The battles for and against the use of fossil fuels seem never-ending. My views are derived from a lot of reading and research, but admittedly, no scientific background. Take it for what it is worth. However, isn’t that how the majority of Americans reach an opinion?
I’m going to tell you my thoughts today, and I’d like to hear yours. It is a volatile subject, but I insist that arguments for either side be made in a thoughtful and courteous manner.
I believe that fossil fuels are a gift from God. That being said, anything can be used for good or thoughtlessly abused. A match can light a wood fire to keep one warm and cook food. It can also be used with evil intent to burn down someone’s property. I see fossil fuels in this same light. Should we permit people to suffer in an attempt to not use, responsibly, the resources God has given us?
There is no dispute that heavy use of “dirty” coal creates unhealthful smog, as did the burning of gasoline in automobiles before technology advanced enough to prevent that reaction. But, a Department of Energy page of information from June 26, 2020, written by Steven Winberg, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, gives us hope. Here is a small portion of its valuable information:
Thanks to research conducted by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and its facilities in Pittsburgh, PA, the United States continues to lead the world in reducing energy-related carbon emissions.
Coal-fired electricity generation is cleaner than ever. NETL’s research shows that a new coal plant with pollution controls reduces nitrogen oxides by 83 percent, sulfur dioxide by 98 percent, and particulate matter by 99.8 percent compared to plants without controls.
As the third-largest coal producing state, Pennsylvania is a crucial member of America’s coal industry. Furthermore, Pennsylvania coal is some of the highest quality coal in the world and can be used not only for its heating value but also for its carbon content.
To that end, DOE is researching and developing an entirely new market for coal that uses the carbon value of coal, not the heating value. Coal’s high carbon content makes it an ideal feedstock for a variety of high-value materials ranging from carbon fiber to graphene to building materials. Coal can also serve as a feedstock for hydrogen production. Hydrogen is a transitional carbon-free energy source that can be used for power generation and as a transportation fuel. (Emphasis mine.)
China is the biggest user of coal, followed by India, and the United States is a close third. Sometimes it’s useful to look deeper
into the statistics. In a listing of Coal Consumption by Country 2022, China consumes 4,320 trillion MMcf. (I can’t even begin to wrap my head around a trillion million cubic feet.) That is as much as the rest of the world combined! India consumes 966 MMcf, and the United States 731 trillion MMcf. But if you take that consumption down to the per capita consumption, it is Australia leading the list, followed closely by Bulgaria, Serbia, Kazakhstan, and the Czech Republic.
According to World Population Review, coal is the U.S. primary source of energy, but while in 2008 it was used to produce 50 percent of our country’s energy, by 2016 we cut that to about 31 percent. Even with the reduction, we still use a lot of coal. Nevertheless, “the United States has enough coal to last approximately three hundred years at current usage rates.”
In an article by Vijay Jayaraj in Human Events, dated June 6, 2022, Jayaraj said:
In fact, I hail from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu which is often compared to Scandinavia for its large number of wind farms. Accounting for 25 percent of the country’s wind capacity, the state has the largest share of such generating assets in a nation of 1.3 billion people.
Yet even Tamil Nadu relies heavily on coal to meet
its electricity demands, with power emergencies and blackouts being the order of the day anytime there are shortages of fuel. It is much the same across the country, where 70 percent of the electricity comes from coal.
The much-touted wind farms are of little help in such emergencies. Yes, they generate electricity, but it is highly insignificant, only 4.6 billion units compared to coal’s 92 billion units. Despite wind accounting for 10 percent of total installed capacity in the country’s power sector, its total contribution to generation is less than three percent. Wind farms simply cannot produce on-demand electricity, and certainly not in the amount needed by large cities.
Even a small hiccup in the supply of coal results in widespread blackouts across an entire state. This reveals that the wind capacity of the state is an exaggerated asset that cannot deliver when power is needed. The wind farms work well only during optimum wind months, which means they are useless for more than half of the year.
The officials in charge of delivering power to people are aware of this pathetic situation and, hence, continue to invest in fossil fuel energy sources, especially coal.
Instead of curtailing coal plants, as climate doomsayers demand, India is increasing its coal dependency. With a forecast of severe shortage in the coming months, the federal government is stepping in to import more coal and avoid more blackouts. “Coal India would import coal for blending on a government-to-government basis and supply … to thermal power plants of state generators and independent power producers,” the federal Power Ministry said in a May 28 letter.
India is readying to reopen more than 100 coal mines. “In addition to simply reopening the mines, Indian officials are reportedly set to remove mandatory technical requirements so that the mines can start producing immediately instead of waiting on the government to approve a mine’s readiness. . . . With the mine developer and operator model already existing, companies bidding for shut mines need not be technically qualified to do the mining work . . . To speed production, the Indian government is also looking at easing environmental restrictions. The relaxing of these restrictions will allow mines to increase production by up to 10 percent without requiring such government approvals as impact assessment and consulting local residents. . . . There’s a reason India is reverting — at least in the short term — to a fuel that climate hysterics insist is “dirty” instead of buying more solar panels and wind turbines. They understand that coal is efficient and reliable as opposed to so-called renewable sources.”
Can anyone believe in their heart it is better for the people of India to suffer and perhaps die than use the coal that the world has in abundance?
There needs to be a civil discourse with the disastrous-climate-change advocates. You can read more about my research and thoughts on the matter in chapter 3 of my book, Who’s Got Dibs on Your Kids?. Unfortunately, kids are being taught in school that there is only one way to think about the climate, and that is alarmism. I urge you to counter those teachings with a clear and honest presentation of the facts.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28)