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Thursday, January 08, 2009

Envirtonment - More on coal ash; costs of coal-gasification

Coal ash. James Bruggers of the Louisville Courier Journal has a report today that begins:

Coal ash ponds at several power plants in Kentucky and Indiana held some of the nation's highest amounts of six potentially toxic heavy metals, according to a report released yesterday by the Environmental Integrity Project. * * *

Duke Energy's Gibson plant in Gibson County, Ind., reported quantities of chromium, lead, nickel and thallium in its ash ponds that were among the top four in the country. The sixth metal tracked was selenium.

The complete report of the Environmental Integrity Project may be accessed here.

Coal-gasification. Rick Callahan of the LCJ reports today under the headline: "Duke Energy gets OK to pass on costs." Some quotes:

INDIANAPOLIS -- A state panel yesterday approved Duke Energy's request to pass along to Indiana customers the higher cost of its coal-gasification power plant under construction in southwestern Indiana.

In May, Duke Energy asked the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to approve the Edwardsport plant's higher cost, saying the project's estimate had risen $365 million to $2.35 billion, largely due to the rising costs of materials and labor. * * *

Duke Energy, based in Charlotte, N.C., expects the cost of building the 630-megawatt plant to result in an 18 percent rate increase for its customers phased in over the next five years.

The plant, being built along the White River, will convert coal into a synthetic gas that is processed to remove pollutants such as mercury and sulfur dioxide.

That gas will then be burned in turbines to produce electricity, while heat from that process is tapped to create steam that generates power in separate steam turbines.

"When it's completed, this will be one of the cleanest, most efficient coal-fired plants in the world," Duke Energy Indiana President Jim Stanley said in a statement.

Environmental and government-watchdog groups oppose the plant and have sued to try to halt it, calling the project a waste of money that would be better spent on renewable energy such as wind farms. They also warn that its price tag could go even higher if Congress imposes caps on carbon-dioxide emissions linked to global warming.

The plant, which is expected to begin operations in 2012, will release an estimated 4 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Yesterday, the commission also approved Duke Energy's $17 million plan to study the plant's potential to capture a portion of its carbon-dioxide emissions as part of the company's proposal to possibly store the gas permanently deep underground.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 8, 2009 09:46 AM
Posted to Environment