3/6/2023 0 Comments Dr energysaver eugene![]() ![]() “Ted Shawn lays his head on Jacob’s Pillow Rock” from archives of Jacob’s Pillow, Creative Commons 3.0, Wikimedia. “Status of the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund (AML Fund).” Amendment initiated by Representative Liz Cheney. United States, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. “In a first, renewable energy is poised to eclipse coal in U.S.”. “A county torn over lithium mining could set the tone as America looks for renewable energy sources.” 15 April 2020. “Federal funds to help turn Virginia coal mine into solar farm.” 8 March 2019. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, “Power plants seeking transmission connection – interactive data visualization link.” “Queued up: Characteristics of power plants seeking transmission interconnection.” 2021. We really need to modernize it.” 28 July 2022. “Phoenix Rising: The future of coal-fired plants and coal mining.” Renewing the World: Energy. How can owners of coal-fired plants benefit from this opportunity? Repurposing coal-fired plants – already wired to the grid – to support renewable energy could turn what is now a liability into a new kind of gold mine.īrooke, K. Coal mines will close but can serve a new goal. New mines for lithium and other materials may develop. Mining is an ancient practice but its environmental safeguards need an upgrade, both in the United States and worldwide. All of those are candidates for energy reuse and revitalization.Ĭan we turn old coal mines into a new form of gold mine? Gold from the sun? Image: “ Saulés elektriné” by Aiseinau, 2021. Worldwide, there are 8,000 coal-fired power plants: China has 1,000 India has 285 the USA has 240. In Massachusetts and New Jersey, seaside coal plants already wired to the grid are now being connected to offshore wind energy. Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, and North Dakota are among states phasing out coal while turning plants into renewable energy centers. In the United States, former coal-fired plants are now being repurposed as battery, solar, and wind facilities. Using existing wired infrastructure may be one answer. Getting permit permissions is a lengthy process building grid connectivity infrastructure is expensive. Included with appreciation.Ĭoal-fired plants are essential for the future: not for coal, but for their existing infrastructure. Image: “Electricity Grid Schematic,” by M. Close the mine but keep the infrastructure. What should we do with the money? Is there an incentive leading to opportunity?Ĭoal-fired plants are already wired to the grid. The Abandoned Mine Land Fund, instituted in 1977 as a mandate for the coal industry to clean up abandoned mines and upgraded by an addition proposed by Representative Liz Cheney, yielded not only improved environmental and health benefits but fees for future use by 2020, more than $11 billion poured into the fund. Could cleaning up old mines become profitable? There is precedent. spent $2.9 billion addressing mining problems. Moreover, mines on sovereign land of original Native Indigenous Americans are insufficiently protected. Mines seep metals and toxic materials into streams and rivers, polluting drinking water for humans and wildlife. More than 67,000 present physical dangers 22,000 pose environmental risks. In the U.S., there are 390,000 abandoned mines on federal land. When a mine is depleted, it is often abandoned. Will we soon see the end of coal mining? Image: “Coal mining,” illustration from The Graphic, 1871. Tags: environment, innovation, Transport, tunnels | Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 UnĬategories: The Channel Tunnel: England and France, The Mont Blanc Tunnel: Italy, France, and Switzerland, The New River: England | īuilding the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. “Denmark and Germany now building the world’s longest immersed tunnel.” September 2022, CNN.com. “Why we’re building the Fehmarnbelt fixed link.” Femern. Davidson for proposing and achieving the success of the Channel Tunnel.įehmarnbelt Fixed Link. Potts for suggesting this post, and to Frank P. Floodwater diversion, storage, and reuse options are certain to present problems (and opportunities) in our future: can tunnels be part of the solution? The Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel ( SMART) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is designed to divert rainwater into a lower section, allowing the upper section to remain open to vehicular traffic. Included with appreciation.Īnother environmental advantage of tunnels is response to flash floods. Image: “SMART tunnel entrance,” by David Boey, 2018. SMART Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, combines transport and flood control. ![]()
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