edatoakrun
Well-known member
This article gives the essential facts about how America is already phasing out coal, to generate electricity.
What it does not report, is that oil is a much more expensive fuel than coal or natural gas, per unit of energy.
Oil currently costs 5-6 times as much as NG, in the USA, for the equivalent energy.
If these fuel costs remain at anywhere near current ratios, "Inexpensive natural gas is the biggest threat to" gasoline, as well, and most vehicles will soon be running on NG, either directly, by burning it in ICEVs, or even more efficiently, by converting it into electricity in power plants first, and charging BEVs with the electricity generated.
The link below should get you by the WSJ pay wall. (EDIT-drats-foiled again...copy a phrase and search, for cheapskate access)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204464404577114642286810250.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
What it does not report, is that oil is a much more expensive fuel than coal or natural gas, per unit of energy.
Oil currently costs 5-6 times as much as NG, in the USA, for the equivalent energy.
If these fuel costs remain at anywhere near current ratios, "Inexpensive natural gas is the biggest threat to" gasoline, as well, and most vehicles will soon be running on NG, either directly, by burning it in ICEVs, or even more efficiently, by converting it into electricity in power plants first, and charging BEVs with the electricity generated.
The link below should get you by the WSJ pay wall. (EDIT-drats-foiled again...copy a phrase and search, for cheapskate access)
..."Inexpensive natural gas is the biggest threat to coal," says Jone-Lin Wang, head of global power research for IHS CERA, a research company. "Nothing else even comes close."
For decades, coal produced more electricity than all other fuels combined, and as recently as 2003 accounted for almost 51% of net electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But its share has dropped sharply in the last couple of years. It fell to 43% for the first nine months of 2011, as natural gas's share has jumped to almost 25% from under 17% in 2003...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204464404577114642286810250.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;