tags: coal mining, mountaintop removal, clean coal, electricity, streaming video
This video shows us the dirty lie behind so-called "clean coal" -- which is one of the main sources of power on the East Coast of the United States [1:55]
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It suddenly became apparent, just a couple of days ago when President Trump was ranting and raving at a political rally, that the man does not know what clean coal is.
We often link to Ken Ward Jr.âs excellent coverage of mining issues in the Charleston Gazette.
Just about everyone assumes that there's at least 200 years worth of coal left in the ground. This makes fears about greenhouse-gas emissions that cause global warming all the more acute, coal being the most carbon-intensive of the fossil-fuels.
UK ports look beyond fading coal imports says the FT:
Yep.
I agree with the purpose of this video and deplore the destruction of appalachia, but on a pedantic note, wasn't that a nuclear power plant at the end there? or is that sort of cooling tower also used for coal?
Cooling towers are used by all sorts of things, where the supply of cooling water is limited (ie mostly inland). Power stations of all sorts can have them and the curved concrete ones shown here are pretty common but not the only type you might see.
In the case of the video, the power station shown _is_ a coal fired one. At the start of the panning shot and to the left you can fairly clearly see the coal stockpile and conveyors.
Also agreeing with the sentiments of the video, one thing that annoys me is that when films or photos show "pollution" from the power station or large industrial process there is always a shot of cooling towers with big plumes of white stuff. It's only water vapour (OK so it's arguable there is some heat pollution there, but that's minor in the other environmental impacts). The real pollution, the real mountains in this video, are being expelled invisibly. Up the thin stacks in the background and out into the ash heaps.
Stephenk