Coal is the wrong way to go to fuel our energy needs, but the country seems headed down that road anyway, says a new report by a nonprofit research group.
“We are lining up for a sprint in the wrong direction on our nation’s energy policy,” said Diane Brown, executive director of Arizona Public Interest Research Group, a contributor the report, “Making Sense of the Coal Rush.”
Ms. Brown was quoted in a news release that accompanied the report.
According to the report, energy companies plan to build 150 new coal-fired power plants across the country, including three in Arizona. Texas — at the top of the list — has plans for 17 new coal-fired plants, the report said.
“If energy companies succeed in building even a fraction of these new power plants, it would have major impacts on America’s environment and economy,” the report said.
It did not mean that in a good way.
The report said the coal-fired plants would lead to a 10 percent increase in carbon-dioxide emissions, a main source of global warming gases. Most of the plants on the drawing board would be based on older more polluting technology — instead of the newer less polluting “coal gasification” plants, the report said.
With gasification, coal is converted to a cleaner fuel that’s in turn burned for energy.
According the report, the proposed plants would also lead increased emissions of sulfur (linked to respiratory disease), nitrogen dioxide (smog ingredient) and mercury (toxic contaminant).
The PIRG reports said one of the plants planned for Arizona is already under construction — a 400-megawatt plant in Springville being built by Tucson Electric Power.
In its news release, the Arizona PIRG Education Fund recommended a moratorium on new coal-fired plants, joining the lead taken by Idaho. It also recommended a cap on carbon dioxide pollution and the use of cleaner and renewable energy sources, including solar and wind energy.
A climate-group advisory group appointed by Governor Napolitano has made recommendations that would reduce Arizona’s carbon-emissions from 87 million to 78 million tons a year by 2020, one of advisory-group members said.
That advisory group’s report is expected later this summer.