See:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/business/energy-environment/30utilities.html
QUOTES:
Progress Energy Carolinas, one of the South's larger utilities, faced a
dilemma last winter.
Several of its coal
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/coal/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>-fired
power plants were aging and needed scrubbers to reduce emissions and
meet North Carolina pollution laws. Executives figured that even tougher
regulations were coming from Washington, and overhauling 11 generators
at four plants would have cost nearly $2 billion, which would have been
passed on to the company's 1.5 million electric customers.
Plunging natural gas
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/natural-gas/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> prices,
however, offered Progress Energy an alternative that would save money
and help it achieve pollution goals at the same time: scrapping the coal
plants and replacing them with two gas plants over the next four years,
at a cost of $1.5 billion. . . .
Since burning gas emits a fraction of the greenhouse gas of coal,
environmentalists tend to favor the switch, although some worry that
more gas drilling could pollute groundwater because of the chemicals
used in breaking up shale rock.
Seventy percent of the nation's coal plant fleet is more than 30 years
old and a third is over 40 years old. Credit Suisse estimates that more
than 30 percent of the American coal generating fleet have no emission
controls at all, [!!!] while another third lack either a scrubber for
removal of sulfur dioxide or other controls for nitrogen oxides. Those
plants, which are largely inefficient, will need expensive overhauls
under the new rules. . . .
END QUOTES
Regarding gas drilling in shale, the New York State legislature today
put a moratorium on that technique. Quoting and environmental
organization: "In an historic vote, the New York State Assembly enacted
a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing which will remain in effect
until May 15, 2011. The bill, A11443B/S08129B
<http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Br6Lvf1mRDLF5ISQqWiivh9wvW0pg2Vm>
was approved by the Senate last summer and is now on its way to Governor
Paterson, who is expected to sign it into law."
Link to bill:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Br6Lvf1mRDLF5ISQqWiivh9wvW0pg2Vm
- Jed
