Posted on 12/19/2012 5:07:26 AM PST by Olog-hai
Coal is likely to rival oil as the world’s biggest source of energy in the next five years, with potentially disastrous consequences for the climate, according to the world's leading authority on energy economics.
One of the biggest factors behind the rise in coal use has been the massive increase in the use of shale gas in the US.
Coal consumption is increasing all over the world—even in countries and regions with carbon-cutting targets—except the US, where shale gas has displaced coal, shows new research from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The decline of the fuel in the US has helped to cut prices for coal globally, which has made it more attractive, even in Europe where coal use was supposed to be discouraged by the emissions trading scheme.
Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the IEA, said: “Coal’s share of the global energy mix continues to grow each year, and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade.” …
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
... being mankind's savior as we enter a modern-day Maunder Minimum.
How dare the masses have affordable energy! Don’t they know that such is reserved for the elite who know better than them anyway?
These arguments all boil down to the same thing, eugenics, environmentalism, etc. There’s too many “poor people” which are taking up space, and the elitists find that offensive.
This is just another assault on our cheap energy sources. The US is at fault because we have plentiful resources? HOGWASH.
Coal really belongs in big, stationary industrial boilers.
As an early teen, I remember the coal truck arriving at our house to dump nine or ten tons of crushed coal through a little window into our basement (the coal room.)
We would wait a full day to open the coal room door...
Ahh, NO! New Techniques are bring up oil more than ever including natural gas in abundance. Here in the States we can't ship the natural gas out of North Dakota fast enough. And often times, we are using existing wells as the US Government has just about dried up leasing or exploration off the Gulf coast.
I look to Natural Gas to replace our Coal power plants and energy for cars. Electric cars just aren't there yet and Natural gas burns cleaner than Coal, but the Enviroes can't be satisfied with that.
Something about Common Sense being lacking just as in the news article.
The reason coal use will massively increase is that China and India are in the process of building hundreds of coal fired power plants. They intend to use them and to hell with what the environmentalists say. So the,’ if nothing changes’ means really that the developed world must en masse abandon totally coal as a source of power. Goodbye to cheap coal power. That is what this means. F them.
“I actually miss the smell of coal fires. Lots of wood fires heating homes where I live, but there is just something about the smell of burning coal that’s different . . “
Interesting that you would mention this.
In 1971, I spent a year just outside Bamberg, Germany, courtesy of the U.S. Army.
I still recall the scent of the coal smoke, used for a lot of home heating there.
In 1971, they still had steam locomotives pulling passenger trains there.
Coal -is- the future, simply because there’s so much of it easily available, and also because it can be used for purposes (power generation) to free up other fossil-fuel resources (oil and natural gas) for better utilization (such as home heating).
It can be burned “cleaner”, even if that results in the loss of the scent of coal smoke in the air....
no it belongs here in my house... most all coal now is washed or oiled to kill the dust and most of the people now days get it in bags, at least rice coal around here anyway i can't afford fuel oil anymore and nothing gives you a constant even heat like coal does and puts out more BTU's than pellet stoves do
i love my coal stove
yes...
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