Clean Coal

     This is describing a project pictured as a showcase clean coal research project that will be conducted by three entities. The US Dept. of Energy will provide three quarters of the money, naturally. Various coal companies and an energy firm will do the research. This combination doesn't look too healthy. Energy companies are obsessed with obscene profits. Coal companies are not adverse to making profits and are prone to cutting corners. The Energy Dept. has lots of friends who'd like part of the 1.8 billion dollars that is being bandied around as the possible cost ... Taxpayer dollars incidentally.

     The process to clean up Illinois coal, which contains lots of sulfur and mercury among other chemicals, is described as being a gasification process where the coal is turned into gas. The various impurities and the remainder is reportedly a high energy material.  It seems that it would take extreme amounts of energy to conduct the process, an arrow frequently pointed at the ethanol process.  Is it worth it? What is rather frightening is the proposed disposal of waste material. Bury it in the ground. Most of it will be carbon dioxide. High school chemistry recalls that carbon dioxide does react with water under certain conditions to form carbonic acid. Does anyone know what this will do buried under sandstone strata which contain some of the finest fresh water acquifers in the state. What would happen to these acquifers? Messing with them could endanger the water supply of many municipalities who depend on them for their water systems.

     What would happen to this waste material pumped underground in the vicinity of the New Madrid fault which has been quiet for 200 years?  In Colorado, NORAD had to shut down an underground resevoir as the water was lubricating stratas of rock and causing minor earthquakes and tremors. Rest assured. The News Madrid fault is not a minor problem.

     The very idea of burying waste material underground is really of great concern, or should be. In 60 years the nuclear industry still hasn't devised a better system, and they put their materials in containers, or so we're told. Is just pumping it underground any better? A serious problem? You bet! It certainly seems like this process will end up as a big blot on the environment.

     It hasn't been said, but it appears the removal of the coal strata will be by conventional means of shafts, tunnels, galeries and adits. One of the results of this type of mining is large piles of non-coal material brought to the surface and piled up. You can drive through Illinois and see these 4 and 5 story high piles ... perhaps a mile long. You know there's a mine in the area. The farm land under the pile is rendered useless through leachates that percolate through the piles and contaminate the land beneath them. Will these signatures of mine's presence become more prevalent?

     What will happen to the mines as all the coal is removed. At this point, the coal companies are fine at cutting costs. Properly prepaging for abandonment requires strengthening of tunnel and gallery ceilings to prevent cave-ins and the subsidence of the land of the surface. This all costs money and in many cases, if not seen, is not done. In addition, who will remove the slag piles? What will they do with them? Who will see that this is done?

     Looking further down the road, you can see the profit makers complaining about the cost of shaft and gallery mining. They'd just love to do open pit mining. It's much cheaper. Open pit mining completely destroys the surface. Oh sure, there would be promises to restore the land to what it was before. If you believe that I've got some bridges to see you.

     The end result of this project is to build 11 power plants in Illinois using this "clean coal" churning out electricity. Who's going to use this electricity? The large manufacturing plants have gone overseas. This will not be cheap electricity. It can't be stored and has a limited distance it can be transported. Is it planned to sell this "clean coal" someplace else, perhaps overseas.

     Much has been said about the jobs that will be created. Do you think that wages will be the same as the industries that have left? I doubt it. The mining industry has been closely allied with unions in the past. Do you think they'll be there in the future. Not if the coal companies can help it. There are so many questions to their whole project that need to be answered before our taxes are flushed down the drain Enron and Iraq style.

Gordon Brand