by Wallace McMullen
New Coal Rush
DOE has provided information that a multitude of new coal burning power plants are proposed in the Midwest. 49 new power plants are proposed in the 13 Midwest states, representing a total investment of over $40 billion if all are built. The output of all the proposals would be approximately 30,000 MW/hour.
Environmentalists fear that this “New Coal Rush” may eliminate the market for clean wind power with a flood of cheap, dirty electricity from the coal developers if many of these plants are built. Even North Dakota, frequently characterized as the “Saudi Arabia of Wind,” has new coal burning power plants proposed.
Proponents of coal-fired electricity argue that it is cheap and abundant. They tend to ignore the major contribution that coal burning power plants make to global warming. Missouri’s coal-fired power plants emitted over 80 million tons of CO2, a greenhouse gas, last year.
More information on the “New Coal Rush” can be found on the Internet at http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/publications/General_Interest/New_Coal_Plants_072505.pdf.
Tall Tower Wind Study
Missouri DNR’s Energy Center has been working on a study of wind energy in Missouri at the heights appropriate for utility scale development of wind energy. Sufficient funding commitments to start the project were obtained from US Department of Energy, and two utilities, Ameren and Aquila. The data collection and mathematical analysis will be performed by the University of Missouri-Columbia.
A conceptual agreement on the project was reached in March, 2005. In August, 2005, a Memo of Agreement between the University and the Department of Natural Resources was signed. This contract will produce data and analysis from six sites at heights of 50 and 100 meters (328 feet).
Two more utilities have agreed to fund tall tower wind studies as a result of recent rate cases. Kansas City Power and Light and Empire district have each agreed to fund studying two additional sites, bringing the total sites to ten. These additional sites will add results from western and northern Missouri to the project.
This study will provide firm data on wind power, which may encourage the use of wind for large-scale generation of electricity in Missouri in the future.