Melanie, Coal, losing its luster?

Coal is a cheap and plentiful energy source. It produces more then half of the nations electricity, yet questions arise when coal’s reliability starts to falter. The main concern involving coal burning is the carbon dioxide it emits into the air. Natural gas does not emit CO2. It is a reasonable alternative to coal, since it is both plentiful and affordable. Yet, in conjunction with nuclear power plants that go along with this, the cost would rise dramatically. David Eskelsen, who is a spokesman for PacifiCorp, seems to believe that its too early to find an alternative energy source other then coal, since “ the current situation makes the utility planning is very challenging.” In disagreement, 53 “coal-fired” plants were shut down in 2007 because of the increasing emission of carbon dioxide. Even with this disturbing thought, coal will be always known as the main energy source. New Mexico, Minnesota, and Indiana have made plans to continue the production of coal burning industry. In Washington, many believe that the rapid movement of global warming has something to do with the burning of solid carbon, which is the worst and dirtiest way to produce power. A recent study shows that if we keep burning coal, it will become more expensive then natural gas by 2030, because of the amount of CO2 it will produce and the money it would take to make a cleaner way to burn coal.

I found this article somewhat surprising, since i had no idea that coal power plants were being shut down because of there extreme CO2 emissions. I wonder what will be used for energy in the future.

Pasternak, Judy. “Coal is no longer on front burner,” LA Times. 18 Jan. 2008. A8 & A21.