Comments on: Coal vs. The Climate

By: Bill Basford

Bill Basford — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:09:24 +0000

Another related issue: not only have we shifted much manufacturing to India and China, but then we ship the products to NA in huge ships that burn the lowest quality fuel oil.

By: Clark Williams-Derry

Clark Williams-Derry — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:05:59 +0000

Yes, very good point, Michael!

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 02:56:18 +0000

One key factor, often not appreciated in stats like this, is that manufacturing, and hence energy use, has been moving to China (and increasingly India) in a big way during this time period. Further, it’s not just in the US but in “Western” countries around the globe.

So on a global scale, the combined rates are going up but there is an underlying significant shift to China as other countries outsource their pollution along with their manufacturing.

The fundamental issues remain the same.

By: Wells

Wells — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:53:52 +0000

Generating electricity for household use should ideally include rooftop photovoltiac solar panel systems matched to (stationary) or portable battery packs onboard Plug-in hybrids. At 1/3 the size of an all-battery EVs like the Nissan Leaf, the battery resource directed to plug-in hybrids reach triple the market, reduces cost of each rooftop photovoltiac array, provides an emergency power supply in grid failure, optimizes grid efficiency by storing grid surplus and supplying additional power during peak demand. As China and India develop their grid and drive more, their opportunity to develop an ideal grid system along these lines will reduce their dependence upon fossil fuels. The plug-in hybrid may only offer a 10-20 mile all-electric driving range, but this too is ideal as it encourages local economy development whereby more routine trips can be taken without having to drive and mass transit systems for longer trips more practical to arrange. Local, regional and state economies must supplant national and global economies for human civilization to survive. Is tis too difficult to understand?

By: NJK

NJK — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:06:16 +0000

Beyond the obvious problems of coal dust and many mega-hauling trains, here’s another reason NOT to export coal – do we really want to contribute more to China’s output?