Map of coal and oil-fired power plants in the United States

In 2010, coal-fired power plants represented 45% of the electricity generated in the United States and oil a smaller amount, 1%. Combined together they are the dominant air polluters and facing tough new restrictions from the EPA. Unfortunately, they have a few years to clean-up and that doesn’t help if you live in one of …

How old are U.S. power plants?

We have an aging fleet of power plants: 51% of all generating capacity is 30+ years old. 73% of all coal plants are 30+ years old 24 out of 25 oldest plants (60+ years) are hydropower Nearly all nuclear plants are 20+ years old Here is a graphic from EIA with more detail. The pie …

The United States continues to go green – CO2 emissions near 1990 levels

CO2 emissions in US drop to 20-year low In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators …

Wind is cheaper than coal? — Fact checking this statement

The other day I heard in passing, “wind is now cheaper than coal.” If true, this symbolizes the holy grail of renewable energy. It would mean that a turning point for not only cleaner energy, but global warming, climate change, pollution, foreign oil dependence, and more. To fact check this, I pulled up the top …

Why do experts always lowball clean energy projections?

Last month, Michael Noble of Fresh Energy put up a fascinating list of projections made by energy experts around 2000 or so. Suffice to say, the projections did not fare well. They were badly wrong… What should we take from this? The projections weren’t just off, they were way off. You can find similarly poor projections from the ’70s that …

Coal power plants are going offline, in favor of Natural Gas plants

“In the past year, coal plants have been facing a perfect storm of falling natural gas prices, a continued trend of high coal prices and weak demand for electricity,” Susan Tierney wrote in the report. Tierney wrote that those factors have combined to make coal a less desirable fuel source. Coal-generated electricity has been waning …

Apple, Amazon, & Microsoft build data centers around dirty energy

The current explosion in cloud computing offered by major IT companies is driving significant new demand for dirty energy like coal and nuclear power, according to a new report from Greenpeace International. The report, “How Clean is Your Cloud?” shows a growing split within the tech industry between companies that are taking steps to power …

Over 100 coal plants have closed in U.S. – since last year

Two utilities announced the planned closure of nine coal plants in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, bringing total retirements (executed and planned) since January 2010 past the 100 mark to 106. A combination of high domestic coal prices, low natural gas prices, new air quality regulations, coordinated activist pressure, and cost-competitive renewables are making …