As coal waste grows, large reuse projects are taking place throughout the country, some with toxic consequences.
Not exact matches
By: Nadine James 16th September 2016 To facilitate the gasification of low - grade fine
waste coal that is discarded
as a by - product of
coal processing, State - owned mineral research council Mintek is developing the concept of direct current (dc) arc plasma gasification, intending to produce a synthesis gas (syngas) that could be used... →
Methanol production is also experiencing a global resurgence, particularly in China where the finished product — typically extracted from solid
waste / biomass, but also from natural gas and
coal feedstocks — is widely used in chemical production and industrial processes,
as well
as in blended vehicle fuel.
The walls are of concrete block with a high content of fly ash, a
waste product of
coal - fired electric power generation that can be recycled
as a replacement for portland cement.
As a general clarification, ounce for ounce,
coal ash released from a power plant delivers more radiation than nuclear
waste shielded via water or dry cask storage.
«There are also other important measures to reduce methane emissions from
coal mining, municipal
waste treatment and gas distribution, for example,
as well
as black carbon emission reductions through elimination of high - emitting vehicles, use of cleaner biomass cooking and heating stoves, replacement of kerosene wick lamps with LED lamps and other measures,» adds Zbigniew Klimont of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria, who also took part in the study.
The focus is the impact of
coal ash, a toxic
waste product of burning
coal that often contains harmful metals such
as lead, mercury, chromium and cadmium.
In addition to the
coal waste, the team is working with marginal soils, such
as those in desert climates, which normally require large amounts of water and chemical fertilisers in order for plants to grow.
First identified by William Jevons in 1865 — when he noticed more efficient engines increased rather than reduced
coal use,
as engines were put into more widespread use — the rebound effect for higher yields could see food prices drop, encouraging greater consumption, more food
waste and even more conversion of habitats to farmland.
«Poultry
waste hydrochar generates heat at high temperatures and combusts in a similar manner to
coal, an important factor in replacing it
as renewable energy source.»
Solid
waste often lacks proper disposal, waterways have been polluted, and the air quality has plummeted, largely due to the
coal - fired power plants that serve
as the country's primary source of energy.
To heat that boiler, the damp, crumbly brown
coal known
as lignite — which is even more polluting than the harder black anthracite variety — burns in the presence of pure oxygen, a process known
as oxyfuel, releasing
as waste both water vapor and that more notorious greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2).
Even though large amounts are released into the air by human activities such
as coal burning, smelting, mining and
waste incineration, mercury also occurs naturally in the environment, where it undergoes a complex chemical cycle.
Though mercury often originates
as an air pollutant from chlorine processing plants,
coal - fired power plants, and the burning of medical
waste, it can ultimately make its way into bodies of water.
We will seek to avoid the following: • Bonds that finance projects with substantial sustainability concerns such
as first - generation biofuels,
waste - to - energy plants using toxic substances, or projects that prolong fossil fuel dependence such
as refurbishment of
coal power plants.
Pure Color of the Hudson (after Rodchenko) Remediated polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mud obtained from General Electric dredging site, processed
waste coal from power plants in the Hudson Valley on Sintra, in Matthew Friday's Space
as Substance: Beyond the Scenic Hudson, 2015.
«Fly ash,» the toxic
waste from
coal - fired power plants that's loaded with heavy metals, is routinely buried in landfills that leak, poisoning groundwater and estuaries such
as the Chesapeake Bay.
One major issue with nuclear plants (
as well
as coal and all other thermal power plants) is the fresh water
wasted in heat rejection.
The
coal industry should look at this
as a way to increase the value of their product, not
as a
waste disposal problem that adds prohibitive costs.
My sense is that a better approach is to recognize, from the start, the reality that shifting energy norms, even
as coal remains a core energy source, will be a process unfolding over decades, and making sure that legislation, while pushing standards for cutting energy
waste and pollution, also focuses on support in all the arenas that matter to building a sustained energy quest — including education to create the intellectual capacity for such an undertaking and sustained and increased direct support for basic inquiry in science and technology — an area where there's been bipartisan disinterest in federal investment for decades.
(Note, you could always go into the business of mixing
Coal Ash
waste sand / gravel and sodium chloride and spread that on snow covered concrete roads during winter and possibly spreading aluminum sulfate or gypsum on asphalt roads in summer... (Chalk or marl might not be the best choice
as the IR acceptance may be too high)-RRB-
I have no quarrel with those taking an absolutist «no fracking» stance, including the makers of «Gasland,» the searing documentary on fracking nominated for an Academy Award,
as long
as they come up with other energy options that can reduce dependence on oil or
coal (and cutting energy
waste, while vital, doesn't do the trick).
Today the AP writes: «While the spill of ash from burned
coal contains arsenic and potentially carcinogenic heavy metals, it is not regulated
as hazardous
waste.
How CHP works is by using the heat that would otherwise be
wasted in exhaust gases from fossil combustion systems, such
as flue gases from a
coal - or biomass - fueled boiler or exhaust from a gas turbine or reciprocating engine, to produce steam and / or hot water for various industrial or commercial needs.
AEP «sthe Flint Creek Power Plant and Conesville Power Plant were noted
as having a high level of chromium at their
coal waste landfills.
As reported by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocacy coalition of scientists, the
waste that
coal creates is catastrophic:
The findings come at a time when
coal is on track to surpass oil
as the world's top energy source and 2.8 billion people rely on wood, crop
waste, dung, and other biomass to cook and heat their homes.
As these alternative ways are competing against a set of products — in essence, two: petrochemical fuels and
coal — that are subsidized by being allowed to use up the scarce resource of the carbon cycle's ability to cope with
waste CO2E, the Market is not fair, and does not run according to Capitalist precepts, without such a carbon price.
«Investors in carbon - intensive business could see $ 6 trillion
wasted as policies limiting global warming stop them from exploiting their
coal, oil and gas reserves, according to a report.
We have
wasted billions of dollars on such «strong» policies
as coal - derived synfuels; subsidies for the commercialization of wind, solar and electric cars; and worst of all, the ethanol mandate.
Those
wasted resources could have been used to clean up pollution, such
as from
coal - fired electric power plants.
Designation
as hazardous material would make
coal ash
waste — and its storage — subject to more stringent federal regulation.
Defines: (1) «renewable electricity»
as electricity generated from a renewable energy resource or other qualifying energy resources; (2) «renewable energy resource»
as wind, solar, and geothermal energy, renewable biomass, biogas and biofuels derived exclusively from renewable biomass, qualified hydropower, and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy; and (3) «other qualifying energy resource»
as landfill gas, wastewater treatment gas,
coal mine methane used to generate electricity at or near the mine mouth, and qualified
waste - to - energy.
In response to demands from environmentalists
as well
as Senator Barbara Boxer (D - California), chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, the EPA made public a list of 44 «high hazard potential»
coal waste dumps.
[1] The Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 defines «clean» electricity
as «electricity generated at a facility placed in service after 1991 using renewable energy, qualified renewable biomass, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power, or qualified
waste - to - energy; and electricity generated at a facility placed in service after enactment that uses qualified combined heat and power (CHP), [which] generates electricity with a carbon - intensity lower than 0.82 metric tons per megawatt - hour (the equivalent of new supercritical
coal), or [electricity generated]
as a result of qualified efficiency improvements or capacity additions at existing nuclear or hydropower facilities -LSB-; or] electricity generated at a facility that captures and stores its carbon dioxide emissions.»
Petroleum - fired generators either burn petroleum liquids (such
as distillate or residual fuel oils) or petroleum coke, a refinery
waste product that can be used
as a fuel much like
coal.
Mike Ewall is the founder and director of Energy Justice Network, a national support network for grassroots community groups fighting dirty energy and
waste industry facilities such
as coal power plants, ethanol plants, natural gas facilities, landfills and incinerators of every sort.
Having established then an idea of what part of the
waste stream is paper fiber being land filled we can then explore the advantages and disadvantages of using paper fiber
as an energy source (fuel) by comparing it to
coal, the fuel of choice.
But to capture from the air the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by, say, a 1,000 - megawatt
coal power plant, it would require air - sucking machinery about 30 feet in height and 18 miles in length, according to a study by the American Physical Society,
as well
as huge collection facilities and a network of equipment to transport and store the
waste underground.
How often have you heard phrases such
as «clean
coal,» «safe nuclear power,» «clean diesel,» or «low - level radioactive
waste»?
The climate movement is pointing out that unconventional fossil fuel extraction techniques (fracking, tar sands excavation, deep - water drilling, mountaintop removal
coal mining) are leaving or will leave toxic
wastes and scars on the landscape
as the fossil fuel industry gouges and lacerates the earth in search of combustible fossil resources.
Walking down East Patapsco, she pointed out the facilities
as they came into view: the nation's largest medical
waste facility along with
coal export terminals, oil tank farms, animal rendering facilities, chemical factories and Baltimore City's main landfill — among others.
The potential exists at one particular Arizona mine with 10,000 acres of
waste rock and tailings to produce up to 1 gigawatt of combined solar and wind power, about
as much
as an average
coal - fired power plant, said Blair Loftis, national director of alternative and renewable energy for Kleinfelder, a large engineering consultant firm.
As a result of political horse trading at UN negotiations on climate change, countries like Russia and the Ukraine were allowed to create carbon credits from activities like curbing
coal waste fires, or restricting gas emissions from petroleum production.
Instead of doing this, why don't we simply fix the broken permit process for new nuclear plants and give modest tax incentives to industries or individuals that implement «no regrets» initiatives to reduce CO2, such
as: — replace new
coal - fired power plants with nuclear or natural gas (where a gas supply exists)-- replace newnormal automobiles with hybrids — replace Diesel for new heavy transport with natural gas — install energy savings initiatives (
waste recycling, better building insulation, etc..)
African American communities, including workers, are most likely to be exposed to the pollution from fossil fuel based energy production through
coal plants, oil and gas refineries,
as well
as pollution from energy production through nuclear facilities and
waste incinerators.
To prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating
coal combustion byproducts
as hazardous
waste under subtitle C of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act, and for other purposes.
There are many different types of
coal, such
as: bituminous, subbituminous, lignite, refined and
waste.
In recent years, the European Union introduced carbon incentives to industries replacing
coal with so - called clean green sources such
as medical
waste, old tires, and other industrial residue.
But his administration has also vowed to scale back an EPA rule to limit ground - level ozone pollution,
as well
as an Interior Department rule to protect streams from
coal - mining
waste.