JuanP wrote:"Russia to boost coal production & sales, will be world's top exporter within decade"
https://www.rt.com/business/487200-russ ... rts-boost/
And the Chinese will buy every gram of that coal, which is bad news for Australia's economy.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
JuanP wrote: The fracking boom made gas cheaper than coal, which reduced demand for coal TEMPORARILY.
JuanP wrote:And no amount of renewable energy will change that.
JuanP wrote: We will burn everything we can, including all the coal we temporarily stopped burning because gas was cheaper for a while.
Does America Have a Secret Energy Source? Yes, It's Coal
The quick rise in the price of natural gas to levels not seen since 2008 has made one thing clear: The idea that gas was an economical bridge to a renewable energy future was flawed.
The price of natural gas, which accounts for about 40% of electricity used by Americans and half of home-heating needs, has more than doubled this year and is expected to remain high in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its curtailment of gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria.
In fact, U.S. natural gas prices surged above $8 per million British thermal units, four times what they were before the pandemic. This dramatic price increase changes the economics of electricity generating technologies. Natural gas electricity generating units are inexpensive to build and quick to construct and combined with low natural gas costs became the favored generating technology in the United States.
The U.S. natural gas glut that once defined the shale era is gone. Come next year, fully 20% of U.S. gas production is expected to be exported. High overseas prices are now inflating the price of gas here at home. However, an energy friendly administration could reverse the U. S. natural gas supply problem which could lower its price.
This adds up to a very different outlook from a few years ago, when natural gas was in such ample supply that its price had tanked. While shale gas producers are starting to ramp up drilling, they’re struggling to meet high demand and price relief remains distant.
With energy-driven inflation a stubborn problem, this new surge in gas prices couldn’t come at a worse time. The addition of renewable power to temper gas demand will help but it’s hardly a cure-all. Wind and solar power are already the fastest growing sources of power but together they still only meet roughly 13% of U.S. power demand and are not reliable sources of electricity. Also building the transmission infrastructure needed to connect them to urban centers from the sunniest and windiest regions of the country remains an enormous challenge. Opposition to new interstate power lines is such a problem transmission additions have actually decreased when experts tell us they need to increase significantly.
Ensuring that energy inflation doesn’t get far worse is going to require an energy policy reset that gets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) agenda in line with energy pragmatism. It may seem anathema to the Biden administration’s climate goals but it’s time to reevaluate the importance of the coal fleet and put EPA’s daggers away.
The best hedge consumers have against high natural gas prices is the coal fleet that continues to meet 20% of U.S. power demand -- and double that in some regions of the country. These plants provide security to the grid and offer choices in fuel use.
When gas prices soar – as they are now – coal generation rises, shielding rate payers from higher power costs. Unfortunately, much of the coal fleet is facing a renewed regulatory push that could see it disappear just when it’s needed most. Half the coal fleet that existed a decade ago is gone and utilities have already scheduled the closure of dozens of more plants. In some regions coal plants are closing sooner than anticipated and complicating electricity reliability. Several regional transmission organizations forecast very tight electricity supplies this summer. There is an increased probability of forced blackouts.
EPA has signaled it’s about to use every tool at its disposal to accelerate coal plant closures. That’s a mistake policymakers must make sure doesn’t happen. We should be able to do things in an intelligent way. A pragmatic energy approach accelerates renewable energy deployment while also ensuring the coal fleet remains a near-term buffer against soaring natural gas prices.
Coal capacity is also playing an unheralded but critical role in preserving grid reliability when renewable generation has faltered. Blackouts have hit California and Texas in recent years and the grid operator for the Midwest is now warning that some states could see rolling blackouts this year for lack of enough generating capacity.
The bridge we need to our energy future is a balanced electricity mix that values coal, natural gas, nuclear power and renewables as all playing an important part on the energy path forward. Soaring natural gas prices and the pain of energy-driven inflation call for energy pragmatism. Now’s the time to recognize the role the coal fleet should play in it.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Global coal production amounted to approximately 167.6 exajoules in 2021. This represented an increase of some 5.6 percent in comparison to the previous year. Between 2000 and 2021, production of coal across the globe increased by more than 70 exajoules, reaching a production-peak in the latter year.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
jato0072 wrote:China has to make all of that "green energy" for the climate zealots who are now in charge of western policy. Where do you think "green energy" comes from!?!
Germany Restarts Coal-Fired Generation to Support Winter Power Supply
Government officials in Germany have approved a plan to bring some shuttered coal-fired power plants back online in an effort to avoid energy shortages this winter.
Cabinet members on Oct. 4 said they would support putting on-reserve lignite-fired power plants back online from now until the end of March 2024. It’s another move related to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in a drop in imports of Russian natural gas to Germany and much of Europe over the past two years.
Germany reactivated some coal-fired power plants last year, and extended their operating lifespans. Government data showed about 1.9 GWh of electricity was generated from coal last winter. Officials said they will study coal-fired generation this winter and decide next summer on plans to offset increases in carbon emissions. They also said they remain committed to a phase-out of all coal-fired generation in the country by 2030.
The country’s economic ministry said several coal-fired units operated by energy companies RWE and LEAG at their Niederaußem, Neurath, and Jaenschwalde power plants will be temporarily reactivated until March of next year to provide more security for Germany’s electricity supply. Those units also operated last winter due to the reduced supply of natural gas from Russia, and were on standby this past summer.
Germany’s electricity supply also has been reduced as the country completed its phase-out of nuclear power earlier this year, when the country’s three remaining nuclear facilities were taken offline. The move ended more than 60 years of nuclear power generation in Germany.
Germany is not the only European nation restarting coal-fired units to provide more energy security. The UK restarted some coal-fired generation this past summer to cope with rising demand for power during a heat wave. France also restarted a coal-fired power station last winter.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tanada wrote:[b]Germany Restarts Coal-Fired Generation to Support Winter Power Supply
This is exactly the kind of binary thinking I have come to expect from you. I an not a renewable hater like you, so I must be a blind fanboy. Well just incase you want to show that you can act like an adult and stop with this petty crap, here are some of my previous posts on these issues:mousepad wrote:GET OUT!!!
It's time after time that kublikan and his university and gov studies have shown, that solar and wind are cheaper than coal. Are you telling me that germany is so dumb as to pick the more costly option on purpose?
kublikhan wrote:Aug 07, 2023 - ...more expensive energy, such as buffered renewables(renewables backed up with grid storage, backup power, etc)...
kublikhan wrote:Jul 22, 2022- the grid is getting less reliable every day with a growing threat of blackouts:Grid monitor warns of U.S. blackouts in ‘sobering report’In a dire new assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) described regions of the country pushed closer than ever toward energy emergencies by a combination of climate change impacts and a transition from traditional fossil fuel generators to carbon-free renewable power. “It’s a very sobering report. It’s clear the risks are spreading.” NERC’s analysis examined the potential punch of extreme weather, which may wreak havoc on everything from reduced hydropower to transmission lines brought down by wildfires. Grid operators are dealing with an increasing reliance on intermittent resources like wind and solar as coal units retire and the reliability and emissions of gas resources comes under scrutiny.
kublikhan wrote:Global [coal] demand reached an all-time high in 2022. Consumption rose strongly in India (10%) and in Europe (5%) in response to electricity generating facilities substituting away from natural gas and filling the supply gap created by weaker production from other sources, including nuclear and hydro. Consumption in China rose modestly, as economic growth remained sluggish due to COVID-19 restrictions. On the other hand, coal consumption in the United States decreased by 8% in 2022Q4 due to less significant natural gas price increases compared to Europe. This limited the substitution between coal and gas for electricity generation in the U.S.
kublikhan wrote:Apr 18, 2023 - I don't think it's quite that rosy. The government decided to funnel $300 billion in emergency funding to households and businesses just to keep the lights on. Not to mention the fact that Germany turned back to coal in it's hour of need.cephalotus wrote:All nuclear power plants have been shut down by now and this happend with no issues. Germany has still been a significant electricity exporter in 2022 both by kWh and by Euro. No energy shortages during winter.Coal Keeps Germany’s Lights OnThe supposedly evil energy source saves the day in Europe. Germany did itself and Europe a favor by managing to avert an energy-shortage recession this winter, and now we know how they did it: supposedly evil coal. Data released Thursday show coal’s role in electricity generation growing in Germany for the second year running.Germany Revives Coal as Energy Security Trumps Climate GoalsGermany is set to boost its reliance on coal as it battles an unprecedented energy crisis — even at the expense of its ambitious climate goals. Europe’s largest economy is burning the fossil fuel for electricity at the fastest pace in at least six years. Across the globe, highly polluting — and relatively cheap — coal is making a comeback as countries seek to prevent soaring energy costs from triggering an economic meltdown. Germany now generates more than a third of its electricity from coal-fired power plants.
“Coal is coming back as a baseload generator. We think it will be less seasonal than it has been – with more coal-burning in summer, spring and autumn, as long as coal remains so much in the money versus gas and there remains a gas shortage.” At times this month, German electricity became as polluting as power produced in South Africa and India, after lower wind speeds curbed renewable generation and coal consumption spiked.
kublikhan wrote:Well just incase you want to show that you can act like an adult and stop with this petty crap,
kublikhan wrote: ...more expensive energy,
kublikhan wrote:the grid is getting less reliable every day
kublikhan wrote:Global [coal] demand reached an all-time high in 2022.
kublikhan wrote:Germany is set to boost its reliance on coal as it battles an unprecedented energy crisis“Coal is coming back as a baseload generator.
kublikhan wrote:This is exactly the kind of binary thinking I have come to expect from you
kublikhan wrote:I an not a renewable hater like you
mousepad wrote:I have solar panels on my roof and heat the house with self cut wood. How do you power your life?
You are still butthurt over that post from 2 years ago? The one where I pointed out your sources were from lobby groups trying to shut down renewable energy?mousepad wrote:I don't get it. First you go binary on me shutting down any doubt I have about renewable with tons of studies on how great renewables are.
I can on the one had point out that you were wrong about a post you made, and on the other hand not be a blind fanboy for renewable energy.mousepad wrote:And now as it turns out I was right with my doubts, you still claim you're right all along? Are you a politician?
LOL! I was right! You are still butthurt from that post I made two years ago talking about your biased sources. Wow, Let it go man.mousepad wrote:You know what that means right? Them rosy university studies might actually be WRONG. They might be BIASED towards rose coloring renewable.
Ok, have fun with that.mousepad wrote:Never. I like picking on you.
kublikhan wrote:You are still butthurt over that post from 2 years ago?
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