Under Siege....
Each day seems to bring a new setback for the coal industry.
Financial institutions announce their intentions tocease investing in, or financing coal related projects. Mining companies announce cutbacks in productionor, worse still, layoffs and terminations of their labor force. Global economic indicators point to yet another quarter of decreased industrial production and yet another coal-fired power plant is scheduled for decommissioning.
Advances in clean coal technology, carbon capture and storage and full lifecycle fuel management are made moot by a mob-like mentality that blames coal for every ill that ails us. Few seem willing to support a planned and graceful transition of coal in the energy mix over the next sixty or so years.
The giddiness surrounding our newfound shale gas resources is premature. Production curves from early Marcellus wells have already been scaled back and this should temper our rush to gas-fired power plants. And besides, natural gas is still fossil fuel no matter how many public relations companies are assigned to say otherwise.
We need a strategy and a plan to survive what has become a siege. The barbarians are at the gate.
#coal #shalegas #marcellus #layoffs #mine #mining #naturalgas
Each day seems to bring a new setback for the coal industry.
Financial institutions announce their intentions tocease investing in, or financing coal related projects. Mining companies announce cutbacks in productionor, worse still, layoffs and terminations of their labor force. Global economic indicators point to yet another quarter of decreased industrial production and yet another coal-fired power plant is scheduled for decommissioning.
Advances in clean coal technology, carbon capture and storage and full lifecycle fuel management are made moot by a mob-like mentality that blames coal for every ill that ails us. Few seem willing to support a planned and graceful transition of coal in the energy mix over the next sixty or so years.
The giddiness surrounding our newfound shale gas resources is premature. Production curves from early Marcellus wells have already been scaled back and this should temper our rush to gas-fired power plants. And besides, natural gas is still fossil fuel no matter how many public relations companies are assigned to say otherwise.
We need a strategy and a plan to survive what has become a siege. The barbarians are at the gate.
#coal #shalegas #marcellus #layoffs #mine #mining #naturalgas
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