ArchPundit

3 Responses to “ Nothing About Coal Is Clean ”

1. # 1 Tom Lubnau Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at

   These comments are so ill-informed about western coal they are preposterous. I would be willing to inform Rep. Quigley about the naive nature of his comments, particularly when 50% of this nations electricity comes from coal, and 30% of the electricty comes from Western Coal which has nothing to do with mountain tops. With emerging Carbon Capture and Sequestration technology, coal is as clean as any fuel available. These irresponsible comments are damaging to the nation’s economy and to our national security.

2. # 2 ArchPundit Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at

   No, they are quite well informed. Gasification processes combined with injection can take up to 45% of the energy produced meaning to sequester the gas you’ll need 1.5 times the coal compared to pre-sequestration not to mention significant safety problems if leaks occur.

   So where do you put research dollars? Towards energy sources that are clean and increasing efficiency with further research or towards energy sources that require significantly more natural resources to be used to create the same amount of power and carry greater safety risks. It’s the same kind of shell game as with corn ethanol—actually most ethanol. Add to that the need to transport more coal and the level of energy consumption makes clean coal even less practical and a bad candidate for research.

   Add to this the problem of the solid waste left over which is quite toxic and you have even more costs and safety problems. It makes no sense to invest an energy source that is far dirtier than other sources and far less likely to result in energy efficiencies.

3. # 3 Rob_N Says:
   June 16th, 2009 at

   Arch, You are damaging to the nation’s economy and to our national security. Honest.

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