Coal

Coal will kill 13,200 people in the US this year

To a new report from the Clean Air Task Force coal will kill an estimated 13,200 people this year in America. It will also cause 9,700 hospitalizations and some 20,000 heart attacks. All this will cost $100 billions in additional health care bills. These are staggering figures that clearly show that even without carbon dioxide …

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Will peak coal really occur next year ?

The topic of peak coal is not entirely new as I wrote previously twice about it. What is entirely new is the date. To research carried by Tadeusz W. Patzek and Gregory D. Croft coal production from existing coalfields could peak as early as next year. But this is not all as still to their …

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America could be coal-free by 2030

This isn’t surprising as I already noted that America could cut its coal consumption by 62 % by 2020 just by increasing its energy efficiency. Now comes a new study that shows that the USA could be completely coal-free by 2030. If it can be done in America, it sure can be done in the European …

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Biochar and its potential role

To CleanTechies : « Biochar is charcoal type created by the pyrolysis of biomass, and differs from ordinary charcoal only in the sense that its primary use is not for fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture and storage.» «As much as 12 % of the world’s human caused greenhouse gas emissions could be …

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10 energy myths, debunked

We have heard that before : ” Wind power is far too unreliable ” or ” Nuclear power isn’t a safe solution “. Yet the reality is most of the times far from these myths. Popular Mechanics published a long article debunking energy myths. I wrote about some of them such as clean coal that …

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China becomes the world’s first energy consumer

According to the International Energy Agency, China became in 2009 the world’s biggest energy consumer in front of the USA. Indeed it consumed 2.25 billion tons of oil equivalent (TOE) while the latter consumed 2.17 billions. To the Wall Street Journal : ” China’s total energy consumption was just half that of the U.S. 10 …

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The top 10 coal-burning countries

We all know it : coal is by far the most greenhouse gases emitting energy source. It is also a major air pollutant. For these two reasons it is the environmental enemy #1. (cf The Economist’s cover, back to 2002) However, many countries like China, India, Germany or the United States are still relying importantly …

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How coal-fired plants are causing cancers

I really believe coal should go away as it is the most greenhouse gases emitting and most polluting energy source. I am really glad France decided to step away from it and chose nuclear instead. The Huffington Post published last week an article on how coal-fired plants are causing cancer cases to people and even …

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US electricity : more nuclear and less coal

Things are slowly but irresistibly changing in the United States. Wind power added ten gigawatts of capacity to the grids last year alone and coal is less and less used to generate electricity. Meanwhile, a nuclear renaissance may be under way in America as last month President Obama announced a $8.3 billion (6 billion euros) …

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A look at the carbon emissions of electricity

I believe fossil fuels will be replaced sooner or later by electricity. This might prove to be a good thing as heat pumps and electric vehicles are two excellent energy efficient solutions. Thus, electric consumption is rising and is due to keep rising in the next decades. Having low carbon sources to generate electricity is very …

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