Group asks coal officials to clear air
Published Thursday, January 8, 2009
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS - An environmental group is asking for greater transparency in discussions between a state authority and two electric utilities on the future of the Healy Clean Coal Plant.
Trustees for Alaska, a nonprofit public interest law firm that takes on environmental issues, sent a letter to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority on Jan. 2 on behalf of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Sierra Club Alaska Chapter and Homer Electric Members Forum.
Penned by legal director Vicki Clark, the letter expresses concern for the potential environmental effects associated with a coal-fired power plant and urges AIDEA to be more transparent in its plans for the mainly publicly financed facility.
AIDEA, a quasi-state agency, owns the plant but Golden Valley Electric Association owns the property. Original plans called for GVEA to operate the
50-megawatt plant once experimental clean-coal technology was proven viable. After an initial testing phase, the plant was shut down in early 2000.
AIDEA and GVEA have been involved in litigation while AIDEA negotiated a contract with Homer Electric Association to operate the plant. However, GVEA president and CEO Brian Newton said his utility wants to fire up the plant.
Trustees for Alaska contends that enough public money has already been thrown at the Healy project and that the potential environmental costs of firing up the coal-fired plant likely outweigh any benefit to Alaskans.
The group is asking for access to meeting records and correspondence between the parties, and for more public involvement in the negotiations.
“The public really needs to weigh in on whether this is a rational use of our money and our time,” Clark said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re talking about taking three steps back with technology, with the fossil fuel that creates the most greenhouse gases in Alaska with the biggest burden of climate change. How much more of a burden do we really need to bear here, and without public input?”
Newton said the call for transparency could draw out negotiations between GVEA and the state.
“I think it would be in everyone’s best interest to settle this issue and move on,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to negotiate in public. People just need to trust that what their state and their co-op are doing is in their best interest.”
AIDEA spokesman Karsten Rodvik said the Trustees’ letter will be treated as a public records request. The authority will examine the request and respond, he said.
The Healy project is a “black hole” for public money, alleged Jessie Peterson, local issues and energy coordinator for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center.
“How much good money can we throw at bad projects?” Peterson said. “When are we going to wise up?”
Coal-fired power plants emit carbon dioxide, widely believed to cause global warming. Environmental analyses of the Healy project were completed in the early 1990s and may no longer be accurate with advances in science and stronger air quality rules, Peterson said. And despite the Healy project’s original intent to use clean coal technology, she fears proponents will bring the facility online as a regular coal-fired plant.
“It’s just really not worth it,” she said. “Clean has been sort of this new, exciting phrase. When you get down to it, coal is dirty.”
GVEA’s Newton said it’s too early to tell whether the plant will run using the then-experimental clean coal technology. He said it would have to operate within already permitted emissions limits.
The utility estimates fixing known deficiencies would soak up two years and $20 million.
As an alternative to coal, Peterson advocates using public money to fund additional conservation and efficiency programs, to further renewable projects statewide and encouraging widespread development of natural gas.
“There is not going to be one clear fix,” Peterson said. “It has to start with small things ... There are just so many issues with coal.”
Contact staff writer Rena Delbridge at 459-7518.
Community Discussion
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The Northern Alaska Environmental Center has a well deserved reputation for being 'anti' everything. What the NAEC needs to do is demonstrate solid, logical leadership. It is not just enough to be opposed to dirty coal- fired power plants, that is really a no-brainer. Coal plants emit, besides greenhouse gases, mercury, lead, strontium, thorium , uranium, and other poisons- including the radioactive isotopes of these heavy metals.
Alaska needs cleaner, more affordable, (sustainable) energy sources- that is very obvious.
Assuming the folks at the NAEC will read this article, please use this forum to tell us if you are on record as being in support of the Susitna Hydroelectric project. Typically environmental groups take the wacko position that hydro power is bad. This, of course, is an energy source that is sustainable, renewable, affordable, proven, and leaves ZERO atmospheric emissions.
How about the Alaska gas line to Valdez? While natural gas is a hydrocarbon, it is the cleanest of all hydrocarbon fuel sources. Someday most of us will be driving near zero emissions CNG vehicles. Driving a CNG vehicle is nearly identical to gas vehicles- they have heaters, long driving ranges, and they are much cheaper to run than a gasoline powered vehicle.
The NAEC will not have any credibility with 98% of us if you are on record as being opposed to one, or both of these critical Alaska energy projects.
Sure, it is easy to talk about the evils of dirty coal, but it is not enough to simply suggest that conservation will solve the problems we face as a state. We must have hydro and natural gas as part of our energy and revenue future in Alaska.
So how about it NAEC?- the forum is open to you.
Egadd, they are everywhere. Non-profits with millions of dollars to pay their wacko employees. And what brillant statements, "coal is dirty". I would guess that water is also wet. NAEC needs to find some cows and walk around behind them with a "gas catcher", something most of them would be right at home with....
Trade me 52% of MoneyKnob and I'll turn the coal-plant into a cement-plant generating power at full capacity with no smokestacks - no emissions - no problem
Sure, lets turn off 60% of the nations power supply and make all the environmentalist happy.
Is burning diesel and naptha generators in town a better solution? Luckily no one up here pays any attention to what the Northern Environmental Center has to say.
they are just wanting to turn off all electricity to alaskans as well as anything else we need to survive or stay warm. in fac i would venture to say they want to run everybody out of alaska except them selves.
I, along with many others, have been watching the jockeying and manuevering between GVEA and AIDEA for nearly ten years now. I don't react well to the shrill tone of the "environmentalists", but I also don't trust the statement "People just need to trust that what their state and co-op are doing is in their best interest". I have yet to hear a rational explanation of what the problems really are with the HCCP.
Crosswind,
I agree with you. I don't exactly trust other people to do what's in my best interests. A lot of the HCCP stuff is way beyond me...but I know what dirty air looks like and does to me. Can't say I'm in support of more dirty air up here. It's what I moved away from.
The Northern Alaska Enivronmental Center is also attempting to ban easter
because they found the body...
Modern coal plants are the most cost effective way to produce power. Built to the latest standards emit little real polution. Carbon dioxide is a totally harmless by product. Human produced carbon dioxide has no effect whatever on global climate. It is needed for plants to grow and without we would not exist.
The Northern Environmental Center consists of about three people that have never held a real job in their life. They speak for 1% of the community and should get 1% of the attention.
They can get their electricity from solar panels and I will stick to coal. Seems like a great compromise.
"""I have yet to hear a rational explanation of what the problems really are with the HCCP."""
===================================
............me too !!!
The northern Alaska environmental center controls the drive by, main-stream media and invented choclate covered ginger.
More on HCCP? Check out today's post by Andrew Haclro at: http://www.andrewhalcro.com/blog/admin
Ask Mr.Craft what works and does not work in a few years !! He is operating wind generators and will get uber-rich off of GVEA. Everyone knows that when you see a relatively small business like his turn to a technology like wind power, that means it is proven and very cost effective. Businesses like his cannot go into these deals blind or they would fold. However, when a big business or the Gov. takes on projects they know it does not really matter if they succeed or not. If they come up short, our taxes get raised and the bill goes away. That's what happened with SUV's and bad mortgages. I feel lucky to live off the grid completely. Even during this "cold snap" the last 2 weeks I have only spent about $15 on gas for my generator to plug in cars and charge my battery bank back to full. I'm not a super-greenie or anything, but it does feel good to know that I could go a week or two off just my battery power if no gas was available. In the spring when I can afford it I will buy 4 PV panels, and like my neighbors above me, probably never have to run the generator all summer. Oh, the peace and quiet!! It does take an initial investment of $4000-8000, depending on the size of your house and electrical needs, but pays for itself quickly compared to the bills from GVEA, and there are tax incentives of at least 30% for the panels and other items like wind generators. If you live on the grid, you can join SNAP, and GVEA will pay you for your extra power you produce. This all takes effort, but helps out a lot. I won't even begin to spank "internationa" for the comment posted on here. Education may be able to help this person, but I doubt it.
The harm from the Healy Clean Coal Plant is imaginary!!! So what! It is miles from Fairbanks and down wind!
I don't like the idea of freezing or paying an outlandish price for electricity when Anchorage has a sweat heart deal for natural gas!
If the environmental center will pick up the cost of electricity over 2 cents per kwh, I will be more than happy to switch to electric heat!
Zero missions and Zero ice fog!
Their religion is cost me to much money!
Also Healy could burn natural gas rather than coal!
I made the mistake of reading the drivel on Halcro's web site. Halcro posted yet another shrill attack against Palin, Tom Irwin, Steve Haggenson and GVEA.
Halcro presents a biased and distorted perspective because his little narcissistic ego was badly, badly bruised when he was beat by a girl.
The things Halcro omitted in his opinion piece is that GVEA refused to accept the HCCP project because THE TECHNOLOGY DID NOT WORK.
Halcro also fails to disclose that HCCP was mostly paid for with a massive federal subsidy- NOT with state funds.
Halcro fails to disclose that the HCCP tar-baby was a creation of Stevens, Young and Murkowski- and the coal industry that works to perpetuate its existence by pretending that "clean" coal technology is just around the corner. Problem is- the technology does not work... It never does...
I Googled Halcro's site and found this: www.andyhalcro(dot)com
The parody of Halcro is spot on.
I find it really hard to put much faith in global warming. It has become a new religion to some of these people.Step outside and see if this feels like global warming to you.I know they are trying to tell us this cold weather is part of global warming but I just can't buy it.I am not opposed to green energy but I am also not opposed to getting the coal plant started.
I've heard the particulates coming out of Eielson's power plant are virtually non-existant since upgrades. I've noticed steam (white...not black) over the last several years. Why does coal have such a bad wrap? Seems safe and efficient to me.
Halcro is a sour grapes looser and a poor sport.
And probably off in the head, too.
I see hate full petty revenge got Levi fired off the slope. To up some talk show's ratings???
"Newton said the call for transparency could draw out negotiations between GVEA and the state.
“I think it would be in everyone’s best interest to settle this issue and move on,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to negotiate in public. People just need to trust that what their state and their co-op are doing is in their best interest.”"
That is how a master speaks to a serf. I now see why the BoD picked him.
Anything that sheds light on the actions of the BoD of GVEA is a good thing for all the rate payers. Their machinations have gone on for too long.
Districts 4 and 7 have elections coming up soon. http://www.gvea.com/news/?id=420
Lets try to elect someone different and someone who does not talk and think like Mr. Newton.
"""CleanCoal technology does not work... It never does..."""???
==========================================
Despite the air-war of WW1, 10% of Americans were saying the same thing about man flying in airplanes as late as 1941 --- then the nice friendly Japanese showed up in their aircraft over Honolulu.
Why is it we hear all this shrieking about Coalpower, and nobody seems to care too much about CementKilns and LimeKilns, despite these kilns burning almost as much coal as powerplants ??
Big American industry is notorious about cutting corners and cheating all the way to their offshore tax-free banks.
http://www.innovx.com/
If you put a portable spectroscope in the hands of some semi-employed enviro-nuts they become well armed environMENTAL-terrorists when they contact a big hungry carnivorous LAW-FIRM.
.........
If you put a portable spectroscope in the hands of an independent small-biz engineer and tell him to fix a powerplant until there's NO-EMISSIONS -- PAY BASED ON PERFORMANCE..
then you'll probably get something you've never seen before--
it's called "a new innovation"
Ya put da Limestone in da Coal ya-nut and ya mill dem bof 2gether..
den ya polypipe dem past da magic-injuns-hut in da coldclear weather..
den ya polypipe dem in da 13sws-klystron-hut in da clearcold weather..
round-n-round innaloop ya go, under the Aurora it'll never bore ya..
Livin'good as ya should an' breakin' rocks with yer thoughts,
the worst poetry always gets ya laid.....(;-P)
"Global warming" are two words used to illustrate the increase in the oceans temperature and the subsequent melting of massive ice sheets on the poles, which in turn is causing the oceans to change not only in their salinity but their levels also. If I am correct, over 70% of the US population lives within 30 or so miles of the ocean. Those folks should be alarmed. The correct term for what is happening is "climate change", for example; higher frequency of natural disasters, drought, etc... Some people posting seem to think it's OK to pollute the neighbors backyard but not their own. Eielson uses 44,000 pounds of coal per hour on an average day and up to 60,000 on a very cold one. They are the heaviest polluting military base in the US according to the EPA. They are in all of our backyards !! Some folks who know very little about coal and it's health and environmental consequences could benefit from reading up on the technology currently being used. It's fairly old-school. The scrubber technology which actually works has been deemed too expensive for coal burning facilities. And I find it very hard to take some posts seriously when the misspellings are reminiscent of 3rd or 4th grade. The incorrectly spelled words are underlined for you !!
THERE HERE! LoL Join us instead (PETA) People Eating Tasty Animals
wow. seems like some folks have been huffing the bad air around town.
we live in a state surrounded by renewable energy. if we develop it, that means FIXED COST power. not the stupid spikes when commodities like coal get bought up by Asian markets. coal kills - there ain;t no such thing a clean coal strip mine - ask the folks in Appalachia. or talk to the folks in the fly ash disaster in Tennessee. coal adds mercury to our fish, causes asthma is our kids. so for all the coalheads here - what;s wrong with clean, renewable, fixed cost power? afraid we're not up to the challenge? rather go the "easy" route backwards to coal? wake up fairbanks. we have a chance to shine, not fester and choke in the black flakes of coal snow.....
Thank you for the good point, alaskagunclub! I am a lifelong Fairbanks resident with 2 young kids at home, and the air quality in town is unbearable. I didn't realize coal also adds mercury to our supposedly "pure" Alaska fish! We do need to take our time in the nation's spotlight and use it to show them what Alaskans are all about - innovation. I don't usually care much about supposed environmental issues, but coal is about more than that. It's our health, and also the Healy Plant will only cost us taxpayers MORE money! It's time to stand up and be independent Alaskans again.
It must be nice to have a theory about the climate that is always correct. If it is hot out it's global warming....no wait...that might box the theory in....climate change....That way if it gets cold it will fits the theory (religion). Climate change has been around as long as there has been a climate.
I'm tired of paying high rates for energy just to please the enviro-wackos. And I'm not about to build a wind farm just to pat myself on the back. I have a job and can't sit around and tend my batteries.
I can’t think of anything more ridiculous than burning oil to make electricity when we are sitting atop a world class coal deposit.
Well, just keep in mind your "world class coal deposit" is actually some of the lowest quality coal found anywhere - which is why it's so costly to maintain plants such as Healy. There is nothing wrong with looking for other options - especially if those options can offer lower energy costs and independence from foreign sources of oil.
Since the year 2000 it seems the 21stCentury has gotten off to a really bad start..
..howzabout we skip this Century and move directly on to the 22ndCentury ???
CleanCoal means: --> ZERO EMISSIONS
[even no CO2]
...how is this possible ???
[I dare you to wrap a cap of plastic over the top of the HCCP smokestack]
With enough polypipe you can work miracles that the people of the 21stCentury were too intimidated to believe.
How do we pass Alaska's gas to market when the steel industry is in line for a multi-billion $$$ bailout too ???...
...Answer: You build the GASLINE-NETWORK directly out of ALASKA'S GAS
[no steel mining, refining,smelting with COAL required]
http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk209...
Why be superstitious about some CO2 from Healy when 4billion cubefeet of METHANE per day is being lost to the 4winds in Alaska?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU-9JucyC...
---------------
http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk209...
--------------
The lost methane is something that can be mitigated without creating debt, while it creates thousands of jobs... and makes your frozen butt warmer too.
http://www.synodon.com/
--------------
...just wait until ya see us put some milled mineral-water in one end of a polypipe, add a bunch of Fairbanks sewage 60miles downline, add HCCP's CO2 120miles later, add electricity in the polypipe, add geothermal heat, and eventually end up with a network of polypipes spurting a constant delivery of oyster larvae all over the coast.
..ok, now it's back to the 21Century where you can be just as miserable as when you woke up this morning..........
The Bankster Bailout is an End of Empire Going Out of Business ORGY...
what could be MORE transparent than that???
...maybe you never been to an ORGY before ???
Swiss banking experts have said, "Madoff could not have acted alone, the huge number of transactions required many many people in many different countries to pull this off".
....ever hear of Leo Wanta ??
he might be a hoax, but interesting story anyway
deltadoug - go for your solar panels; I sure do like mine. Not much help right now but March is just around the corner. March has been my best month with PV. Long daylight, clear skies, and lots of reflected light off the snow cover. My two Kyocera KC130TMs work just like a 20 amp battery charger. Too much cloud cover in the summer though. I need two more. With generator fuel @ $8 - $10 per gallon the PV panels sure do help.
Lakloey1, you don't need a wind farm, maybe just a single inexpensive wind generator or a few PV panels. Climate change is not a theory, unless you believe the "GAS-GODS". "They" are not enviro-wackos, they are highly educated scientists. And you don't "tend" to batteries, you charge them. Your completely illegitimate post is at best laughable, and at worst, believable by you and those who think like you. You probably live on the North side of Lakloey hill and are just deficient in vitamin D, but I bet that is the least of it. Get educated, or state in the beginning of your posts that you are uneducated so readers can skip over them and move on. I repeat, move on !!!
Crosswind, thanks for the post, I am either getting Kyoceras or Evergreens, not sure yet. Man, it sure is quiet up here !!
Power plants on post, base and Aurora all coal fired............what is the problem?
PolarSolar applications-------
When operating your PV-panels over snow the vertical angle of reflection is different than over water on the north side of a lake.
It's helpful to run a light meter up and down a tall pole..
a small 100milliwatt PV-panel long-wired to a digital-handheld-VOMeter works well too..
you might find one day your PV-panels work better 10feet above the snow, and 20feet above the snow the next day.
in summer you can make imitation snow with a big roll of white plastic sheeting laid on the ground in front of the PV-panels.
remember to treat the glass on your PV-panels with Rain-X
DistantThunder: Like that with the liquid coal plant. Can be easily converted for other uses. Maybe we'll get some nice insulated concrete parking garages so the vehicle can be turned-off instead left running?
What we all need is a decent solution to our energy issue here in Fairbanks with no strings attached.
You're all right about nobody listening to articles like these, especially when we're at -30 to -60F below zero. But then again, Thank God I don't live inside Fairbanks city!
What we all need is a decent solution to our energy issue here in Fairbanks with no strings attached.
[ roger that, rogerx !! ]
Yup, AAC-cement is a goodie for Fairbanks.
The geologic Limestone-Line that runs from south of ManleyHS to LimePeak NE of Livengood is a natural wonder.
Which makes me naturally wonder why we don't mix the limestone with HealyCoal by using polypipe made from AK-ethane.
A utility corridor of a buried cluster of polypipe that runs from Healy to Livengood in a straight line.
HCCP was originally designed to use some limestone additive to the fuel to mitigate emissions..
some of the engineers who built it were on the right track..
it seems it just needs some more twiddling by somebody who is pretty good at metal-art.
KISS
..it's so simple a caveman can do it
deltadoug-Higher education is not an indicator of intelligence or of common sense. Many over educated individuals tend to think quite highly of themselves and become boorish and snobby. Climate change is not a theory. However manmade global warming is. Many scientists now believe that the theory is incorrect. They too must be suffering from Vitamin D deficiencies. As a mater of fact I love on the south side of Lakloey Hill.
You really do think a lot of yourself for someone from delta.
Lakloey1, you make it so easy for me. I'm glad you think I am over educated, but I am not, just well read and properly educated. I hope, along with everyone else, that man-made global warming is just a theory. However, to do something socially "right" not only helps out at least a little, but also clears the conscious. I am also happy that you "love" on the south side of the hill. Maybe you would benefit from a couple PV panels. Never mind, you have to "tend" to those too !! Shucks, I guess you'll have to stick with coal and diesel. My education extends well past Delta High School, but your comment did get me thinking about some good people that have come from there, thank you for that.
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