate divide, the proposed rules are very moderate — almost remedial.  The rules  grade the states on a curve , giving each a tailored emissions target meant to be attainable without undue hardship.  For states that have already taken action to curb greenhouse gasses, and have more reductions in the works, they will be easy to meet.   California ,  Oregon, Washington , and  Colorado , are all several steps ahead of the proposed federal requirements — former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter  told Colorado Public Radio  that he expects the state to meet the proposed federal emissions target for 2030 in 2020, a decade ahead […]

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China’s Clean-Fuel Focus Tests U.S. Coal-Export Lifeline

The mud-colored air that blankets Chinese cities these days is bad for the people who live there. It may prove unhealthy for U.S. coal producers, too. Intense opposition on the U.S. West Coast, over climate change , rail congestion and damage to Native American fisheries, already is blocking new export terminals designed to ship coal across the Pacific Ocean . Now, China — which consumes almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined — is accelerating a planned switch to cleaner fuels, including a possible cap on carbon emissions and limits on new coal-fired plants. Even if such changes don’t occur as fast as environmentalists might hope, Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to scrap the economic strategy that spawned coal-eating steel plants in every province. Mounting anti-coal sentiment in China and the U.S. imperils the ambitions of companies like Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) and Arch Coal […]

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US coal stockpiles stand at 126 million st, down 32%: Bentek

Washington (Platts)–6Jun2014/440 pm EDT/2040 GMT US coal stockpiles fell to 126 million st for the week ending Friday, down 32% from the five-year average, Bentek Energy said. Bentek, a unit of Platts, said lower coal production and higher coal consumption during the week meant US coal stockpiles have dipped for the second week in a row. At this time last year, US coal stockpiles totaled 176 million st. The decline comes as utilities are also face depleted natural gas inventories, though storage is building. Working gas in storage totaled roughly 1.5 Tcf for the week ending June 6, but inventories are still 37% below the five-year average. Bentek estimates US coal production declined 3% for the week ending Friday to 18.4 million st, while coal consumption increased 6% to 18.3 million st. Coal consumption increased all regions, with the largest increases in ERCOT, PJM and the Southeast. –Andrew Moore, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple