Coal Must Go

Coal on limited lifespan as CCS hopes go up in smoke

Giles Parkinson, 29 June 2017 (REnew Economy)

“The coal industry is facing a new crisis…[after] Southern Co finally gave up on its much-vaunted Kemper coal gasification and CCS project, after costs soared from $1.8 billion to more than $7.5 billion, and it realized it wasn’t going to work…[Southern Co will] cease operations immediately on the coal component of the project, and just use the asset as a gas generator. Shareholders already saddled with $3.1 billion of losses face a further $3.4 billion write down if Southern Co can’t convince regulators to pass those costs on to consumers bills…The spectacular failure of the Kemper facility – more than $7.5 billion for a 582MW plant, the most expensive in US history per MW – comes amid a renewed call for new coal generation to be stopped in its tracks, and for existing coal generation to be wound back rapidly…[In the just-published Three years to safeguard our climate, more than 60 scientists and prominent leaders recommend a six-point plan, including no new coal generators post 2020, accelerating wind and solar and other renewables, retiring all coal-fired generators and boosting electric vehicles…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet