Ensign: Coal plants make Nevada greener

Now there's an argument you don't hear every day.
Scroll to bottom for info. to make you smarter than a fifth grader
(and the majority of college graduates).

Development of three coal-fired power plants in Nevada is justified in order to take full advantage of Nevada’s potential for renewable energy generation, Sen. John Ensign said today.

Ensign, touring the Ormat geothermal plant in south Reno, said the proposed coal plants would make possible construction of power transmission lines that could also carry power generated by geothermal, wind and other renewable energy to Las Vegas.

“All of it works together to make us less reliant on energy coming from out of our state,” Ensign said. “The coal plants will actually make us greener.”

By Jeff DeLong for the Reno Gazette-Journal

Taking the opposing position: Greenpeace.

Greenpeace Says Activists Disrupted Coal Delivery

Greenpeace said its activists intercepted a ship delivering coal to an Ontario power plant on the shore of Lake Erie to protest greenhouse-gas emissions from coal-fired plants.

Greenpeace boats tried to stop the vessel from delivering its load, and three activists locked themselves onto the ship, Shawn Patrick Stensil, an energy campaigner for Greenpeace, said in a telephone interview. The vessel is carrying 30,000 tons of coal for the Nanticoke power plant, he said.

The action comes one day after Ontario's power system operator said it will spend C$60 billion ($56.7 billion) over 20 years to build nuclear reactors and renewable energy supplies. The Ontario Power Authority plans to phase-out greenhouse-gas emitting coal plants....

From Bloomberg

The Globe and Mail reported:

Greenpeace intruders arrested

Three Greenpeace activists were arrested Thursday and charged with mischief after they boarded an ore carrier hauling coal across Lake Erie to a power plant in Ontario.

Five activists initially boarded the Algomarine in a bid to delay the delivery of nearly 30,000 tonnes of coal to the Nanticoke power plant and draw attention to the issue of global warming, said Greenpeace spokeswoman Joslyn Higginson.

“Our objective overall is to bring attention to the coal issue, particularly the phase-out issue in the election campaign and to bring attention to clean energy options in the upcoming election,” Ms. Higginson said.

“We're going to stay until we're satisfied that we've done that.”

Source

Here's the EIA's:
Carbon Dioxide Emission Factors for Coal

The carbon dioxide emission factors in this article are expressed in terms of the energy content of coal as pounds of carbon dioxide per million Btu.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) forms during coal combustion when one atom of carbon (C) unites with two atoms of oxygen (O) from the air. Because the atomic weight of carbon is 12 and that of oxygen is 16, the atomic weight of carbon dioxide is 44. Based on that ratio, and assuming complete combustion, 1 pound of carbon combines with 2.667 pounds of oxygen to produce 3.667 pounds of carbon dioxide.

For example, coal with a carbon content of 78 percent and a heating value of 14,000 Btu per pound emits about 204.3 pounds of carbon dioxide per million Btu when completely burned. Complete combustion of 1 short ton (2,000 pounds) of this coal will generate about 5,720 pounds (2.86 short tons) of carbon dioxide.

Clip and save. Test next week. After the section on alkanes.