Don't just Shake Your Head about this Coal Video. Do Something. Please.

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Published on January 17, 2010 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: Solar Trends.

I’m not going to say much about this video below, except to say that we need to have less of these types of power plants. Coal proponents will point out that much of the steam you see in the video is in fact mostly H20. What’s frightening is all of the arsenic, lead, mercury, nitrogen, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and coal ash that you don’t see being released into the air and into underground water supplies. I’m not even talking about carbon dioxide or the environmental devastation of mountain top removal that decimates pristine habitats and leaves the world that much uglier. Reminds me of that Joni Mitchell song, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

It’s been a little over a year since the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill in December of 2008, but please don’t forget it. Sadly, that spill was just the tip of the iceberg.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are 584 more hazardous coal ash dump sites located in 35 states.

http://www.vimeo.com/8756755 

Coal Power Plant Timelapse from Jeff Grewe on Vimeo.

I know the above video and related news sucks, but don’t just stick your head in the sand! You’re not powerless. You can do something. At the very least, you can reduce your energy needs with quick, cheap, energy efficiency measures. That’s number one.

Second, you can consider solar and get a free estimate of your costs. Depending on your state and utility, you could be cash positive the first month.  But you can’t know that unless you get a quote. And it’s free, so what can it hurt but a little bit of time?

Finally, you can share this post with friends by email, Face Book, Digg or any other social networking site. That will help others to think about steps they can take too. Just take one step!

Thanks.

Read the 3 brilliant comments below or add yours!

martin Identicon Icon martin
Comment on January 18th, 2010.

Who said, “Beauty is a form of genius–is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight,…” ?

Are fossil power plants beautiful?

If California, consider: ftp://ftp.cpuc.ca.gov/EleGenerationPerformance/CA_Power_Plants.pdf

A “parking lot” would have an energy efficiency of 0 where Efficiency = Po/Pi. Or ~0 = ~0/~1000 watts or a derate factor of ~0.00 ?

Therefore, if you put a up “parking lot”, consider a commercial multifunction solar shaded photovoltaic (PV) parking lot …

Uncle B Identicon Icon Uncle B
Comment on January 19th, 2010.

As the end of light sweet crude oil era dawns, coal will get a revival out of desperation for cheap energy. Solar Thermal works well but for some reasoning only and American mind can grind out, it seems inadequate? The Prairie Wind Corridor, also measured by Americans themselves and estimated as more than adequate to replace all oil, is also propagandized into doubtful status? Resistance to the conversion of America from liquid fuels to Electricity may be a big factor! One must tout the values of Electric Bullet Train and intercity networks over cars, jet planes, to win this one, then go Solar, Wind, Wave, Tidal, Hydro, Nuclear, and Geothermal to Electric, not possible to liquid fuel! using remaining coal to build such a sustainable perpetually powered America, but just overcoming popular propaganda is a monumental task! Bottom line: Americans are entrenched in gasoline, can’t even upgrade to diesel to save a full proven 40% in efficiency with Euro-diesels! This road will prove to be long and hard, and if not for the Asian factor – a huge demand for limited word supplies of oil, there would be no impetus to change at all in America! Once the Asians drive the prices for coal and oil through the roof, Yankee Doodle will start to seek change, and not one minute before!Remember: Things in America, the “Status Quo” is very good for a large number of well to do folk, as is, right now!

martin Identicon Icon martin
Comment on January 19th, 2010.

“Where should we invest in the long-haul??”

http://www.asrc.cestm.albany.edu/perez/

“Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.”

“Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.”

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