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Mon Apr 05, 2010 at 09:54:49 AM MST
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| There were a couple of good energy stories that came out last week after the very disappointing news that President Obama had preemptively capitulated on coal in the same way he did with nuclear energy. In return for nothing of substance, $8 Billion will be directed toward the nuclear industry and off-shore coastal areas will be opened for industrial exploration.
In contrast, Xcel Energy has contracted with a new wind farm to bring 252.2MW of clean energy to Colorado's grid. That is enough to power 68,000 homes. |
| WeatherDem :: CO Energy: More Wind, Less Coal |
| Have you wondered why coal corporations are running a number of ads emphasizing how important they are? A number of them have come out in recent months as the coal industry tries to convince Americans that cheap power is the best power. Few people question why it is that coal is so cheap. It can be explained by cost externalisation - the coal industry has successfully moved the costs associated with the dirtiest source of energy onto other sectors of the economy.
Xcel, meanwhile, continues to make better and better decisions regarding its long-term energy portfolio. The company recognizes that there will eventually be a cost, assigned by the market, to adding more carbon pollution to the atmosphere. To avoid those costs in the long run, coal will have to play a much reduced role in their portfolio. One easy way of doing that is to shutter the dirtiest coal plants and bringing cleaner sources of energy online.
Xcel announced it will work with the Colorado state government to close coal plants and replace them with natural gas plants - 900MW worth by 2017. 5 Million tons of carbon pollution per year will no longer be emitted - that's significant.
I wrote a little more about this subject at WeatherDem - the blog last week.
I ran across a couple of other interesting tidbits recently. More on them soon. |
| Tags:
climate change,
renewable energy,
Vestas Wind Systems,
wind power,
Xcel Energy,
coal plants,
dirty energy industry,
dirty enrgy,
natural gas plants,
solar PV plants,
(All Tags)
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