Question:

Should existing and future coal power plants be required to convert to zero emissions?

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The technology to do so is already being devolped when it is fully devolped should using it on every coal power production plant in the world be one of the main parts of any future global warming treaties, that if the US signs onto and pushes for would result in the vast majoriety of other nations following it's lead in adopting it? This would end coal power productions emissions and by doing so would remove that source of global warming climate change or carbon loading of the atomsphere, whatever one wishes to call it, greatly helping reduce it. Of course this would have to be only one of many solutions to this problem though if it works why not do it? Wouldn't this be a way for the US regain it's leadership position in the world? Of course the conversion would have to be as cheap as possible to install and use to enable poorer nations to afford it as well as help keep global energy prices low and the global economy running as smoothly as possible. Would doing this be right?

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  1. These technologies have been around for the past 35 years!  Its a tradeoff!  Do you want cheap power?  Then don't retrofit with the highly expensive and repair/maintenance intensive pollution reducing equipment.  If you want to pay $0.48/kWh for your electricity, then, by all means, retrofit all power plants.

    In case anyone missed it, once electric power became deregulated back in the early 1990s, part of that regulation insured that no foreign company or foreign national could own a power plant in the US.  Once deregulated, English, Dutch, German, and Japanese and even Chinese companies swooped in and gobbled up all of the power companies, making all of the shareholders of those companies filthy rich and mega millionaires overnight.

    Its purely a business now boys and girls, the cheaper it is to operate, the longer the price will be held down.  Enforce some new contol measures and the price of power goes up to offset the costs involved...its all passed along eventually to US!


  2. the problem with coal - even if 'no emissions' burning becomes possible, is that it takes oil to drill for,mine, and  transport the coal.  since oil is a much more efficient energy source than coal, you are actually expending a lot of an efficient energy source to get a less efficient one.  over time this makes not only poor resource management sense but poor economic sense as well.

    rather than spend the energy and money to develop a source of limited energy like coal, it would  be better to develop the technologies to make the use of renewable sources more practical.

    if we as a civilization had but as much effort into solar, wind & tidal sources 30 years ago instead of continuing to subsidize and hyper develop the oil industry, we might not even be having this discussion today.

  3. Sure--they sould be required to have zero--or at least very low--CO2 emmissions.  

    But  my guess is that it's a non-issue.  That technology--which looks workable-- is going to be fairly expensive.  As a commercial proposition, I'd bet on a combination of solar power and low cost battery storage (for nighttime power) replacing coal--and oil.  Along with other alternative technologies.  Not becaus of government regulations.  Because the way the technology is moving, in ten years that's going to be so cheap coal and oil won't be competitive anymore.

    Which is what's really scaring the P out of the fossil fuel industry! :)

  4. Maybe so.  If possible.  For stopping global warming?

    http://www.stuffintheair.com/solutions-f...

    I don't think so.

  5. YES!  And by using that technology the cost will drop drastically.

  6. Do not make laws that u don't need to. The first place CO2 loading is a lie. GOD put plants here to recycle our atmosphere ,and GOD doesn't need your help. The plants are doing a great job. New Mexico has had coal fired power plants for many years ,and with the scrubbers all that comes is steam .

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