"significantly unprofitable": coal and nuclear

[RandomGuy]

Economics are killing coal.


Dive Insight:
While there's been a lot of talk about increasing support for existing coal and nuclear plants, there are no plans to build such generation in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic. And if it had come online last year, it would have lost money, according to the latest annual report from PJM's market monitor.

Last year, a new combined cycle gas plant would have been profitable in 11 of 20 zones in the market. On the other hand, Marketing Analytics noted that a new combustion turbine, coal plant or nuclear facility "would have been significantly unprofitable."

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-coal-nuclear-generation-would-have-lost-money-last-year-pjm-monitor-s/518746/


The 2017 edition of Lazard’s annual Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) study showed unsubsidized onshore wind and utility-scale solar are both cheaper than new coal, and are cost-competitive with new combined-cycle natural gas. LCOE provides a basis for comparing the economics of different generation technologies by measuring the total cost (including financing) of building and operating a power plant over its assumed lifetime. Think of it as evenly comparing apples to oranges.

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/wind-and-solar-costs-continue-to-drop-below-fossil-fuels-what-barriers-rem/519671/


FWIW.

[KenMcCoy]

Just need more subsidies, like oil... <sarcasm>

"In fact, forty percent of the Permian basin in Texas would be economically unviable without subsidies, and for the home of Bakken crude production, Williston Basin, that number jumps to 59 percent, according to the researchers."

https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/10/03/welfare-kings-half-current-oil-production-unprofitable-without-government-subsidies

[spurraider21]

government picking winners and losing good now

[boutons_deux]

If utility scale energy storage becomes available, (on-shore) wind and solar would be able to provide 100% of US energy, but add in off-shore wind, and totally forget coal and nuclear.

large scale storage is the disruptive key, and lots of research, even with the blocking, defunding of research by the Repugs/oligarchy, is underway.

Of course, the above would mean the Fed govt would "do the right thing" for the common good, which never happens anymore,

since govt only does what is good for oligarchy.

iow, USA run by the oligarchy won't do good shit anymore for the common good

[DMC]

Economics are killing coal.



https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-coal-nuclear-generation-would-have-lost-money-last-year-pjm-monitor-s/518746/



https://www.utilitydive.com/news/wind-and-solar-costs-continue-to-drop-below-fossil-fuels-what-barriers-rem/519671/


FWIW.

Are you financially invested in solar? Stands to reason you'd rail against other forms of energy.

[RandomGuy]

Are you financially invested in solar? Stands to reason you'd rail against other forms of energy.

:lol

Ad hominem.

You go with your bad self. Financial analysis is financial analysis.

[Expert]

Anyone here can find material to support any take they have on the issue.

Let's talk about how great Amway is.

[CosmicCowboy]

Anyone here can find material to support any take they have on the issue.

Let's talk about how great Amway is.

Yeah, you need to put some essential oils on that.

[boutons_deux]

FirstEnergy’s request for emergency bailout from Rick Perry generates widespread backlash

The troubled electric utility company is accused of using a "manufactured crisis."

A major electric utility company wants Energy Secretary Rick Perry to rescue its coal and nuclear plants,

along with other companies’ plants located in the eastern United States,

by declaring an “emergency” in the power industry. :lol

The request was widely panned by industry officials and experts, with one company describing the scenario as a “manufactured crisis.”

On Thursday, First Energy Corp. asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to issue an emergency order,

claiming in its letter to Perry that “the nation’s security is jeopardized if DOE does not act now” to keep the plants open.

The diversity of supply that nuclear and coal-fired units provide to the grid is being lost as more of these plants retire each year, the company said,

arguing this will make the electric system less reliable.

However, despite FirstEnergy’s sense of urgency,

coal and nuclear plants have been shutting down on a regular basis across the United States over the past half-dozen years without any reliability issues.

Furthermore, DOE’s emergency powers are intended to be used in only the most extreme circumstances, such as an act of war or severe grid impairment from a hurricane or cyberattack, not to help rebuild shareholder value at a troubled investor-owned utility company.

In its letter to Perry, FirstEnergy, based in Akron, Ohio,

requested that DOE exercise its authority to ensure “just and reasonable cost-based rates” for generators that have 25 days of onsite fuel supply and

are not recovering their costs today.

FirstEnergy also requested that DOE’s order direct PJM Interconnection Inc.,

the grid operator for a large portion of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions,

to “begin negotiating immediately with such generators on the terms of such supply.”

FirstEnergy wants the emergency order to remain in place for four years, or

“until the Secretary determines that the emergency has ceased to exist

because the PJM markets have been fixed to properly compensate these units for the resiliency and reliability benefits that they provide, whichever is later.”

https://thinkprogress.org/firstenergy-seeks-emergency-bailout-from-rick-perry-7fcb0fa24185/

Corporate-Americans LOVE the free market and (disruptive) competition

[sickdsm]

If utility scale energy storage becomes available, (on-shore) wind and solar would be able to provide 100% of US energy, but add in off-shore wind, and totally forget coal and nuclear.

large scale storage is the disruptive key, and lots of research, even with the blocking, defunding of research by the Repugs/oligarchy, is underway.

Of course, the above would mean the Fed govt would "do the right thing" for the common good, which never happens anymore,

since govt only does what is good for oligarchy.

iow, USA run by the oligarchy won't do good shit anymore for the common good

No shit sherlock. Cheap large battery. Was that some sore of revelation you had, like no one has thought that wind/solar would be kinda useful with that?

[boutons_deux]

No shit sherlock. Cheap large battery. Was that some sore of revelation you had, like no one has thought that wind/solar would be kinda useful with that?

G F Y

[Spurtacular]

:lol RandomDeuche

[RandomGuy]

Anyone here can find material to support any take they have on the issue.

Let's talk about how great Amway is.

Actually, you can't. Not all "material" is equal.

Reality and evidence doesn't work that way. The truth is awfully hard to handwave away.

[RandomGuy]

[smiley][derision]

How about that time your hero decided that the government's job was to pick winners and losers by subsidizing coal/nuclear too stop the free market from working correctly?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-08/perry-plan-to-help-coal-nuclear-plants-rejected-by-regulators

[sickdsm]

How about that time your hero decided that the government's job was to pick winners and losers by subsidizing coal/nuclear too stop the free market from working correctly?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-08/perry-plan-to-help-coal-nuclear-plants-rejected-by-regulators
Don't you just hate it when that happens?


https://seekingalpha.com/article/4160351-tesla-model-3-costs-charge-gasoline-car

[RandomGuy]

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4160351-tesla-model-3-costs-charge-gasoline-car

When what happens? Someone analyzes cost per mile?

I like that sort of thing, its good for the market. Really not sure what you are getting at.

[boutons_deux]

rightwingnut assholes ignore the external costs of driving ICE/hybrids, which is air pollution, which cause 1000s of deaths per year, and oil extraction/refining which is more pollution of air, land, water, people.

[Pavlov]

:lol RandomDeuche
I mean do you think he's German?

That's not that way that is spelled either.

[RandomGuy]

I mean do you think he's German?

That's not that way that is spelled either.

Technically, most of my ancestors were German, with some british, French and native American. sssssh.

[sickdsm]

When what happens? Someone analyzes cost per mile?

I like that sort of thing, its good for the market. Really not sure what you are getting at.

Tesla isn't even a thing without govt intervention. As much as I love what Elon is doing, he is surviving on welfare. How do you even pretend to not pick that up?

[Expert]

Actually, you can't. Not all "material" is equal.

Reality and evidence doesn't work that way. The truth is awfully hard to handwave away.

Of course not. Only you find the true stuff.

[boutons_deux]

Tesla isn't even a thing without govt intervention. As much as I love what Elon is doing, he is surviving on welfare. How do you even pretend to not pick that up?

Tesla paid back its $465M govt loan, and, like loser Uber, is losing many $Bs by burning through investors, and from buyers' down payments

[RandomGuy]

Tesla isn't even a thing without govt intervention. As much as I love what Elon is doing, he is surviving on welfare. How do you even pretend to not pick that up?

What government intervention? Dude, flesh it out, I'm not a mind-reader.

[RandomGuy]

Of course not. Only you find the true stuff.

Not at all. Plenty of good information out there.

Do you think that all "material" to support opposing viewpoints is always equally valid?

The material supporting flat earth is equally valid as sphere earth?

Is there NO way to figure out the truth?

[RandomGuy]

Tesla isn't even a thing without govt intervention. As much as I love what Elon is doing, he is surviving on welfare. How do you even pretend to not pick that up?


Research group Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has released its latest report on the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and it suggests that President Donald Trump’s attempts to revive the U.S. coal industry is doomed to failure. That’s because the price of battery storage has tumbled by 79% since 2010, from $1,000/kWh to $209/kWh while both wind and solar power have fallen by 18% in just a year.

BNEF says that fossil fuel power, which is responsible for the bulk of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which cause climate change, “is facing an unprecedented challenge in all three roles it performs in the energy mix – the supply of ‘bulk generation,’ the supply of 'dispatchable generation,' and the provision of ‘flexibility.’”


Wind and solar PV costs have continued to fall over the last year thanks to falling capital costs, higher efficiency and the spread of competitive tenders for clean power around the world, increasing their viability in bulk generation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikescott/2018/04/03/power-shift-anything-coal-and-gas-can-do-renewables-and-energy-storage-can-do-cheaper

Doesn't seem like any government mandate is driving the cost reductions. It is technology, transmission investment, and battery costs.

[sickdsm]

What government intervention? Dude, flesh it out, I'm not a mind-reader.

You didn't read the article.

[Expert]

Not at all. Plenty of good information out there.

Do you think that all "material" to support opposing viewpoints is always equally valid?

The material supporting flat earth is equally valid as sphere earth?

Is there NO way to figure out the truth?

You need to reconsider your use of the word "supports". You have a preconceived notion and you just look for anything that agrees with it. You're nothing special in that regard. Thousands of internet forums have several just like you who act as conduits for link repository posting. Good to know that's where you settled mentally.

[boutons_deux]

As Demand For Electricity Falls, Utilities Look To Electric Cars To Save Them

https://c1cleantechnicacom-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/files/2018/04/Electricity-Demand-Vs-GDP.jpg

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/04/02/as-demand-for-electricity-falls-utilities-look-to-electric-cars-to-save-them/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29

[RandomGuy]

Not at all. Plenty of good information out there.

Do you think that all "material" to support opposing viewpoints is always equally valid?

The material supporting flat earth is equally valid as sphere earth?

Is there NO way to figure out the truth?



You need to reconsider your use of the word "supports". You have a preconceived notion and you just look for anything that agrees with it. You're nothing special in that regard. Thousands of internet forums have several just like you who act as conduits for link repository posting. Good to know that's where you settled mentally.

By all means then, educate me as to what you meant by "support", then maybe you can answer my critical thinking question?

[RandomGuy]

You didn't read the article.

Skimmed it briefly. Sum up what government intervention supports this company. In your own words.

[sickdsm]

Skimmed it briefly. Sum up what government intervention supports this company. In your own words.

Tesla relies on subsidies. Even so they have been making headlines for failing to meet expectations on sales. Do you want to regurgitate all the articles in a less polished version? Because you CLEARLY know aboiut the subsidies and mandates, or if you don't theres a pile of articles about it.

[RandomGuy]

Tesla relies on subsidies. Even so they have been making headlines for failing to meet expectations on sales. Do you want to regurgitate all the articles in a less polished version? Because you CLEARLY know aboiut the subsidies and mandates, or if you don't theres a pile of articles about it.

I just wanted to be clear what you were talking about.

Here is a good analysis:
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/18/tesla-subsidized-whats-truth-claims-tesla-spacex-elon-musk-wealth-exist-subsidies/

Not sure what EV subsidies have to do with coal and nuclear being unprofitable, though.

Seems like a whataboutism to me.

[boutons_deux]

and WHAT ABOUT tax breaks, subsidies, etc the Feds have been, and are, giving BigOil for 100 years?

And what about Pruitt encouraging fuel consumption by killing auto pollution rules?

[sickdsm]

I just wanted to be clear what you were talking about.

Here is a good analysis:
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/18/tesla-subsidized-whats-truth-claims-tesla-spacex-elon-musk-wealth-exist-subsidies/

Not sure what EV subsidies have to do with coal and nuclear being unprofitable, though.

Seems like a whataboutism to me.

Yeah I read alot about Tesla since I think the world of Elon. That 200k limit has talked about being extended. The mandate is what's selling the cars.

You continue to disappoint me RG. My response was in regards to got picking the winners and losers.

[sickdsm]

and WHAT ABOUT tax breaks, subsidies, etc the Feds have been, and are, giving BigOil for 100 years?

And what about Pruitt encouraging fuel consumption by killing auto pollution rules?

So NOW you admit the big oil has been well taken care of for years?

[boutons_deux]

So NOW you admit the big oil has been well taken care of for years?

I've never said anything other than that.

It's you rightwingnutjobs who adore BigOil, or even work for them, who deny BigCarbon gets any corporate welfare.

[RandomGuy]

Yeah I read alot about Tesla since I think the world of Elon. That 200k limit has talked about being extended. The mandate is what's selling the cars.

You continue to disappoint me RG. My response was in regards to got picking the winners and losers.

The subsidies merely push along the development curve to the point where it is more competitive sooner.

Governments should be fostering new technologies and industries. "picking winners and losers" is an empty, vacuous deepity. All countries, everywhere foster industries and companies to some extent. The only REAL question is how much do we support innovation, and reward risk.

Given my research, I am happy with this. 100%. The subsidies should be scaled back over time, which is what they appear to be structured to do.

[RandomGuy]

Yeah I read alot about Tesla since I think the world of Elon. That 200k limit has talked about being extended. The mandate is what's selling the cars.

You continue to disappoint me RG. My response was in regards to got picking the winners and losers.

Moving on, what the fuck do EVs have to do with wind and solar becoming more cheaper and more competitive with coal and nuclear?

Connect the dots. You disappoint me in that regard.

[boutons_deux]

You disappoint me in that regard.

then your expectations are too high.

I don't think the Repugs will extend the EV purchase rebate, since, eg, Tesla is CA company, and Trash/Repugs hate CA.

And for the Repugs is All Politics, All The Time, the more vindictive, the better.

Repugs don't GAF about the environment, and certainly no fucks given for EVs that reduce the fuel sales of their paymaster BigOil.

[sickdsm]

Moving on, what the fuck do EVs have to do with wind and solar becoming more cheaper and more competitive with coal and nuclear?

Connect the dots. You disappoint me in that regard.

Already replied to that. The RG and Bou shit show is in full force here. The irony is that the loony left, such as yourself, can't see the forest for the trees. If someone isn't slobbing all over every Democrat they HAVE to be a repug, right wing nut job, etc.


Question directly to bou.

What is your occupation? How much do you pay for health insurance? What general area do you live?I'm questioning how much real world experience you have.

[sickdsm]

You two have just justified ethanol btw with your comments.

[Winehole23]

Command economy good now. MAGA!


Trump administration officials are making plans to order grid operators to buy electricity from struggling coal and nuclear plants in an effort to extend their life, a move that could represent an unprecedented intervention into U.S. energy markets.

The Energy Department would exercise emergency authority under a pair of federal laws to direct the operators to purchase electricity or electric generation capacity from at-risk facilities, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The agency also is making plans to establish a "Strategic Electric Generation Reserve" with the aim of promoting the national defense and maximizing domestic energy supplies.

“Federal action is necessary to stop the further premature retirements of fuel-secure generation capacity,” says a 41-page draft memo circulated before a National Security Council meeting on the subject Friday.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-01/trump-said-to-grant-lifeline-to-money-losing-coal-power-plants-jhv94ghl

[boutons_deux]

"order grid operators to buy electricity from struggling coal and nuclear plants"

yep, command economy, just like Communists

Freedom!

Free Markets!

Small Government!

Death to Government and Regulations and The Administrative State!

[Winehole23]

A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute said propping up coal and nuclear plants “that are struggling to be profitable under the guise of national security would be unprecedented and misguided.

[Winehole23]

"The federal government should not use the pretext of 'national security' to pick winners and losers in the energy markets and it must certainly not treat U.S. manufacturing jobs as inferior to the jobs at uneconomic power plants,” said John P. Hughes, CEO and President of the Electricity Consumers Resource Counsel, a national association of large industrial users of electricity.

[Winehole23]

Even grid operators are dumfounded by the thesis that the grid needs the government’s assistance. “There is no need for any such drastic action,” PJM Interconnection, a grid operator that oversees electricity markets in the mid-Atlantic, said in a statement (http://www.pjm.com/-/media/about-pjm/newsroom/2018-releases/20180601-pjm-statement-on-potential-doe-market-intervention.ashx). “Any federal intervention in the market to order customers to buy electricity from specific power plants would be damaging to the markets and therefore costly to consumers.”


PJM ensures the reliability of electricity in 13 states plus DC, serving over 65 million people. “The PJM electrical grid is more reliable than ever, with 23 percent reserve margins and billions of dollars of new investment.” Despite the wave of coal plant retirements, there is little evidence of a threat to the grid.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Trumps-Bizarre-Bid-To-Bailout-Coal-And-Nuclear.html

[RandomGuy]

You two have just justified ethanol btw with your comments.

Sure for a period of time. Either it is profitable over the long run or it isn't.

I am all for nurturing industries, and slowly weaning them after they have developed, or if they don't pan out.

that is the nature of investments. Not all work, but you gain from making them overall.

[boutons_deux]

New report examines coal’s future outlook, and it isn’t pretty

New Bloomberg forecast sees 17-fold rise in solar by 2050, and an $8.4 trillion investment in renewables.

https://i1.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GettyImages-solar-wind-power.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1

The era of fossil fuel dominance in power generation “is coming to an end,” concludes Bloomberg NEF in its new forecast:

“Cheap renewable energy and batteries fundamentally remake electricity systems around the worl (https://about.bnef.com/new-energy-outlook/#toc-download)d.”

“Coal is the biggest loser,” notes Bloomberg in the new forecast

https://thinkprogress.org/coal-is-the-biggest-loser-as-solar-wind-and-batteries-boom-eef1ae527108/

[boutons_deux]

Trump plan to bail out coal industry punishes red states the most

Trump plans to enrich his rich crony friends at the expense of American consumers.


https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/gettyimages-donald-trump-rick-perry-coal-bailout.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1


President Trump has ordered Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to take “immediate steps” to bailout unprofitable coal and nuclear plants.

Those hardest hit by Trump’s order will be the states where the most money-losing power plants reside. And, ironically, the most uneconomic coal plants are in the Southeastern states, which overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released a detailed analysis of the most unprofitable plants (https://thinkprogress.org/unprofitable-coal-plants-bloomberg-report-e6a96190f062/), which “paints a particularly bleak picture for coal plants in the regulated Southeast”. As the chart below demonstrates, the biggest money losers are represented by the large, dark red dots.

https://i1.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/bnef-coal-plants-losing-money-trump-voters.jpg?w=1200&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C845px&ssl=1



Invoking the laws, however, requires some sort of national security emergency — so any such ruling is expected to be challenged in court. After all, there is no security threat posed by replacing expensive dirty energy plants with cheaper cleaner ones.

the bailout of coal and nuclear plants is needed for national security purposes: “Impending retirements of fuel-secure power facilities are leading to a rapid depletion of a critical part of our nation’s energy mix, and impacting the resilience of our power grid.”

there is no evidence whatsoever that the retirement of money-losing coal and nuclear plants makes the electric grid less reliable and resilient.

the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) — which oversees the U.S. grid — unanimously rejected (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?document_id=14633130) a very similar plan by Perry to raise consumer energy bills in order to bail out coal and nuclear power plants. :lol


The unanimous vote was especially notable since 3 of the 5 commissioners (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/senate-approves-two-trump-ferc-nominees/article/2639479) are Trump appointees, including the new chair (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/senate-approves-two-trump-ferc-nominees/article/2639479). :lol

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-to-bail-out-coal-industry-by-raising-electricity-rates-25ba2b473c53/

[SnakeBoy]

Bouton's does a good job of representing the Democrats message to coal country "you're going to lose your jobs and be poor haha screw you, oh but you have to keep voting for us because we can't win without you"

[RandomGuy]

Bouton's does a good job of representing the Democrats message to coal country "you're going to lose your jobs and be poor haha screw you, oh but you have to keep voting for us because we can't win without you"

The GOP already declared war on blue voters with the tax cut that targeted blue states to pay for the tax cuts, so let's not kid ourselves about civility, or that the Republican party gives a two squirts of shit for the country as a whole.

That kind of nakedly cynical backstabbing makes our jobs as Democrats a lot easier. If you and Trump wants to think that coal jobs are where the votes are, I'm cool with that, pander to the dying industry.

I know where the job and economic growth are. Reality doesn't care about your feelings, snowflake.

[Winehole23]

Perry's proposed bailout founders:


One of the Trump administration’s major efforts to prop up ailing coal companies has run aground in the White House, a setback to an industry that had hoped for a major resurgence after Donald Trump won the presidency.Energy Secretary Rick Perry has spent more than a year pushing various plans that would invoke national security to force power companies to keep their economically struggling coal plants running — a goal in line with Trump’s frequent pledges to revive what he calls “beautiful, clean coal.

”
But the White House has shelved the plan amid opposition from the president’s own advisers on the National Security Council and National Economic Council, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions..https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/15/rick-perry-coal-rescue-trump-850528

[Winehole23]

coal jobs not coming back:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrSBNdiVYAAkQao.jpg

[Winehole23]

more bad news: wind and solar generation is cheaper than coal in many parts of the USA:


The cost of new wind and solar power generation has fallen below the cost of running existing coal-fired plants in many parts of the US, threatening to wreck President Donald Trump’s hopes of reviving the mining industry.New estimates published on Thursday by Lazard, the investment bank, show that it can often be profitable for US generation companies to shut working coal plants and replace their output with wind and solar power.The calculations suggest that closures of coal-fired plants are likely to continue, eroding US demand for coal and jeopardising Mr Trump’s ambition to “put our coal miners back to work”.The falling cost of renewable energy is adding to the pressure from cheap gas and stagnant demand for electricity, which have cut US coal power output by more than 40 per cent since 2007.https://www.ft.com/content/af6915c8-e2eb-11e8-a6e5-792428919cee

[Winehole23]

thinning margins have strained the mining company as customers for thermal coal continue to dry up. Coal-fired electricity is expected to fall this summer (https://trib.com/business/energy/coal-power-expected-to-fall-over-summer-months/article_8da06ffb-3817-5a24-a36b-b065bcf62852.html), even though summer months are usually boom times for coal plants as air conditioning bolsters electricity demand. That's because cheap natural gas and a boost in renewable capacity have displaced dirtier, more expensive coal.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/05/third-largest-coal-producer-in-the-us-files-for-bankruptcy/

[boutons_deux]

China, Japan and South Korea, while vowing to go green at home, promote coal abroad

these three countries are facing growing scrutiny for financing dozens of new coal-fired power plants in foreign countries.

Most of the plants are being built in Southeast Asia and Africa,

in emerging economies where the growing demand for cheap, reliable electricity is most easily met by coal, the single largest source of the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for warming the planet.

governments in these countries are looking abroad to protect domestic companies that

manufacture coal plants and supply equipment like steam turbines and boilers.

“The Chinese, Japanese and Koreans have a lot of coal-fired power equipment that will not have a great deal of international value in another three to five years,”

“So they’re looking to partner with countries that can move forward quickly to put new coal-fired power capacity in place.”

https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-indonesia-south-korea-coal-energy-finance-20190513-story.html (https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-indonesia-south-korea-coal-energy-finance-20190513-story.html)

China in Africa is of course extending its influence beyond coal fired plants

[RandomGuy]

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/05/third-largest-coal-producer-in-the-us-files-for-bankruptcy/

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=37952
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/images/2019.01.10/main.png

[boutons_deux]

btw, I read the Tesla's battery factory is exporting batteries rather than providing to Tesla battery systems and Tesla rooftop systems.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-solar-exclusive/exclusive-teslas-solar-factory-is-exporting-most-of-its-cells-document-idUSKCN1SL1H5

[MultiTroll]

more bad news: wind and solar generation is cheaper than coal in many parts of the USA:

https://www.ft.com/content/af6915c8-e2eb-11e8-a6e5-792428919cee
$ubscribe to read.

[boutons_deux]

planet is fucked and unfuckable

The plastic industry is on track to produce as many emissions as 600 coal-fired power plants


https://grist.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/annual-plastic-emissions.jpg


https://grist.org/article/the-plastic-industry-is-on-track-to-produce-as-many-emissions-as-600-coal-fired-power-plants/

[Winehole23]

$ubscribe to read.Dontcha hate it? I sure do.

[CosmicCowboy]

btw, I read the Tesla's battery factory is exporting batteries rather than providing to Tesla battery systems and Tesla rooftop systems.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-solar-exclusive/exclusive-teslas-solar-factory-is-exporting-most-of-its-cells-document-idUSKCN1SL1H5

It's not exporting batteries its exporting solar cells. Those cells are then assembled into panels offshore where it's cheaper and then reimported to the US. They avoid the tariffs that way since the original cells were US.

[boutons_deux]

US power output from renewables exceeds coal for the first time in history


Hydroelectric dams, solar panels, and wind turbines generated

68.5 million megawatt-hours of energy during the month of April 2019,

compared to 60 million for coal.


https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/26/18759933/usa-coal-power-natural-gas-renewables (https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/26/18759933/usa-coal-power-natural-gas-renewables)

[benefactor]

Although Trump has touted coal's rebirth, 51 coal plants have closed and eight coal companies have filed for bankruptcy since his election, CBS News reported last month.

Coal’s share of the U.S. electricity mix fell from 48% in 2008 to 27% in 2018 and is projected to be 22% in 2020, according to the Department of Energy.

“We’re retiring a coal plant every month. Coal will all be gone by 2030,” said Bruce Nilles, a managing director at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a think tank in Colorado that focuses on energy and resource efficiency.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/president-donald-trump-losing-fight-032519841.html

[boutons_deux]

Is President Donald Trump losing his fight to save coal?

Third major company since May files for bankruptcy

Nearly 2,000 miners across four states may lose their jobs after yet another major coal company filed for bankruptcy (https://cases.primeclerk.com/blackjewel/Home-DocketInfo) this weekhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/03/coal-collapse-third-company-may-files-bankruptcy/1644619001/

[boutons_deux]

As Trash fucks up offshore wind ...

Shift to renewable electricity a win-win at statewide level

Amid rollbacks of the Clean Power Plan and other environmental regulations at the federal level,

several U.S. states, cities, and towns have resolved to take matters into their own hands and implement policies to promote renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

now in effect in 29 states and the District of Columbia, is to set renewable portfolio standards (RPS),

which require electricity suppliers to source a designated percentage of electricity from available renewable-power generating technologies.

the financial benefits (https://phys.org/tags/financial+benefits/) associated with air quality improvements from these policies would more than pay for the cost of implementing them.

"This research helps us better understand how clean-energy policies now under consideration at the subnational level might impact local air quality and economic growth (https://phys.org/tags/economic+growth/),"

MIT researchers estimated that existing RPS in the nation's Rust Belt region

generate a health co-benefit of $94 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced in 2030,

Their central estimate is 34 percent larger than total policy costs.

The team also determined that carbon pricing delivers a health co-benefit of $211 per ton of CO2 reduced in 2030,

63 percent greater than the health co-benefit of reducing the same amount of CO2through an RPS approach.

https://phys.org/news/2019-08-shift-renewable-electricity-win-win-statewide.html (https://phys.org/news/2019-08-shift-renewable-electricity-win-win-statewide.html)

[boutons_deux]

How corporate-friendly bankruptcy laws keep protesting miners from being paid:

‘That train leaves, we ain’t got nothing’

Bankruptcy laws in the United States have grown so corporate-friendly that if a company goes belly-up, employees are going to be the real losers.

Such is the case in Kentucky, where coal miners are preventing a train of coal from moving by holding a sit-in on the railroad tracks.

“We mined the coal and broke our backs to get that coal, so that coal belongs to us until they pay for it.”

“We had just bought a washer, and then the bank pulled the money back out, and it made our account negative,”

Blackjewel could legally take all of their money and run and refuse to pay their workers.

“Let’s call this what it is: legalized looting — looting that makes a handful of Wall Street managers very rich while costing thousands of people their jobs,

putting valuable companies out of business, and hurting communities across the country,”

President Donald Trump promised miners he would save their jobs when he ran for president in 2016. :lol

he has yet to step in to help coal miners.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/09/how-corporate-friendly-bankruptcy-laws-keep-protesting-miners-from-being-paid-that-train-leaves-we-aint-got-nothing/ (https://www.rawstory.com/2019/09/how-corporate-friendly-bankruptcy-laws-keep-protesting-miners-from-being-paid-that-train-leaves-we-aint-got-nothing/)

Did Trash LIE? :lol