Britain set for first coal-free day since Industrial Revolution

Britain seems to be like Donald Trump, He cannot do right for doing wrong in the eyes of the EU.

John.

 

Renewable Energy jobs

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Best Green Energy Websites 2017
Leading Blogs and Websites on Renewable
https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2017/03/best-green-energy-websites

"It’s finally here! GreenMatch is proud to present you the Best Green Energy Websites of 2017. After extensive Internet research, we picked out the best online newsletters and sources for renewable energy solutions. With this list, we want to honour the most ambitious creators and editors we came across.

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This is why we’ve made it our mission to reward those that not only keep us up-to-date and informed about renewable energy throughout the year but do so with dedication and a passion for putting out amazing content."

 

The Secret Dilemma Facing America's Coal Miners | NBC Left Field

 

Is The Plateauing Of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Over?
http://www.humanitystest.com/is-the-plateauing-of-carbon-dioxide-emissions-over/

"The biggest reason for the near plateauing in carbon dioxide emissions over the past few years has been the reduction in coal use in China (which uses about half the world’s coal, 3,546 metric tonnes in 2016 from 3,969 Mt in 2013[1]), as well as in other countries such as the UK (18 Mt from 61Mt) and the USA (661 Mt from 837 Mt). It was always going to be difficult for China to keep reducing coal use while its economy kept growing at 6-7%, continuously increasing the demand for electricity; even if that growth is less focused on heavy industry. The change in the US was driven as much by the price of coal relative to natural gas, and the UK simply doesn’t have that much coal capacity left to shut down."


Drax looking at 'coal-free future' as it reveals £83m pre-tax loss
Operator of UK’s largest power station says it is considering switching one of three remaining coal-fired units to gas
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/19/drax-coal-free-future-pre-tax-loss-power-station

"Dorothy Thompson, Drax’s chief executive, revealed the company was on the verge of submitting a planning application to convert one of its three remaining coal-fired units to gas, in the hope of winning a 15-year subsidy contract for providing backup power in winter.

“We are looking at opportunities for a coal-free future,” she told investors on Wednesday, adding that the possibility of switching a unit to gas was “looking good”. Ministers have said coal must be phased out entirely by 2025 to meet climate targets.

Thompson said the company, which already generates 68% of its power from burning wood pellets, would be lobbying the new government for financial support for further conversion to biomass – something previous governments have ruled out.

In a sign of the change afoot at what was once Europe’s most polluting power station..."

 

Mcintyre Powder , an Aluminium Powder Coal Miners were forced to inhale to supposedly reduce the effects of breathing Coal Dust.

Canada: New evidence may link aluminum dust and brain damage among miners


McIntyre Powder in Western Australia


Aluminium dust in mining : Powder Keg - the fifth estate

 

That`s why i don't buy Aluminium Pans, If you have them don`t use steel utensil's(as you will scrape of the aluminium), use plastic utensils instead.

John.

 

The US coal industry is going out, not with a whimper, but with a burst of rent-seeking
“Picking winners” doesn’t look so bad when you’re losing.

"The US coal industry is dying — but not with any dignity. As the end approaches, its sense of aggrieved entitlement is increasingly naked, its demands for government handouts increasingly frantic. As dread builds, shame has left the building.

The story of coal’s decline has been told many times now (see this post for more), but at root, it’s not complicated: The industry’s product is outmoded.

Natural gas and wind power are cheaper than coal power in most places, and solar power is heading the same direction. What’s more, wind and solar (variable renewable energy, or VRE) and natural gas complement each other. VRE is completely clean but variable. Natural gas is moderately clean but flexible. Variable and flexible work well together; they are the basis for the modern grid. (Whether we can find equally flexible but entirely clean alternatives to natural gas in the coming decades is the most pressing issue facing the grid.)

Giant, slow, inflexible, dirty coal plants simply don’t fit in that picture. Coal still represents 30 percent of the US electricity mix, but as natural gas and renewables grow and the grid evolves toward a flexible, distributed model, its role will inevitably shrink.

There’s no big conspiracy, no “war on coal,” just the creative destruction of capitalism at work, as technological advances and evolving social preferences transform industries. Without creative destruction, capitalism doesn’t work — productivity and wages don’t grow. But there is no creative destruction without pain for the workers and communities on the losing end. That’s why capitalist societies need a foundation of public services (upon Matt Bruenig’s sage advice, I’m no longer using the term “safety net”). It cushions the turbulence of creative destruction."

Will the U.S. Ever Build Another Big Coal Plant?
The coal industry is contracting as plants retire and utilities replace them with natural gas and renewables
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-the-u-s-ever-build-another-big-coal-plant/

"About 16 percent of the U.S. coal fleet has retired in the past five years, but don't expect major new coal-fired plants to fill that void.

The federal government counts four new coal projects on a list of planned power plants nationwide. Three of those face long odds, and none will be able to replace the millions of tons in lost coal demand resulting from recent retirements, even as the Trump administration has vowed to revive the ailing industry.

The developer of a proposed 320-megawatt unit in Wyoming is facing jail time after pleading guilty to stealing government cash. A Kentucky coke plant that would have generated electricity as a byproduct has been scrapped. And a planned $2.1 billion plant in Georgia has idled.

The sole U.S. coal facility under construction: a tiny plant being built by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

The dynamic amounts to an existential crisis for the U.S. coal industry. While coal still accounts for roughly a third of U.S. power generation, the industry is slowly contracting as plants retire and utilities replace them with natural gas and renewables.

American Electric Power Co. Inc., one of the country's largest coal-burning utilities, recently announced plans to build a $4.5 billion wind farm in Oklahoma (Energywire. July 27). PacifiCorp, another coal-centric power company, has similar plans to upgrade its wind fleet while slowly transitioning away from power plants fueled by the black mineral (Climatewire, April 6).

Utilities entered 2017 with plans to retire 4.5 gigawatts of coal—or 2 percent of 2016 U.S. coal capacity—and add 11 GW of natural gas and 8.5 GW of wind, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration."

Solar now costs 6¢ per kilowatt-hour, beating government goal by 3 years
Cost goals met, the DOE is moving on to address grid reliability in solar.
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...watt-hour-beating-government-goal-by-3-years/

"On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that utility-grade solar panels have hit cost targets set for 2020, three years ahead of schedule.

Those targets reflect around $1 per watt and 6¢ per kilowatt-hour in Kansas City, the department’s mid-range yardstick for solar panel cost per unit of energy produced (New York is considered the high-cost end, and Phoenix, Arizona, which has much more sunlight than most other major cities in the country, reflects the low-cost end)."

 

Coal Generation Falls to 135-Year Low in UK
http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2017/08/coal-generation-falls-to-135-year-low-in-uk.html

"By Editors of Power Engineering

The proportion of electricity generated by coal fell to a 135-year low in the United Kingdom.

Aurora Research reported coal represented just two percent of total power generated in July, which was a 50 percent decline since the previous summer, the Independent reported. Coal generation was nine percent of the total power mix last year, and 23 percent in 2015.

Additionally, the proportion of coal generation could fall even further in August.

“The decline in coal in recent years is partly as a result of higher carbon prices, and partly the growth in renewables,” said Richard Howard, Aurora Energy’s head of research. “In August coal load factors have been even lower than in July and the trend is continuing.”

The UK government has pledged to eliminate coal generation entirely by 2025."