March ?, 2009

To the Editor:

In response to the outpouring of activists protesting US reliance on coal in Washington, DC March 1-2, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) released a statement to the press suggesting that there is no alternative to coal-fired power.

Despite the industry’s assertions, there is no study proving we need to continue to use coal well into the future. However, there is plenty of evidence and attendant studies suggesting that coal-fired power can and should be phased out by 2050.

Despite $50 billion in technological investment to curb power plant pollution (ACCE) people continue to die and the economy continues to suffer from coal-fired power plants. A 2004 study estimated that particulates (soot) alone from coal-fired power plants prematurely kill 24,000 people annually, and results in nearly $170 billion in health care costs.

As the amount of scrubbed air pollutants increases, so does the amount of toxic coal combustion waste that is dumped in ponds and landfills. America's 440 coal plants now generate 130 million tons of toxic waste sludge from burning coal every year.

Financially, coal plants cannot be built without massive taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies because, otherwise, they cannot secure financing.

Then there are the legacy costs of global warming. Carbon capture and sequestration, if even possible, would not be commercialized for over a decade and, according to some analysts, could double the cost of electricity to ratepayers. Others suggest that the necessary build-out of the “carbon sector” would rival the size of the oil industry. And it’s highly likely that taxpayers and ratepayers would be stuck with the bill. The mining of coal in Appalachia is destroying the mountains, and in the West, scarce and fragile water resources are polluted and depleted.

Also important to consider is that the coal and utility industries will seek to shift liability to taxpayers for potential accidents and damage from leaking and migrating carbon dioxide, from carbon capture and sequestration, much like the Price Anderson Act made the nuclear industry ‘viable’ by shifting the bulk of liability of nuclear accidents to the public.

Unlike coal-fired power, the technology and economics of alternatives are improving all the time. Let’s start with end-use energy efficiency. Amory Lovins, one of the foremost experts in end-use energy efficiency, states, “Just using all U.S. electricity as productively as the top ten states now do would save... approximately62% of the output of U.S. coal-fired plants.”

Unlike coal, renewable resources are abundant and will continue to be abundant. A recent study suggests that 94% of Powder River Basin Coal is not economically recoverable. Similarly, the US Geological Survey estimated in 2002 that only 9% of coal reserves in the Illinois Basin (covering Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky) were economically recoverable. In a recent study, Stanford University found that the available wind power in the US can provide 10 times our electricity demand. Globally, 1% of the solar photovoltaic capacity “would supply more than the world’s power needs.”

Financially, energy efficiency is our cheapest energy resource. Renewables and distributed power are also competitive with coal-fired power. Mr. Lovins also points out, “Wind, cogeneration (combined heat and power), and end-use efficiency already provide electrical services more cheaply than central thermal power plants, whether nuclear or fossil-fuelled…. Indeed, a good case can be made that photovoltaics (PVs) can already beat new thermal power plants” because PV can be deployed so much more quickly than coal plants can be built, with minimal financial risk.

Rather than waste our time and money on saving an outdated industry, we should shift our resources and attention to energy efficiency and renewable energy technology. It took a few decades to replace the horse and buggy with cars. We can certainly replace coal-fired power primarily with end-use energy efficiency and renewables within 40 years.

Sources:
Mark Jacobson, “Review of Solutions to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Security, June 12, 2008. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University.

Conrad Schneider, “Dirty Power, Dirty Air.” Clean Air Task Force, June 2004.

“Dangerous Disposal: Keeping Coal Combustion Waste Out of Our Water Supply,” Natural Resources Defense Council, September 2007.

Amory B. Lovins, Imran Sheikh, and Alex Markevich, “Nuclear Power: Climate Fix or Folly?” April 2008 RMI Solutions article “Forget Nuclear,” updated and expanded by ABL 31 Dec 2008.

Peter Montague, “Carbon Sequestration: What’s the Point?” December 1, 2008.

J.R. Hatch and R.H. Affolter, Chapter A of Resource Assessment of the Springfield, Herrin, Danville, and Baker Coals in the Illinois Basin. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625–D, 2002.

Leslie Glustrom, “COAL: Cheap and Abundant… or Is it?” Clean Energy Action, February 2009.

ACCE Statement Regarding Organized Demonstration, March 2, 2009.

Conclusions based on: “Liability (Risk) Management: Ensuring Financial Responsibility for GS (geologic storage).” Power Point Presentation of Chiara Trabucchi. Industrial Ecnoomics, Inc., September 2008.