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Aahhh, Clean Coal. It will save us from ourselves.
“Here’s the website and org that created the video to oppose the oxymoron of “clean coal.”
Funny. It’s like one I ran into for “affordable solar electric”.
yeah in ohio the coal industry is salivating at diggin up more coal…
now one small positive side effect has been ‘The Wilds’ north america largest zoological park, I cant really see turning all of coal lands into african style plains…
I guess when the Coen brothers make a movie, all their cameras and equipment are powered by wind and solar?
Clean coal is such an obvious oxymoron (oxymoran?) that it’s amazing to me to think that we need such an ad telling us about the stupidity.
That said, Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University’s Earth Institute is highly in favor of clean coal.
IMHO, he is a severe part of the problem. He sees use of coal as a foregone conclusion and sees clean coal as a way to responsibly burn the vile crap.
I strongly disagree. I think there may be a point in retrofitting existing coal plants with clean coal technology in an effort to make them less horrifically bad. However, IMNSHO, this should be solely as a temporary measure until we phase out coal altogether.
Consider that not only does coal release mercury into the environment along with 4 times the CO2 of natural gas, it also decimates vast tracts of land. Unless we want to completely level the Appalachian mountains, we must stop burning this dirtiest of all possible fuels.
I do not know how to get past the fact that there are supposed environmentalists who support this utter and complete bullshit. Clean coal is not only a complete oxymoron, the “clean” part of it is a totally untested and unproven technology that involves pumping vast quantities of CO2 underground and hoping like hell that it doesn’t burp up to the surface one day and cause the deaths of everyone nearby … and then cause the warming we were trying to prevent.
If this doesn’t scare you away from “clean coal” you need your head examined.
http://tinyurl.com/bdz2yf
Of course, even if we stop burning coal for electric generation, we still will be using a mountain of it for making steel.
And while I agree that coal will never be as clean as say, natural gas, we should have a look at what they are doing in Germany. And realize that since the typical US coal plant has virtually no pollution controls, there IS a lot we can do to clean up our energy picture while we build and invent better, more sustainable methods of producing power.
Let me get this straight –
We’re supposed to halt ALL research into even thinking about cleanly using coal, our largest energy resource…
…but then spend billions of dollars manufacturing batteries that are filled with some of the most vile chemicals and rare metals?
Get your heads out of your asses.
#8 – brm,
Toxic chemicals are indeed a problem that must be solved. There are other ways to store energy. Capacitors may be the answer.
However, if you think these issues are larger than global warming, I think it is you whose cranium is wedged within your colon.
http://tinyurl.com/dc5hdw
As for spending billions on new technology, let’s all try to remember that this is the way to retool America for new industry. Perhaps, if we ever begin to play catch-up to the rest of the world, we can think about being leaders in a new industry.
Also, please remember that the ecosystem we are trying to preserve provide us with 30 trillion dollars per year worth of services for free. If we have to provide them for ourselves, we will be truly sunk.
Scroll around half way down or just search for trillion on this page for the source of the above statement.
http://tinyurl.com/5rgloj
Unless we want to completely level the Appalachian mountains,
That would save a lot of fuel traveling from here to the coast. The up, down, up, down, up, down shit is killing my fuel economy.
# 8 brm said, on February 27th, “We’re supposed to halt ALL research into even thinking about cleanly using coal, our largest energy resource…”
Thorium is also a huge natural resource for power.
#9 – Me,
Sorry all, that first link appears to have gone bad. Try this one instead.
http://tinyurl.com/clsn7h
#9 Scott:
I just don’t get this attitude that there is NO way to use coal, uh uh, zero, so we shouldn’t even try. If we didn’t have so much of it, that would make sense.
#13 – brm,
One point you may be missing is that global warming has a very real potential to cause a mass extinction on the order of magnitude of the one 250 million years ago, much worse than the one that killed off the dinosaurs 65.3 million years ago. Once you realize that, and further realize that large, warm-blooded species are the first to go in a mass extinction and that we are a large, warm-blooded species, you will realize that the risk to our survival as a species trumps your concern for cheap energy.
http://tinyurl.com/6q7qn8
What are the odds of this? I don’t really know, but it’s not zero. What odds would you be willing to bet against for the survival of the species and for many thousands of other species as well? What odds would you be willing to bet against for the risk of turning our atmosphere into a toxic one filled with hydrogen sulfide gas?
Further, if you re-read my post, you may note that I said that the clean coal technology may be necessary in the short to mid term as we phase out our use of coal. I did not expect to remove all use of coal overnight.
We just BARELY dodged the bullet of a new ice age by using carbon based fuels. Should we really stop using ALL of these fuels?
#15 – Paddy-trZEROll,
We just BARELY dodged the bullet of a new ice age by using carbon based fuels. Should we really stop using ALL of these fuels?
Funny thing. We as a species have survived quite a few ice ages in the last 200,000 years. We’ve never survived a warm period.
Yes.
Or, at least cut our burning of them quite massively.
# 16 Misanthropic Scott said, “We’ve never survived a warm period.”
Wrong.
Nice try at dodging the phony science angle though.
I thought a meteor is what did in the Dinosaurs.
#17 Scott:
AKAIK, the warm periods are when human civilization flourishes.
Anyways, what do you think about going nuclear?
#18 – Paddy-tr0ll,
# 16 Misanthropic Scott said, “We’ve never survived a warm period.”
Wrong.
Nice try at dodging the phony science angle though.
It was a 5 degree C change that melted the glaciers over New York City. The business as usual estimates for temperature change are around 4 degrees C.
http://tinyurl.com/b4g3h9
Do you have an example of a period 4 degrees C warmer than today in the last 200,000 years?
I thought not.
Oh, and if you want to make your point, you will provide a link.
#19 – Appalachianista,
I thought a meteor is what did in the Dinosaurs.
Yes. Sorry if I wasn’t clear. The relatively minor extinction 65.3 MYA was from a meteor. That killed off the non-avian dinosaurs.
A much larger extinction occurred 250 MYA. That was caused by global warming, not human caused of course, but global warming nonetheless. It was the most severe extinction event in the history of the planet.
#20 – brm,
AKAIK, the warm periods are when human civilization flourishes.
Anyways, what do you think about going nuclear?
Climate change has been fairly minor during the period you likely consider to be civilization, i.e. the last 10,000 years or so since agriculture.
I’m not a fan of nukes. I think they have tremendous problems that need to be solved. Fusion would be nice, but is still a very long way off. I know a lot of environmentalists are forgetting about the real issues of nukes. I have not not.
Here’s my detailed opinion on them.
http://tinyurl.com/2ls68u
Well, with the success of “Clean and Safe Nukulure Power”, clean coal was sure to follow.
Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
Actually, “Cleaner Coal” is an absolute must until we transition fully to clean/green energy. As a label, clean coal is totally appropriate as no label is detailed enough to rely on.
I’m glad no one here thinks in labels.
# 21 Misanthropic Scott said, “Do you have an example of a period 4 degrees C warmer than today in the last 200,000 years?”
200k years? Get an education. They have human footprints going back 1.5+ million years. ROFL!
Coal will remain a source of electrical power for years to come. That is not an excuse though NOT to clean up the emissions. We should clean the pollutants: sulfur, mercury, CO2, etc, from the waste stream until we are capable of replacing the infrastructure with clean technology.
#25 – Paddy-trZEROll,
200k years? Get an education. They have human footprints going back 1.5+ million years. ROFL!
I think it’s you that needs an education. If you want to talk about hominids, fine. I was talking about homo sapiens. 200K years is it for our pathetic little short-lived species.
And, stop drooling on your shirt. It’s no way to make a point, as I’ve now said at least 3 times. Get a bib.
# 28 Misanthropic Scott said, “200K years is it for our pathetic little short-lived species.”
ROFL!
BTW – those 1.5 million year old footprints, “The size, spacing and depth of the impressions were the basis of estimates of weight, stride and gait, all found to be within the range of modern humans.”
#29, 30 – Paddy-trZEROll,
Next time read the text instead of just the headline you moran. The footprints were made by homo erectus.
http://tinyurl.com/bxu2d4
You have the brain of a gnat and the gnat was glad to get rid of it.
#29, 30 – Paddy-tr0ll,
I forgot. You don’t actually know how to click a link. Here’s the relevant paragraph.
#31 & 32. Since you can’t read I’ll tell you. They BELIEVE that it is homo erectus. The only think that they KNOW is; “The size, spacing and depth of the impressions were the basis of estimates of weight, stride and gait, all found to be within the range of modern humans.”
As your journey into the world of science continues, (with my help) you will learn the difference between fact & conjecture.
LOL