Pacing is a multifaceted theme at Consol Energy Inc., a 160-year-old coal mining company with its headquarters in the oil and gas mecca of Southpointe in Washington County. At the entrance to the mine’s portal in Prosperity is the first of many “Not So Fast” signs. A perfectly reasonable interpretation of the sign’s message is …
News Tag: renewable energy
Two-minute descent: Enlow Fork Mine tour offers rare glimpse into ‘underground city’
At the start of their shift, the coal miners working on Enlow Fork Mine’s H-3 longwall section step into a black steel elevator and descend 800 feet underground, where they walk out through a heavy airlock door and into a part of the earth that few people ever see. It’s a two-minute trip to the …
Breathe a Little Easier: Why America’s Air is Among the Cleanest in the World
Breathe a Little Easier is part of our ongoing effort to explain the role that energy has played in improving human living standards over the past two centuries. This project examines trends in air quality in the U.S. in order to push back at the doom-and-gloom narratives that dominate so much of our thinking about energy …
The advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy
New developments in renewable energy are making headlines worldwide, from a remote Arctic village working to harness solar and wind power under challenging conditions to a U.S. Air Force base planning an advanced, utility-scale geothermal power system. But for all of the advantages of renewable energy, its development and use has disadvantages, too. Let’s take …
As Renewable Energy Increases in the Generation Mix, Power Outages Grow
Texas and California lead the nation in power outages and in wind and solar generation. Since 2019, there have been 263 power outages across Texas–more than any other state–each lasting an average of 160 minutes and impacting an estimated average of 172,000 Texans. From 2019 to 2023, California had 221 power outages, ranking second, and …
Are more blackouts rolling our way? Coal and gas are needed to shore up our electricity supply: Robert W. Chase
If ever there was a question about how risky growing dependence on Green energy for electricity production is, it was dispelled with results of a newly completed analysis of government energy data showing that some of the areas with the nation’s best sources of wind and solar power have been placed off limits due to …
Keep America’s economy humming with baseload power
There is a common sentiment among the chattering class that energy made from solar panels and windmills is good and energy generated by fossil fuels is bad. The Biden administration‘s Environmental Protection Agency is “playing nature,” using its regulatory power to force the shutdown of coal and natural gas plants and replace them with renewables. …
Democrats pushed climate action. Then utility bills skyrocketed.
There is intensifying political pressure on state lawmakers to do something about utility bills that have shot up by as much as 127 percent over the last decade. Climate spending — from wildfire prevention to building out transmission capacity and paying for renewables — is partly to blame. …
The crazy things Biden’s anti-coal crusade will do to ordinary Americans
Biden is now following through on his plans by wielding the vast power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Biden’s EPA gave the U.S. coal industry an ultimatum: spend billions or die. In May, the EPA unexpectedly proposed regulations that would force coal-fired power plants to install carbon capture systems (CCS) or replace coal with …
In China’s coal country, full steam ahead with new power plants despite climate pledges
China has decommissioned 70.45 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired plants in the last decade, and is building far more renewable energy, opens new tab capacity than any other country. Analysts say coal use may peak as soon as this year. But a sudden flurry of approvals of new coal-fired plants in recent years raises doubts about …
