| Peak Energy, Coal Reserves, and Climate Change |
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| Fossil Fuels - Coal |
| Friday, 28 December 2007 01:15 |
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The blog The Oil Drum has posted a writing by Dave Rutledge, the Chair for the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at Caltech. In this post and in a YouTube video Rutledge makes a few basic claims or revelations, that if correct, should profoundly affect how we (the United States and the World) treat the issues of energy supply and climate change. Also see a webpage posted by Dave Rutledge where you can download his power point presentation and Excel files. The three basic points he makes are: 1. Coal reserve estimates are inaccurate, outdated (derived and unchanged significantly since 1974), and in need of revision quite a bit downward. He references a National Academies report that discusses the need for new and accurate accounts of coal reserves and resources. 2. Hydrocarbon (oil and natural gas) and coal resources are well below those that are use by the IPCC climate models to estimate future global warming. The end result is that there is not enough mineable fossil fuels to cause the warming and sea level rises that are being predicted. For example, in some IPCC models, oil production is assumed larger in 2100 than today. Is this possible? Does this mean the use of tar sands and oil shale, or is using those resources even not enough? Rutledge"s discussion of this concept makes it seem unlikely that new sources will take up the slack. 3. For climate change reasons, or fossil fuel depletion reasons, work on implementation and research and development into renewable energy systems is an imperative. I"ll add not energy efficiency per se, but energy reductions that still enable us, as humans, to continue to be healthy and interact culturally as needed to have good lifestyles. I will not further discuss this topic as one should refer to the links within this post for further information from the Dave Rutledge himself. |
Recycling Waste Heat Via CogenerationSolve Climate has an interesting post on cogeneration in the US and the - Co-Generation: Clean as Wind, Reliable as Coal. The title isn"t strictly true - while it can improve the efficiency of many forms of power generation, CHP... Read more Coal | | Saturday, 13 September 2008 |
Clean Loy Yang costs huge Herald SunWednesday 27/8/2008 Page: 62THE boss of one of Victoria"s biggest power plants says it will be "very, very tough" for the state"s brown coal-fired electricity generators to cut carbon output by 20 per cent by 2020 to meet Rudd... Read more Coal | | Thursday, 11 September 2008 |
Hawaii Swaps Coal Power Plant for Biomass Power plants swapping their coal for renewable fuel sources seems to be a growing trend, and Hawaii looks to add this idea to the host of other sustainable practices the state has been implementing. Hawaii has just finished a... Read more Coal | | TUSEDAY, 2 September 2008 |
Our coal emissions are worstHerald SunFriday 29/8/2008 Page: 7AUSTRALIANS continue to lead the world on creating emissions from burning coal, pumping the equivalent of 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year per person, a global study has shown. The Centre for Global Development, a... Read more Coal | | Septemberonday, 15 September 2008 |
Coal To Plastic In ChinaMy recent post on bioplastics had one commenter at TOD noting that China is looking at producing plastic from coal (and that Pakistan claims to have the world"s 4th largest coal reserves).Given China"s interest in coal to liquids I thought... Read more Coal | | Septemberonday, 1 September 2008 |
A huge bet on coal seam gasBG"s drawn out takeover attempt for Origin Energy has finally bitten the dust, with Origin instead selling a large stake in its coal seam methane (coal seam gas) assets to Conoco Phillips, with the gas destined for a large LNG... Read more Coal | | Wednesday, 10 September 2008 |
Coal-fired stations too risky, says AGLSydney Morning HeraldThursday 21/8/2008 Page: 4ONE OF the country"s largest electricity suppliers has said buying the state"s coal-fired stations ranks as a low priority because of the financial risks of carbon emissions trading. The managing director of AGL Energy, Michael... Read more Coal | | TUSEDAY, 9 September 2008 |
Reliance on coal could scuttle usAgeFriday 18/7/2008 Page: 13It would be shortsighted of Australia to rely on coal and not other energy sources.THE Rudd Government"s green paper on a "carbon pollution reduction scheme", and the methods to achieve this reduction, have some strongly innovative elements.... Read more Coal | | Augustonday, 11 August 2008 |
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