Power, Power, wonder working Power...

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/03/03/daily39.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Well I could not decide where this would fit best but guess local news is as good as any.

Although it also has national implications as well as being a political hot potato as well.

There are two major coal based power generating facilities under active consideration within about a 15 or 20 mile radius of Ravenswood.

This would create several hundred high wage construction jobs over the next 3-5 years and provide the nation with much needed energy output.

But I am sure some would argue against their construction for various reasons.

i.e. some think we already use too much energy.

And they might cause pollution to the air or even water.

Others on the forum just seem to oppose everything that is proposed by anyone.

To borrow a phrase from Spiro Agnew, "nattering nabobs of negativism."

I suspect Ziggy might fall into the first category, and Sam might fall in the second.

But I don't know for sure.

So I could be surprised.

Maybe everyone will be all for jobs and progress.

Like Aaron and OC, I figure they will be all for the new plants. Also Terry H. I would predict in the "build it whatever the enviro cost hail with the tree huggers" camp.

Terry RC, Stephanie, and the Sheik will probably say they are for it but.....

Randall will probably be between positions 2 and 3.

So those are my predictions, let's see how close I am.

Maybe I can predict power plants better than politics...

It is my understanding that this procedure will convert coal to a liquid form and then burn that for energy, which is supposed to reduce carbon emissions.

Also, the part about the "chilled ammonia process," in which carbon dioxide is isolated from other gases coming from the plant and stored 2 miles underground in which this is a test run for that process is the first I've heard about that.

If emissions can be reduced and this process is as clean as it can be AND GIVEN that the greenies won't allow a Nuclear power plant to be built, I say yes, start the process. Mountaineer is already online and emitting carbons so if this plant can be cleaned up, then why wouldn't anyone be all for it?

Again, none of this addresses the miseries of coal extraction- especially the miseries endured by people and others living beings living in and downstream of strip mining operation areas. Even if coal could produce energy while eliminating pollution from combusting the coal,, the effects of mining the coal- especially strip mining for it- cannot be ignored any longer.
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Biologist: selenium in Mud River is poisoning fish:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Selenium pollution from a Boone County mining operation is poisoning fish in the Mud River, leading to serious deformities, according to a biologist's report.


Dennis Lemly prepared his report on behalf of lawyers working for environmental groups suing Hobet Mining Inc. over the discharge of selenium into the Mud River and its tributaries.

Lemly's report, filed April 18 in U.S. District Court in Huntington, found fish specimens with two eyes on one side of the head and others with curved spines.

"The Mud River ecosystem is on the brink of a major toxic event,'' Lemly wrote in the report. "If waterborne selenium concentrations are not reduced, reproductive toxicity will spiral out of control and fish populations will collapse.''


http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200804270157

Check ALL the facts first- especially those the coal indutry doesn't want the people to talk about.

By the way, does anyone know what is meant by "Carbon Neutral Coal"? That's the latest slogan on those coal boosting billboards sponsored by Walker Machinery Co.

Seems you were right Sherm. Imagine that.

Aaron wrote:Seems you were right Sherm. Imagine that.

Like Cousin Maltida, he is known for it ........................

Seems the misery is going to grow.

April 26, 2008
Massey plans big expansion
Firm wants to open a new coal mine every 17 days this year
Massey Energy Co. expects to open a new coal mine at a rate of one every 17 days this year as it continues an ambitious plan to increase production 25 percent by 2010, a company official said Friday.
By The Associated Press
Massey Energy Co. expects to open a new coal mine at a rate of one every 17 days this year as it continues an ambitious plan to increase production 25 percent by 2010, a company official said Friday.

Massey is positioning itself to take advantage of soaring demand and prices for Appalachian coal. The expansion is centered on underground coal mines, giving Massey alternatives if a court decision that would make it more difficult and time consuming to get federal permits for surface mines is upheld.

"We have all the permits," Chief Executive Don Blankenship told Wall Street analysts during a conference call Friday. "We have a line of equipment that's set up that takes us beyond these currently announced expansion plans."

Labor is another matter.

Massey needs 300 to 400 additional miners and Blankenship said that will be a challenge. The market for coal miners is already tight in Appalachia, and expansion plans by Massey and others are making it tighter. Massey, for instance, recently started giving miners multiyear contracts to reduce poaching by rivals. That has helped cut voluntary turnover to 14.8 percent in the first quarter from 21.4 percent last year, Blankenship said.
source

Well Shermmy, you have requested a “YES” or ”NO” response to a “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario.

The fact is, the US is just barely producing enough electricity to meet current demand …….. and any unforeseen “surges” in said demand ……. always causes misery and financial loss. Think of ENRON.

Second fact is, that demand for electricity is steadily increasing primarily because our population is increasing …….. which requires additional housing, schools, work places, retail stores, etc. ……….. AND more n’ more “electric consuming” appliances, etc., etc, are being purchased. Think of how many air conditioners or computers and related thingys that have been purchased in the past 15 years.

So Sherman, I ask you, can they build enough coal-fired power plants to keep up with the ever increasing demand for electricity?

If so, can the coal companies keep up with the ever increasing demand for the coal required to “fuel” all of those new power generating plants?

If so, will the populace be able to afford the “increase in costs” of their electricity that resulted due to the costs to build said new plants, …….. to mine all that additional coal …….. and to capture and sequester all that CO2 that is supposed to be causing Global Warming?

So Sherman, in that the DEMAND for electricity will continue to INCREASE, …….. “pick your choice” an start building them now, either nuclear or coal fired. But I warn you, the coal fired will be more expensive and polluting in the long run and will do nothing to retard any global warming. On the contrary, they will probably exacerbate it if anything.

Besides, it is not the CO2 that is contributing to global warming, it is the people themselves and the things they build.

GEEEZE, Sherman, ……. each one of us is a “98.6 degree thermal heater” that generates heat 24 hours per day, every day.

And with the World Population of 6,664,212,402 …. as of 12:17 GMT (EST+5) Apr 28, 2008, …….. that is bunches of calories of heat escaping into the air.

I think we should look at all the facts first. Why waste all those good-paying jobs on Jackson County?