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1) we realize that wind and solar are not economical, like Germany now realizes
2) the environmentalists force us to close perfectly good nuclear plants, like they did in Germany
3) we burn through all of this supposedly "cheap and abundant" natural gas
It will happen. The children of today's unemployed coal miners will have good coal jobs.
Don't forget about the recent fiasco in Australia. Wind-turbines failed to generate enough energy resulting in a black-out affecting about 90,000 people.
Somebody on here that worked in the electric generation industry busted that myth in another thread.
Coal is much cheaper than these other fuels.
"Somebody"?
Natural gas is currently about $2.50 per MILLION BTU.....
to those bad at math, that would mean is is 1/6th the price of heating oil.
There are various types of coal. The coal from KY and Ohio is not really fit for burning due to high levels of pollutants and difficult to get to - plus restoration of the mining areas, etc.
But the dirty coal still costs presently about $50. per ton delivered to the electric plants.
Given the lower burning efficiency of coal, we are lucky to get 50% of the energy out of it converted to electricity - which is about 6,000 BTU per pound....times 2,000 (ton) = 12 million BTU.
Nat Gas can be burned at 70% efficiency, so that $2.50 will buy 700,000 BTU times 20 (to make the same $50 that a ton of coal costs).....which gives us 14 Million BTU.
So, Gas is already cheaper by 15% or more just in terms of fuel. This does not figure on:
1. Double the CO2
2. Vastly more mercury and other pollutants
3. Vast piles of coal ash which must be dealt with.
4. Vastly more expensives plants to burn coal efficiently and keep some of the bad stuff (acid rain, particles), etc. out of the air.
So there you go. Gas is cleaner, more abundant, easier to use, more efficient, makes less waste of all types and is easier to turn off/on and to build smaller and more portable generation and plants.
And yet some people want coal? You'd have to be nuts.
Yeah, right after 5 & 1/4" floppy drives and IBM Selectric Typewriters make a big comeback!
False analogy.
The energy business does not work like the tech business. Your smartphone runs (mainly) on coal, natural gas, (sophisticated) water wheels, and nuclear reactor technology from the 1950s.
Why do we still use ancient technologies like fire and water wheels to generate electricity? It's cheap and reliable! Electricity is a commodity business: whoever can do it the cheapest wins. Nobody cares about how "high tech" the generation process was. They just care about their electric bill.
Yes, coal is a bad business right now, since natural gas is cheap and abundant.
What happens a few decades from now when natural gas is no longer cheap and abundant? Do we go back to burning filthy coal? If you think that we can rely wind and solar, think again: Germany has a huge amount of wind and solar, and they still need 100% conventional generation capacity for windless nights.
Unfortunately, the Trump people have no understanding of energy or energy policy.
what was obama's energy policy?
He did say energy prices would skyrocket under his plan, but we never saw his plan.
Having a different approach to energy is not the same as having no understanding of energy or policies, that stinks of politics, not science or economics.
Yes, coal is a bad business right now, since natural gas is cheap and abundant.
What happens a few decades from now when natural gas is no longer cheap and abundant?
Hard to say what will happen in a few decades. Maybe we will have D-T fusion reactors supplying power by then, or roads with solar cells powering the country or ....?
In the meantime, those unemployed coal miners need to get off their rumpled rumps and get the education they need to be competitive in today's employment market.
If the coal jobs ever return, they will likely need skilled workers as well. So they'll be all set.
I had a Brothers Word Processor, and it wont be back either. The coal jobs wont be back. It will take decades and billions of dollars fixing the toxic coal ash problems from the past. Companies have not learned a thing from their mistakes.
I had a Brothers Word Processor, and it wont be back either. The coal jobs wont be back. It will take decades and billions of dollars fixing the toxic coal ash problems from the past. Companies have not learned a thing from their mistakes.
If only those typewriter repair men had banded together to throw the world into chaos to elect a huckster who told them he would bring back typewriters.....but replace that with coal and somehow it's ok???
HUndreds of coal miners in Arizona, mostly Navajo natives, were told recently that they would be out of work as the mines keeping the Navajo generating station fueled would be closing. The decision has been made to convert the plant to natural gas for economic reasons.
Employment in the mines peaked in the 1920's and has been declining ever since.
Technology substitution/ industrial robotics is one of the factors associated with declining employment in addition to environmental and politics have all taken a toll on what were high risk jobs .
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