Our Neighborhood

Earth

Keeping It Green

Environmental News
by Category

Page Updated:
April 11, 2024

• • Coal Plants Made a Comeback in 2023

  The Push Was Driven by China
  
  

  Apr. 10, 2024 -Global capacity to generate power from coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels, grew in 2023, driven by a wave of new plants coming online in China that coincided with a slowing pace of retirements of older plants in the United States and Europe.

  The findings came in an annual report by Global Energy Monitor, a nonprofit organization that tracks energy projects around the world.

• • End of coal in NH

  Schiller Station in Portsmouth to Become 'Renewable Energy Park'

  (Seacoastronline), Mar. 27, 2024, Granite Shore Power (GSP) will permanently end coal-fired operations at Schiller Station and plans to convert the defunct facility into a battery energy storage system.

  GSP is additionally ending coal-fired operations at Merrimack Station in Bow, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — following lawsuits by the Conservation Law Foundation and the Sierra Club.

• • Coal Mines Under Homes - Not Such a Good Idea
  

  After an Explosion, Two Were Left Critically Injured
  
  

  Mar. 15, 2024 -He’d said he thought his home would explode. He was right.

  W.M. Griffice, 78, had told his granddaughter, Kenzie, in the days leading up to March 8 that he felt like his house was going to explode, she recalled.

  Company representatives with Oak Grove, a nearby coal mine, had visited Griffice’s home in Adger, a small town 25 miles southwest of Birmingham, multiple times.

• • Toxic Coal Ash: ‘Widespread Noncompliance’
  With the Nation’s First Regulations
  

  The Latest EPA Report
  
  

  Feb. 8, 2024 -There is “widespread noncompliance” with the nation’s first regulations on coal ash, the toxic waste left after coal is burned for electricity, the Biden administration recently announced.

  Click now for the rest of the story.

• • Bank of America Pledged to Stop Financing Coal, But...

  Now It's Backtracking
  
  

  Feb. 5, 2024 -Two years ago, Bank of America won kudos from climate activists for saying it would no longer finance new coal mines, coal-burning power plants or Arctic drilling projects because of the toll they take on the environment.

  The changes come as Republican lawmakers step up efforts to punish businesses that consider climate change and the environment in their operations.

• • Old King Coal’s Kingdom Goes Green

  How Kentucky is
  Investing in Renewable Energy
  
  

  Jan. 24, 2024 -For generations, coal has been the lifeblood of Eastern Kentucky. In fact, coal is interwoven into the history, culture, politics, and soul of Kentucky.

  In recent years, communities across my home state have faced significant challenges as the nation transitions from coal to cleaner energy and technologies. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in 2022, has spurred massive investments that will reverberate in communities across Kentucky for years to come. This article briefly explores the positive returns thus far.

• • Negotiations Over Coal Ash Storage Near Mobile to Begin

  EPA and Alabama
  Power to Start Settlement
  
  

  Jan. 6, 2024 -A Federal Judge Has Dismissed a Lawsuit Against Alabama Power Filed by Mobile Baykeepers over the utility’s storage of more than 21 million tons of coal ash, a toxic sludge, in an unlined pit above Mobile Bay.

  Mobile Baykeepers, an environmental nonprofit based in south Alabama, alleges that the state’s largest utility is violating federal law by failing to comply with environmental requirements around the planned closure of its coal ash pit at Plant Barry.

• • 21 Gigawatts of US Coal to Retire in Next 3 Years

  88–211 Gigawatts of Solar to Join Grid
  
  

  Jan. 2, 2024 -Clearly, the trend is toward more renewables and less coal. Aside from showing power capacity additions from month to month by energy source, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) includes a section in its monthly reports that shows expected power capacity retirements in the coming 3 years. It’s a fascinating forecast to look at.

  Click now for more.

• • Coal Is Not Going Away, Just Yet

  Global Coal Use is at an All-Time High
  
  

  Dec. 15, 2023 -Global coal use is expected to reach a record high in 2023 as demand in emerging and developing economies remains strong, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Friday.

  Demand for coal is seen rising 1.4% in 2023, surpassing 8.5 billion metric tons for the first time as usage in India is expected to grow 8% and that in China is seen up 5% due to rising electricity demand and weak hydropower output, the IEA said.

• • What ‘Massive’ Federal Solar Investment Could Mean

  Could Bring Big Utility Savings in Kentucky Coal Country
  
  

  Nov. 28, 2023 - An unlikely collaboration between a Kentucky coalfield county and Kentucky’s largest city began when a former high school English teacher, Megan Downey, walked into the Lawrence County courthouse in Louisa in August.

  Inspired by a personal desire to find ways to tackle the impacts of climate change, Downey had launched a nonprofit called The Solar Collaborative last year in Virginia dedicated to helping Appalachian communities transition to renewable energy.

• • Coal Particle Pollution is
  Twice as Deadly as Other Sources

  But There is Some Good News
  
  

  Nov. 24, 2023 -Studies have routinely shown that exposure to fine particulate pollutants — known as PM2.5 because these particles are 2.5 microns or less in diameter — significantly increases the risk of all-cause mortality.

  However, not all of these particles are equal. A new study from researchers at George Mason University, the University of Texas, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health uncovered a grim fact: fine particulate pollutants (PM2.5) from coal-fired power plants pose more than double the mortality risk of PM2.5 from other sources.

• • Rural Pa. Township to Face its Mining Past

  A Proposed Solar Project Prompted It
  
  

  Nov. 24, 2023 -As solar developers set their sights on roughly 1,500 acres in rural Rush Township, local elected officials are tasked with figuring out how to welcome the proposed project without hindering efforts to clean up suspected acid mine drainage.

  That pollution from abandoned coal mines can clear up without formal reclamation efforts, but that could take decades. In the meantime, acid mine drainage can be harmful to humans and wildlife.

• • Choices for a Fading Coal Town

  Hitching Their Hopes to a Bill Gates Clean Energy Dream
  
  

  Nov. 20, 2023 -Mayor Bill Thek took office in 2020 with a mission to save this small coal town in southwest Wyoming, where high desert hills are rich in fossils and the fuels derived from them. The local power plant was scheduled to stop burning the carbon-emitting rock that had provided jobs for more than a century. The mine seemed likely to close along with it...

  Click now for the whole story.

• • China, Make Up Your Mind: Coal or Solar?

  Insurers are Already Pulling Back from California, Florida and Louisiana
  
  

  Nov. 2, 2023 -China is installing about as many solar panels and wind turbines as the rest of the world combined, and is on track to meet its target for clean energy six years early. It is using renewables to meet nearly all of the growth in its electricity needs.

  Yet there is another side to that rapid expansion, one that is causing consternation in Washington at a critical period of climate diplomacy: China is also building new power plants that burn coal, the dirtiest of the fossil fuels, at a pace that dwarfs the rest of the world.

• • Former Coal-Fired Power Plant Razed

  Making Way For
  Offshore Wind Electricity Connection
  
  

  Oct. 26, 2023 - For decades, tourists heading to the New Jersey beach resorts of Ocean City and Cape May saw the towering smokestack of the B.L. England Generating Station as they zipped past it on the Garden State Parkway.

  The 463-foot-tall (141.1-meter) stack was a local landmark and even a weather forecaster for some residents who glanced outside to see which way emissions from its top were blowing, and how fast, as they decided what to wear for the day.

• • Costs Linked to Idled ‘Zombie’ Coal Mines

  Lawmakers Want Answers on Damage
  
  

  Oct. 20, 2023 -Lawmakers, including two from Pennsylvania, are asking for a federal investigation into the full extent of environmental damage caused by what are known as “zombie” surface mines, which may technically still be considered active for coal extraction but have been idled for months or years and can leak toxic waste.

  Click now for the whole story.

• • Michael Bloomberg's Efforts
  to Shut Down the Coal Industry

  He's Throwing $500 Million to the Cause
  
  

  Sep. 21, 2023 -Billionaire, philanthropist, and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this week that he will invest $500 million into his campaign to shut down coal plants and halve gas use by 2030.

  Through the Beyond Carbon campaign, Bloomberg has successfully helped shut down about 70% of all coal plants in the U.S. T

• • West Virginia Coal-Fired
  Plant, Plans Hydrogen Conversion

  This Will Be Done
  by the New Plant Owner

  [POWER Engineering], Aug. 31, 2023 -Jet Zero is working with Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites. They selected Pratt Whitney for the engines.

  A West Virginia coal-fired plant that had been targeted for retirement was restarted August 30 by a new owner that plans to retrofit the facility to use hydrogen to generate electricity, Gov. Jim Justice announced.

  Last month California company Omnis Fuel Technologies signed an agreement to purchase the Pleasants Power Station on the Ohio River near Belmont in Pleasants County. Justice said Omnis plans to invest $800 million in the plant.

• • Indonesia Delays $20bn Green Plan

  This is After Split With Rich Nations On Grants and New Coal Plants
  
  

  Aug. 16, 2023 -Indonesia has delayed the launch of a $20 billion clean energy plan as it needs more time to bridge divisions with wealthy donor nations on financing terms and new coal plants.

  The investment blueprint is supposed to set out how foreign funding will help wean the Southeast Asian country off coal. But international talks on it have been tense, with Indonesia wanting more money on better terms from rich countries.

• • From a Coal Plant to a Renewable Energy Project

  The Latest Move From Kentucky
  
  

  July 26, 2023 -Starfire Mine, formerly one of the largest coal mines in the United States, will be the new site of an 800 MW solar energy center used by Rivian Automotives and nonprofit The Nature Conservancy.

  The announcement was made by global renewable power producer BrightNight. Once complete, the BrightNight Starfire Renewable Energy Center will have an 800 MW capacity, producing enough electricity to power over 500,000 households. It will be the largest renewable power project in Kentucky and one of the largest in the nation to be built on former mine lands, representing a $1 billion infrastructure investment.

• • Carbon Capture Faces a Major Test in N. Dakota

  Project Tundra and the Viability of Retrofitting Coal Plants to Capture Carbon
  
  

  July 6, 2023 -Energy companies have talked for years about how carbon capture technology will preserve their ability to burn coal and natural gas in a world that needs to drastically cut carbon emissions.

  Last week we learned some more about a project that may be an important test case.

• • A Huge Bangladesh Coal Power
  Plant Keeps Running Out of Coal

  Early Warnings for
  Countries, Especially Poorer Ones
  
  

  June 18, 2023 - One of the world’s newest, most contested coal-burning power plants began operation in December. By January, it had ground to a halt for a month. Again, in April, it sat idle for 23 days.

  The reason: It didn’t have coal to burn.

• • Renewables Now Dominate Coal in the US

  This is a First for America
  
  

  June 14, 2023 - For the first time ever, renewables have outpaced coal, the most polluting energy source. The data covers a five-month period in the US, according to a review of federal data by E&E News. The milestone shows how the power sector is changing across the country, with renewables taking over fossil fuels to bring down greenhouse gas emissions.

• • India: No New Coal Plants For Five Years

  They're Betting on
  Renewables and Batteries
  
  

  June 1, 2023 - The Indian government will not consider any proposals for new coal plants for the next five years and focus on growing its renewables sector, according to an updated national electricity plan released Wednesday evening.

  The temporary pause in the growth of the dirty fuel was hailed by energy experts as a positive step for a country that is currently reliant on coal for around 75% of its electricity.

• • New Zealand: Biggest Emissions
  Reduction Project in History

  It Will Use Government Funds To Transition From Coal to Electricity at New Zealand’s Largest Steel Plant
  
  

  May 21, 2023 -New Zealand has announced its largest emissions reduction project in history, transitioning from coal to renewable electricity at the country’s major steel plant in a move that the government says is equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road.

  The government will spend $140m on halving the coal used at Glenbrook steel plant to recycle scrap steel, replacing that generating power with an electric-powered furnace. The plant will contribute $160m to the project’s cost.

• • E.P.A.'s Crackdown on
  Toxic Coal Ash From Landfills

  Another Environmental Threat is Handled
  
  

  May 17, 2023 - The Biden administration is moving to close a loophole that had exempted hundreds of inactive coal ash landfills from rules designed to prevent heavy metals like mercury and arsenic from seeping into groundwater, the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.

  Coal ash, a byproduct from burning coal in power plants, contains lead, lithium and mercury. Those metals can pollute waterways and drinking water supplies and have been linked to health effects, including cancer, birth defects and developmental delays in children. They are also toxic to fish.

• • Experts Forecast Big Drop
  in New Coal-Fired Power Plants

  It Just Doesn't Make Sense to Keep Investing In Coal
  
  

  May 10, 2023 -Our fight against climate change seems to be one step forward and two steps back. But maybe, just maybe, this time it could be two steps forward and one step back.

  By the middle of last year, countries around the world announced the construction of new coal power plants totaling 476 gigawatts. Considering how much greenhouse gas coal emits, this would make it impossible to meet the world’s climate targets. However, 50% of those projects are set to be canceled, a study found.

• • Coal Divestment Does Work!

  Now The Finance Industry Must Reject Requests For Coal Capital
  
  

  Apr. 26, 2023 - It’s clear: bank divestment from coal reduces carbon dioxide emissions. That’s because the coal industry is reliant on large amounts of capital, typically from banks. When they don’t have it, they struggle.

• • More Federal Funding For
  Pennsylvania to Combat Coal Mining's Impact

  Earlier On Fish Couldn’t Survive in the Aylesworth Reservoir Lake
  
  

  Apr. 14, 2023 -Acid mine drainage from an abandoned coal mine leaked into Aylesworth Creek, which flows into the four-acre waterway. Because of the drainage, water becomes highly acidic and harms fish and local ecosystems.

  Federal funding secured in the 1990s helped to construct an acid mine drainage treatment facility about a half mile from the lake, said Bernie McGurl, the executive director of the Lackawanna River Conservation Association. It fell into disrepair and in the early 2000s was restored again with federal funding.

• • Legal Action Mooted Over Welsh
  Ffos-y-Fran Ongoing Opencast Mining

  Climate Campaigners Consider Legal Action Over Ongoing Coal Mining at the Nation's Largest Opencast Mine
  
  

  Apr. 13, 2023 -Digging for coal at Ffos-y-Fran, near Merthyr Tydfil, was supposed to stop last September after 15 years.

  The mine's operator has applied for an extension and is waiting on a decision.