You are living in the past. New coal plants have low particulate levels and capture over 90% of the mercury. Our 10 year old plant (nonprofit) had a doubled cost just for scrubbing particulates and mercury. Now the EPA is threatening to shut it down to please the global warming bedwetters.
“You are living in the past. New coal plants have low particulate levels and capture over 90% of the mercury.”
Here is a response from 2008 on that topic.
Coal gasification is certainly the best way to generate electricity from coal. It has many advantages. The reduction of airborne mercury by 90% (if claims are true) is a very big help. One big concern that I have is what are they going to do with that 90% of mercury in the coal byproducts which did not go up the chimney. Right now federal regulations do not cover this, but the government is aware of the potential for a problem even with regular power plants. 1)
Maine is looking to put in a coal gasification plant. It is expected to release only 22 pounds of mercury per year. 2) To put this into perspective let’s consider the figures on this site. 3) I have not double checked their figures, but it seems consistent with what I know, and have run across before. Based on those figures the 22lbs of mercury released each year would be sufficient to contaminate 352 new lakes twenty acres in size every year. Consider that on a personal level, rather than a national level. If I were to go over to my neighbor’s twenty acre lake and dump in two ounces of mercury, it would be entirely unethical, and ungodly. If caught, in this litigious society, he could probably sue me for millions. And that still doesn’t answer about the other 90% of the mercury in the byproducts. As Christians, how much damage is it acceptable to do to our neighbors in order to avoid a better solution?