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+3 +1
Coal mining's potential resurgence in Tasmania prompts concerns from farmers
New coal mining exploration is getting support from the Tasmanian Government, but some farmers say they are not being adequately informed about potential developments on their land.
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+3 +1
Asia digs up and burns three-quarters of the world’s coal
A large sign in the city hall of San Carlos, on the island of Negros in the Philippines, lays out the local government’s ambitions. It wants San Carlos to be “a model green city”, “a renewable energy hub for Asia” and “a sustainable tourism destination”. But the local officials sitting directly beneath the sign are keen to talk about something else: why a plan to build a coal-fired power plant nearby is an excellent idea.
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+24 +1
As Coal Fades in the U.S., Natural Gas Becomes the Climate Battleground
America’s coal-burning power plants are shutting down at a rapid pace, forcing electric utilities to face the next big climate question: Embrace natural gas, or shift aggressively to renewable energy? Some large utilities, including Xcel Energy in the Upper Midwest, are now planning to sharply cut their coal and gas use in favor of clean and abundant wind and solar power, which have steadily fallen in cost.
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+2 +1
Trump says "coal is back," but use of the rock at a 41-year low
President Donald Trump likes to tout coal, calling it "indestructible" and proclaiming that "coal is back." Around the U.S., use of the fossil fuel shows a different trend: Coal consumption is at its lowest level in more than 40 years.
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+21 +1
Coal and gas are far more harmful than nuclear power – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet
Human-caused climate change and air pollution remain major global-scale problems and are both due mostly to fossil fuel burning. Mitigation efforts for both of these problems should be undertaken concurrently in order to maximize effectiveness. Such efforts can be accomplished largely with currently available low-carbon and carbon-free alternative energy sources like nuclear power and renewables, as well as energy efficiency improvements.
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+4 +1
The power switch: tracking Britain's record coal-free run
Britain is setting new records for going without coal-powered energy. In the latest milestone, it has gone for more than eight days without using coal to generate electricity – the longest such period since 1882. The coal-free run comes just two years after the National Grid first ran without coal power for 24 hours. Phasing out the heavily polluting fuel is a key step in the transition towards a net-zero carbon economy and essential to averting catastrophic climate change.
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+10 +1
Global investment in coal tumbles by 75% in three years
More coal power stations around the world came offline last year than were approved for perhaps first time since industrial revolution, report says
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+12 +1
Fourth-largest coal producer in the US files for bankruptcy
Cloud Peak Energy, the US' fourth-largest coal mining company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late last week as the company missed an extension deadline to make a $1.8 million loan payment. In a statement, Cloud Peak said it will continue to operate its three massive coal mines in Wyoming and Montana while it goes through the restructuring process. Colin Marshall, the president and CEO of the company, said that he believed a sale of the company's assets "will provide the best opportunity to maximize value for Cloud Peak Energy."
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+18 +1
Renewables generated more electricity than coal for the first time in US history
Coal began firing US homes and factories in the 1880s. A century later, the cheap, plentiful fuel was America’s primary one (pdf) for electricity generation. But its long reign is slowly coming to an end. In April, renewables eclipsed coal generation in the US for the first time. The Energy Information Administration estimates renewables outperformed coal by 16% in April and will generate 1.4% more in May.
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+20 +1
America's renewable energy set to surpass coal for the first month ever
America's clean energy revolution is on the verge of a tipping point. The renewable energy sector is projected to generate more electricity than coal during the month of April, according to a recent report published by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. That's never happened before.
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+18 +1
Japan to oppose new or expanded coal-fired power plants in blow to Australian exports
Japan’s environment minister has announced he will “in principle” oppose any new plans to build or expand coal-fired power stations, as further signs emerge of a dramatic energy pivot by Australia’s top export market for thermal coal. Guardian Australia reported in March that Japan had cancelled a large percentage of planned investments in coal-fired power, while Japanese investment vehicles were ditching coal projects and instead seeking to back large-scale renewable projects across Asia.
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+10 +1
Coal ash contaminates groundwater near most U.S. coal plants: study
More than 90 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of toxic metals, according to a study released on Monday by environmental groups.
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+3 +1
The truth about big oil and climate change
In america, the world’s largest economy and its second biggest polluter, climate change is becoming hard to ignore. Extreme weather has grown more frequent. In November wildfires scorched California; last week Chicago was colder than parts of Mars. Scientists are sounding the alarm more urgently and people have noticed—73% of Americans polled by Yale University late last year said that climate change is real. The left of the Democratic Party wants to put a “Green New Deal” at the heart of the election in 2020. As expectations shift, the private sector is showing signs of adapting.
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+12 +1
Solar and wind are booming, while coal keeps shrinking
The boom in solar and wind power in the United States will deal a fresh blow to coal country in the next few years. Renewable energy, led by solar and wind, is projected to be the fastest-growing source of US electricity generation for at least the next two years, according to a report published Friday by the US Energy Department. Boosted by swiftly falling prices, utility-scale solar power is expected to increase by 10% in 2019 and 17% in 2020, the Energy Information Administration said. Wind power should grow 12% and 14% in those years, vaulting it ahead of hydropower for the first time.
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+22 +1
President Trump can't stop U.S. coal plants from retiring
More U.S. coal-fired power plants were shut in President Donald Trump’s first two years than were retired in the whole of Barack Obama’s first term, despite the Republican’s efforts to prop up the industry to keep a campaign promise to coal-mining states.
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+11 +1
When It Comes To Coal, Australia Is Showing The World We're Going 'Back To Black'
Thousands of COP24 delegates stream past the trade show promoting ‘Black to Green’, which showcases coal curios such as earrings and soap (although why anyone would want to wash with coal soap is beyond me), on their way to negotiate coal’s very demise -- by teasing out the rules necessary to implement the mission of the Paris Agreement to transition to a zero-emission world by 2050.
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+12 +1
Germany shuts down its last black coal mine, ending almost 200 years of history
For almost two centuries, miners have been extracting coal from pits in Germany’s Ruhr valley, which the country used to power its once-burgeoning steel mills and produce electricity. It’s largely thanks to coal that Germany stepped out of the Industrial Revolution as an industrial powerhouse. Today, the country is the wealthiest in Europe, by a high margin, and the 4th largest economy in the world.
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+15 +1
Another Major Investor Joins World Bank In Dropping Support For Coal
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has dropped its support for coal. The World Bank signaled an intent to pivot away from coal in 2013 but continued work on a project in Kosovo that was only recently shelved. Like most major European nations, the EBRD’s new energy strategy also includes ample investment in natural gas plants as an alternative to delivering large, centralized power generation capacity. It’s support for gas, however, will only happen “where it is consistent with a low-carbon transition that is both secure and affordable”.
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+27 +1
US coal consumption drops to lowest level since 1979
Americans are consuming less coal in 2018 than at any time since Jimmy Carter’s presidency, a federal report said Tuesday, as cheap natural gas and other rival sources of energy frustrate the Trump administration’s pledges to revive the U.S. coal industry. A report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected Tuesday that 2018 would see the lowest U.S. coal consumption since 1979, as well as the second-greatest number on record of coal-fired power plants shutting down.
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+30 +1
Clean Coal’s Dirty Secret: More Pollution, Not Less
Reuters investigates how a U.S. ‘clean coal’ program that costs taxpayers a billion dollars annually regularly fails to deliver on its environmental promises.
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