https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXdaa2dSOCM on India Coal Plants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd3_B4LqvOw on building West Pacific export Coal Docks to feed those plants.
When you consider that the powers that be in China consider breathing clean air to be a luxury, it shouldn’t be too surprising.
And this is why the downturn in coal-based generation wasn’t supposed to hurt the railroads that bad; what we don’t burn here we ship over there. But the high dollar exchange rate and other new sources have conspired to kill our coal exports (and, frankly, we didn’t see it coming).
According to a poster on another thread, I think SD70 from Canada, the Chinese are buying a lot of Australian coal, don’t know if it’s cheaper but it’s certainly closer.
A niece of mine was in Bejing several years ago and said it’s true, you CAN cut the air there with a knife. They don’t care.
I am surprised that it is legal to export coal from the U.S. After all, the issue about burning coal is no longer just a matter of local air quality. The issue now is the survival of the planet. We don’t have the power to force China to stop burning coal, but we certainly have the power to not sell our coal to them.
Since more and more utilities are deciding that coal is not cost effective any more, it has to be sold to some one.
Even China has cut back on new coal fired plants. More natural gas and renewables are being mandated even there.
The coal industry has had years to work on ways to make burning coal cleaner, but since politicians let them get by, why do it. Now that power utilities are deciding on their own to cut out coal, the industry is starting to do some thing.
Those that still have buggy whip stock should jump on the coal wagon, because it will always be the big one. Just like those autos will never replace horses. Right? [:^)]
Can you provide some source information detailing how China is cutting back on new coal fired power plants and mandating natural gas and renewables?
what did you think those coal export terminals on the east coast were for?
Exporting coal. Why do you ask?
Instead of quoting specific articles and just providing a long list of sources that state China is cutting back on coal usage(will not go into whether they’re mandating renewables and natural gas or not), just follow this Google search on China cutting back on coal usage: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=china%20finding%20ways%20to%20cut%20back%20on%20coal
To get a more broad-based and up-to-date picture:
Everyone is free to believe whatever they want about the use of coal. There are plenty of references to China being firmly committed to the use of coal, and there are also references to China suddenly jumping on the renewable bandwagon.
Likewise, there are diametrically opposed beliefs about the U.S. using coal. There are plenty of references to the U.S. effectively banning the use of coal by adding regulations that make the use of coal economically untenable. There are also many references that say that coal has suddenly become economically unviable entirely through the free market system, and it has nothing to do with regulations.
Rather than getting deep into the weeds about this, my only thought was this:
To the people who believe that the U.S. must stop burning coal because of its effect on the planet, how could you possibly think it is okay for the U.S. to sell our surplus of coal to another country so they can burn it?
I do not believe that coal is declining in the U.S. because of the natural free market forces. It has nothing to do with the old buggy whip analogy. So my point is that a country that had decided to ban coal can also decide to ban its export. The exact same motivation would apply to either scenario. That is why I said I am surprised that it is legal to export coal from the U.S.
Gerald and Bruce, thanks for the information links.
Euclid, I get most of my sources from IBT, Reuters, BBC, Business Times, The Guardian, Business Insider, and others who keep up on these type of things. And FOX is not one of them.[:O]
OK, sure, why not.
There are many reasons behind the decline of coal. Economic, envrionmental, political just to name a few. The true answer (more likely more than one answer) can be very complex and difficult to unravel.
A lot of the coal going through the east coast terminials is met grade coal for steel making.
[quote user=“Euclid”
I do not believe that coal is declining in the U.S. because of the natural free market forces. It has nothing to do with the old buggy whip analogy. So my point is that a country that had decided to ban coal can also decide to ban its export. The exact same motivation would apply to either scenario. That is why I said I am surprised that it is legal to export coal from the U.S.
[/quote]
We could ban export of coal to China on environmental concerns, but that would raise international trade issues relative to one country trying to influence the internal policy of another.
But more to the point if we think our policies of banning coal exports will change their direction it ignores the fact that others, primarily Australia and South Africa are there to fill the gap. And somewhere along the line we need to trade off the right of a teenage kid to go snowboarding vs the right of an Indian or Chinese peasant to have light and electricity in their dwEllington.
For a longer view of coal, go here:
http://www.eia.gov/beta/MER/index.cfm?tbl=T06.01#/?f=M
look at coal, coal overview.
Current coal production is still greater than it was in the 1970s. Exports are, and continue to be a drop in the bucket.
I don’t think these are mutually exclusive, in the long run. Although, the snowboarding kid might have to pay a bit more in the short run.
We could ban export of coal to China on environmental concerns, but that would raise international trade issues relative to one country trying to influence the internal policy of another.
But more to the point if we think our policies of banning coal exports will change their direction it ignores the fact that others, primarily Australia and South Africa are there to fill the gap. And somewhere along the line we need to trade off the right of a teenage kid to go snowboarding vs the right of an Indian or Chinese peasant to have light and electricity in their dwEllington.
[/quote]
Buslist,
I don’t follow your point about the rights to burn coal. But, in any case, nobody has the right to purchase coal from the U.S.
However, it might be argued that any country has the right to their portion of the atmosphere not being affected by the coal burning of another country. I am sure that the green/sustainable/renewable movement looks at it that way. That is why the fundamentals of carbon trading reward countries that use less coal; and grant that reward at the expense of those who use more coal.