Carbon Fears and Costs Halting Growth of Coal Power Plants

A new article today discusses the current challenges facing the coal industry.  Coal has always been an inexpensive and reliable power source for the U.S.  From Wikipedia: Coal "is the largest single source of fuel for the generation of electricity world-wide, as well as one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions, which is considered the primary cause of global warming."

Major concerns about global warming and the impact carbon, one of the greenhouse gases, plays in global warming have sparked a lot of debate over the last few years.  In fact, the TXU buyout earlier this year included cancelling eight new coal-fired plants in the hopes of finding a "cleaner", "greener" power solution.  They are said to be considering nuclear and wind options.

The other major factor hindering the growth of coal-fired plants has been rising costs - demand for materials and skilled labor has spiked the prices by as much as 40%.  Of 151 new coal plants proposed in recent years, only 15 have been built since 2002.

What do you think will happen?  Will we be able to meet America's demand for power without coal?

By Cassandra Darwin
cdarwin@enviance.com