SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
New research from North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado Boulder finds that steep declines in the use of coal for power generation over the past decade were caused largely by less expensive natural gas and the availability of wind energy -- not by environmental regulations.
"From 2008 to 2013, coal dropped from about 50 percent of U.S. power generation to around 30 percent," says Harrison Fell, an associate professor of resource economics at NC State and co-lead author of a paper on the work.
"Coal boosters blamed stiffer regulations, calling it a 'war on coal.' But that same time period saw a steep drop in the cost of natural gas and an increase in wind generation. We wanted to know how big a role each of these factors played in driving down the demand for coal."
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday May 06 2018, @02:18AM
Thank you, Frojack - I have zero experience with lignite. It's something I've read about. So, basically, if that were lignite out in the pasture, it would have taken at least double the work, to get about half the heat, while pouring pollutants into the air. Got it. Not to mention, like some poor grades of diesel fuel, it has a high sulfur content which contributes to acid rain.