Utility & industrial coal consumers are faced with an overwhelming number of marketplace, public policy & operational/maintenance factors that affect decisions regarding fuel choice & procurement, technology & equipment choices, & business operations.
The Fuel Flexibility Conference is designed for fuel procurement managers, as well as power plant generators & industrial plant operations & maintenance personnel.
The program provides information & resources to help coal consumers make informed decisions regarding their coal source options. The approach is based on an integration of decision factors including:
American Coal Magazine Spring 2008 edition - with Membership Directory
Once again, we have been fortunate enough to assemble a powerhouse group of authors to discuss the pressing issue of "powering America." With the impending threat of climate change legislation looming, increasingly strict environmental regulations, and growing public pressure to provide clean, affordable, and abundant energy, the coal industry has been pushed to come up with many new ideas and proposals for how we can meet growing demands.
In this issue, our authors consider these challenges and provide information on how we are moving beyond challenges to providing answers. Some of the topics discussed in this issue include,
As part of his campaign platform, Republican Presidential nominee, John McCain is calling for a variety of measures aimed at increasing domestic energy production and reducing American dependence on foreign energy resources.
Alongside of his calls for ending the federal moratorium on drilling for offshore oil reserves and expanding the royalty sharing agreements with states, McCain is also calling for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030. McCain further proposed to provide $2 billion per year in funding to aid in the development of clean coal technologies.
In a June 13 letter from Energy Secretary, Samuel Bodman, the Department of Energy has indicated its plans to cease all funding to the FutureGen project and withdraw from the FutureGen Alliance -- a public-private group founded on the goal of building a near-zero emissions coal-fueled generation plant. The DOEs decision cemented its intentions towards the project and closed out some short-term options for the FutureGen Alliance group.
Americans support use of domestic energyA just released poll, carried out by The Polling Company, Inc. for American Solutions for Winning The Future, from May 29 - June 1, 2008, indicates clearly that the vast majority of American adults want the Congress to drop the climate change issue and focus instead on the use and development of domestic energy resources, including coal. By large margins, Americans want Congress focused on the costs of energy.
Poll findings also indicated that while American adults are concerned about the potential impacts of climate change, they are far more concerned about the potential impacts of limited energy supplies, the need for domestic energy security, and rapidly rising energy costs.
Jason Hayes, Communications Director, American Coal Council
The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him. (Proverbs 18:17 - NKJV)
Even the lazy and uninterested will have found it hard to miss the recent flood of interest in polar bears. The public has been treated to expensive marketing campaigns and flooded with pictures of polar bears that were allegedly “stranded” on dwindling ice flows (it turned out they were just frolicking on an ice formation). We've also heard stories about climate change and have been informed that our consumptive habits will cause populations of this majestic species to crash. All of those stories were recently capped off by the media fanfare that accompanied Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne's decision to list the polar bear as a “threatened species” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
