Get Outside!

 

I get asked from time to time as a function of some of my volunteer work about what it takes to get into camping, where to go, is it expensive etc. So, I thought I’d take this post and talk through the top five concerns I’ve heard through the years.

Question 1:

Isn’t it expensive to get all that camping stuff?

Answer 1:

Nah. I mean you can blow all the money you could ever want on camping gear, but in actuality you don’t really need much. This is especially true if you are going on your first outing. In fact, for the first outing I always recommend that would be campers borrow the gear they think they need from a friend or family member.  Camping isn’t for everyone, but everyone should try it at least once in their life. I’m going to say this again, don’t spend a ton of money upfront. A simple tent works just as well as the high dollar ones. If you waterproof it before heading out and have a good set of stakes and a hammer to draw it down well to the ground, then you will do just fine.  You should grab a simple tarp that is large enough to set your entire tent on before steaking it down. You will need some sort of a sleeping bag to throw in the tent. Preferably one that is going to keep you warm during the season that you plan on being out. You can get by just fine with simple foods like sandwiches and fruit, which means you don’t have to buy any cooking tools! Some beverages get thrown in the same cooler as the food. Bring something to start a small fire and a tool to either cut up some wood or bring it cut and split with you. You need some personal hygiene stuff of course, even for a single night out, but you can decide what you really need there. Finally, you need a place to go. If you don’t have access to any rural areas to setup a night camp, then a state or private park might be you next best options. Single night passes in state parks are reasonably priced between 10 and 20 dollars in most cases.

Question 2:

How do you know where to go?

Answer 2:

There is no hard and fast rules on where to go camping. I’ve camped in federal lands, state parks, private parks, in pastures, in the woods, in the mountains, in the desert, and on the beach. It truly is up to you. The only thing to know is what resources are near where you are interested in going and what type of terrain do you want to try out. Importantly though, think about your own health and physical ability. If you live on the coastal plains and decide to drive up to Colorado to camp, you will find that your body isn’t ready for it. High altitude camping can be rough if you are not in decent physical shape and in overall good health. The same can be true for most any terrain depending on seasons. Your best bet is to go online and google “camping near me.” There is a plethora of information online about potential campgrounds, state park camping, sometimes you can even find posting for camping on someone’s land that might be near you. These can be some of the coolest trips since you get to meet new people that are likely very well-seasoned in the camping and outdoors living, without the feeling that you are still in the city or surrounded by too many others.

Question three:

How do I learn how to camp?

Answer three:

You learn as you go in most cases. I had my first camping trip with my grandparents when I was about 7 in the family camper. It was awesome, but it was “glamping” to be sure. What I did learn from that first trip was plan. Plan everything out you need up front, then double check that.  In my cases I had forgotten to throw anything in my bag to entertain myself. So, while I hardly noticed since I did remember my fishing pole and tackle, it still would have been nice to have some cards, or games to play when the sun went down. In stead there was just lots of talking. As I’ve gotten older, I realized that the talking and the memories were worth far more than any games would have been. But a good book and a light to read by once you settle down for the night can be a peaceful end to the evening. Also, if you have a friend that goes camping, just ask to tag along once. This is by far the most common way folks learn the basics. That said, no two people camp the same. We all develop our own little tricks and ways of doing things. So take it all in. Ask questions and learn if you get to go with someone who is more seasoned. 

Question four:

What do you do when you go camping?

Answer four:

Well in my case, I take a ton of pictures and make lots of notes. Admittedly I’m an environmental guy, so you could just sit me down in the middle of no where and I’d find rocks and critters to watch. Take pictures of, you name it.  If you are going with a friend or two, then you end up exploring more likely than not. If there is water around you, you will end up there at some point. Probably just staring at it when the sun gets low. You eat. You laugh. By the same token, I’ve done more than a few solo camp outings where its just me and my thoughts. Point to all of that is you can do pretty much anything that your heart desires. Just be respectful of the land and the people around you and you will do fine.

Question five:

Is it safe to be out camping?

Answer five:

Yes, it is very safe practice. I mean that comes with a bit of self-acknowledgement that you need to be aware of the area your camping in. Initially, until you would be a well-seasoned camper, you should probably be in an area with other campers within a reasonable shouting distance. That way if you hurt yourself or run into some sort of serious problem you can literally scream for help. The thing to remember is that the people around you are there for the same reasons you are, to disconnect from the daily grind, if even for only a while. In state and federal parks, they are patrolled by actual peace officers. Real cops, who took the extra step to learn environmental laws. They aren’t ones to come up and hassle you to be sure, but they are comforting to see driving or walking through once in a while, especially if you are perhaps a little nervous on your first couple of outings, or if you are going alone.  Speaking of safety, what you really need to be worried about is hurting yourself out on the trails, or getting bitten by a snake, or perhaps spider. Those are real concerns, and with proper training  you can handle those sort of issues to. ALWAYS pack a good first aid kit, know the number to the ranger station (assuming you have cellular service) and know where the location is nearest you of a hospital. Also, and this is especially true if you are going out alone, leave a detailed plan with a trusted friend or family member. Lay out what vehicle you will be in, along with a description of it and its license plate. Make a note of the path you will be taking to get to the area you are camping in, and most importantly in your plan spell out what day and general time you should be returning home. As your skill level increases in camping and outdoors living, you will still want to leave the plan with someone. Finally, just keep a level head about yourself. Know you limits. Know your strengths.

So yeah, there are the big five. I would encourage you to all get out, even if its just once to experience a camping trip. You sleep better. You feel better and I guarantee that you will appreciate the world just a little more after its done.

Until next time…

A day in the life of a water utility operator… Drinking Water Plant Operator Version.

Howdy y’all,

A friend suggested that one of my posts needs to be about a normal day for an water treatment operations professional. So, with that, let me share a little about what the normal water treatment operator does in his or her day. And yes, I said her.  I have had the pleasure of working with several female operators before, and without a doubt, they were some of the most competent operators I have ever known.

Once you arrive at your duty assignment, be that a surface water plant or groundwater pumping station or even the company shop, the first thing that you have to do is check in on what fell apart the night before. Now generally it will not be anything too terrible, but the normal fare of problems will mostly be telemetry system related or pump related. Occasionally there will be some calls from concerned citizens at 2 or 3 am wanting to know all about their water quality, those are sure to be fun call backs.

If you and your utility are lucky, nothing went sideways in the night, so it’s time to grab a cup of coffee or something similar and check out the work orders for the day.

Work orders are both a blessing and curse.  They are great for documenting what you do, but they are such pains in the butt when it comes to filing them. All utilities however demand work orders and tracking on them. It is the one main way that a utility shows its work effort, and indeed its needs during budget season. In the bad old days, our work orders were just print outs, but as technology has evolved and the role of the operator has become more and more infused with technology, the paper gave way to the computer or tablet.

Now that you have your work orders you can head out to get started on them.  Your coworker will start running the first of the shift samples on the water. First however, the process control lab equipment all has to be calibrated, and those results logged.  Any equipment not functioning properly must first be repaired or replaced before any samples can be run.  In general, an operator will spend about 45 minutes of the first hour grabbing samples and running process control analysis along with state and federal analysis.

While you are running analysis on the water, someone else will be filling up the “day” tanks for the shift.  These day tanks hold the allotment of chemicals that are expected to be used for the shift. Bulk chemicals are pumped or fed into these day tanks, where the amount added can be carefully measured to accurately count the chemical usage. In newer plants, these day tanks may be designed out, and instead computers monitor the feeding rates of the chemicals and record and report those to the operator constantly.

So now that you have managed to get your hands wet and bogged down in paperwork you get to go back and record all this data. As soon as you get that done, it’s time to get samples collected for the laboratory. Now, depending where you are, and what water you are treating there could be gallons of water to be collected from different locations around the plant.  If you work at a surface water plant, there will be more testing than that needed for groundwater only sources.

In many utilities, the plant operators also act as the radio dispatchers and phone operators. You will receive calls by phone for complaints, water leaks, cats up tree’s, neighbors who hate each other and want you to do something about it. Honestly, the list of odd and bizarre calls never ends. Once I had a customer called the utility I worked for. She was terribly upset that the water was too cold. Someone had given her the impression that we would warm her water up for her before it got to her home. Needless to say that was 30 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. All is well that ends well though, as the old saying goes.

From here you have samples every hour that must be taken for process control if you are in a surface water plant. That takes about 15 to 20 minutes each time.  In between those samples, the filters need to be washed and cleaned. These filters trap all the bad stuff in the water like cryptosporidium or giardia.  Those filters can run from a day or two up to maybe a week just depending on the water and the flow rate through each filter.  The way the world works however, you end up with 3 or 4 filters to wash on a normal shift. That process takes over an hour when you are a junior operator. By the time you have seasoned out, you can do it in 30 to 40 minutes, while dispatching calls on the radio and eating your lunch because you don’t actually get a scheduled time for that in most cases.

What you find is the job in many cases is routine. Things happen at specific times for specific reasons. You start or stop pumps to keep the system full. You work with maintenance staff to clean up the site on your free time. Take out the trash. Clean the bathrooms. You name it, you must do it.

As the shift starts to come to an end, you will most likely see the next shift of operators about 15 to 30 minutes before their scheduled time to start. In large facilities, this is the “pass on” period. Where the shift about to go off explains what they have done, what problems they had etc. to the shift about to come on duty. Logbooks are transferred, as are keys, radios all the tools of the trade.

Then finally that magic time rolls around, and you can punch out for the shift. Sadly, you will probably be back in 8 hours. As the years go by it has become harder and harder to keep utilities fully staffed. Staff will commonly work 8 to 16 hours a week of overtime to fill shortages in staff. The truth is that its not glamorous work. You will not be a social media influencer showing off pictures of you taking water samples. You will not get rich. You will miss many holidays, birthdays, and precious family moments because you are on shift or responding to an emergency call out.

Truly, very few folks know how much goes into making that water flow out their tap at any given time, and even fewer care. That is until the water isn’t flowing, then suddenly it’s a crisis of epic proportions. Over worked and under appreciated are the hallmarks of being a water treatment professional these days.

Until next time…

 

 

Voting when you’re a Libertarian…

Howdy all,

I could have sworn I updated this blasted thing just a few months ago…turns out that was two years ago. I swear even time isn’t passing correctly under the trump regime.

This, however, is the perfect opportunity to talk a little about voting. Hopefully, most Americans know we officially go to the polls in less than 30 days. Early voting has already begun in many parts of the country.  Its exciting. Its nerve racking. Its complicated. Its cumbersome. Well when I put it that way it doesn’t sound nearly as cool as it actually is. Make no mistake it is cool, and it’s the foundation of our system of government.

When you are a libertarian, you really are never happy about the candidates that come from the right or left. You often see them as much the same thing, just painted a different color. In your mind, government has a well laid out set of things it needs to do, and plenty of things that it should never do. You expect that government is thrifty with your hard-earned money and that when questioned about its activity, the government will be honest about what has or has not happened. Finally, you do not believe that morals or ethics are ever to be handed down from up on high. Rather the ethics of the elected officials should always be open for public review.

But that said, we find ourselves in perilous times both as a nation and as individuals. Those expectations are well dead and gone at this point. From the federal level all the way down to the most backward and piss-ant of city councils have shifted much toward the authoritarian end of the spectrum over the last four years. There is a clear trend, especially to a government employee, that the ride is nearing the end of the cliff. A hard and fast correction is required. 

On the one hand, most people knew what trash trump and his clan were before he was elected. What seems to have surprised many, myself included, was how quickly the GOP rolled over and showed trump their belly…all in the name of winning and the power that came with it.

So that gets us to now. Now we are gripped in the thralls of a global pandemic that has not been managed by our government at all. Local cities or counties and even some states may do ok but there is no comprehensive plan for the nation. No supply chain stabilization. No nothing but hot air about how its no big deal that over 200,000+ of our brothers and sisters were taken by it. 

In short, we have to all recognize that we are in a situation where we need to think in terms of country over party. I find myself very clearly seeing that the only hope we have for this country is to vote blue through and through both in ‘20 and ’22. Joe was not my first choice for sure, but right now what we need is someone who is calm. Someone who doesn’t make policy decision on Twitter. Someone who will have smart advisors around and frankly a hell of a VP to bounce off a fresh perspective on whatever comes up.

We are going make it through this nightmare.

So first things first... Check your registration, see the link below. Make sure you have got a good face mask. Stand 6 feet apart or more if able. VOTE EARLY if you can. Do not wait for the big crowds. Also, one last thing to remember, your right is to vote for whomever you want to, even if that vote is for Donald. Do not let someone question you about who you are going to vote for or why. Report voter intimidation in Texas to the number below.

 

To report intimidation at the polls in Texas: 1-800-252-8683

If you live in another state, contact your local secretary of state to file a complaint.

https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote

https://www.votetexas.gov/your-rights/

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/contact.shtml

https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/election-crimes-and-security

 Until next time...

 

What the heck is climate change?

This go round in the blog I wanted to tackle climate change. Specifically, I want to explain why and how science has come to the point of knowing that climate change is real.

First things first, global warming isn’t the same thing as climate change. Global warming was the term used for several decades to address the rising temperatures that were being recorded.  It didn’t encompass the understanding that as some areas get hotter, some will get colder.  Some will get drier and some will get wetter.  In short, the term didn’t encompass the totality of climate, which all things from rainfall, temperature, cloud cover, and everything else you can imagine if it’s a weather event link up with.  So, the most correct term is climate change.  It relates that all things are linked and changes in one aspect will have ramifications for other aspects in the system.

Next, lets understand what the major component of the concerns of climate change centers around, carbon dioxide levels.  Since the industrial revolution there has been a sharp increase in global carbon dioxide levels that is showing now signs of leveling out or falling.  So why is this a problem? Simply put, carbon dioxide is one of the “greenhouse gases.” In the atmosphere it traps heat inside and doesn’t allow it to radiate back out into space.  Now in all fairness its only one chemical in the greenhouse family.  Another very major greenhouse gas is actually a vapor, water vapor.  Water vapor will allow heat to remain trapped near the surface of the earth and prevent it from radiating out just as carbon dioxide will.  We can’t do much about water vapor, but we can about carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of combustion of hydrocarbons in engines.  The process of combustion yields carbon dioxide which is exhausted out the tailpipe of the vehicle.  Additionally, carbon dioxide is released in the combustion of coal and natural gas in power plants.  Depending on the type of coal and the efficiency of the process 2,000 pounds of coal can yield upwards of 5,700 pounds of carbon dioxide.  Chemistry is a fickle mistress, and in this case because of the various inefficiency in the process and the material the combustion yields higher volumes of the pollutant in question.  I’ll include a few links at the bottom to the source material for more in depth reading.

So, knowing what we know now, how do we stop the process of loading CO2 in the atmosphere to the point where it causes climate change? Well, sadly we are past that point, what we can hope to do now is reduce the introduction of CO2 into the environment to the point where natural processes can sequester or trap more per day than we put into the system.  In this fashion the earth will be able to gradually pull the levels of CO2 back down and return to a more stable climate system over millions of years.  In most environmental and climate scientist’s opinions, 400 parts per million (ppm) was the magic number, so to speak.  We passed it a few years ago in 2015.  It was special because it’s the same level of CO2 the planet had on average over 3 million years ago.  It represented a truly historic level that mankind had never seen before.  In the grand view, its not a terribly high number and is probably in the “middle” of the concentrations the earth has seen over the majority of its time.  Doubtless there are periods well above 1,000 ppm   That said, the environmental conditions were different then, as were the plants and animals and even indeed the amount of water and ocean levels.  We do not have a frame of reference for how we, as a species, can fair in those conditions long term. What we do know is as the level of CO2 goes up the planet is getting hotter and that is driving climate change and sea level change.

Hopefully, at this point you are asking what can you do? Well the good news is there are lots of things that individuals can do to help reduce the amount of CO2 they release each day.  First, don’t waste electricity in the home or office.  That power generally comes from coal or gas fired plants.  Next, don’t let your vehicle rundown or operate in poor condition.  A well-tuned and maintained motor is more fuel efficient and produces less CO2.  Be mindful of plastics you purchase.  Plastics are made in a process that uses considerable heat to produce them, and as such needs large amounts of either electricity or fossil fuels to power those production systems.  Finally, toss the bottled water.  Bottled water uses fuel to get to you and is likely in a plastic bottle that produced carbon dioxide in its creation.  Use a refillable bottle for your daily consumption needs instead of packaged water. 

Until next time ~

Resources:

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

https://www.eia.gov/coal/production/quarterly/co2_article/co2.html

https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references

https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-the-world-passed-a-carbon-threshold-400ppm-and-why-it-matters

4th of July Friends

Good Lord it’s been a minute since I had time to write!

I always like to put some serious thoughts behind my blog posts, but life has a way of bogging you down.  That said, I find myself with a relaxing 4^th of July evening on my hands and decided that the ‘ol blog needed some love.

Doubtless if you’re in America you are getting to enjoy some 4^th celebration of one kind or the other.  Hopefully you are at least. 

I didn’t do much other than have some quality time in the gym and lunch with a few friends. As is our way, we talk about the sad state of affairs in US politics, goings on in our circle of mutual friends, work etc.  Of late however things have been down beat.  Our careers have us all overworked to say the least.  We collectively worry about our country.  We worry about our aging families. 

As we sat having a few drinks after lunch I had a moment of “I really needed this.” I needed a recharge of the soul I suppose.  

It’s an amazing thing, friends.  They are not like family at all. You can’t choose your family and someday's you sure wish you could.  Your friends though, that’s a whole different matter.  You get to choose people who are like you, who understand you and who when the chips are down will come running to be by your side.

I’m lucky, and so often I forget that fact. I need to work on remembering that more often.  I have some of the most amazing folks to call friends.  Today, I was reminded of that fact, and I’m glad I was.

In my circle, one friend is facing a divorce, another has lost a dear family member and through it all it seems that it’s never a pity party, it’s a how can we help party. Sometimes, you can’t do anything but lend a gentle ear and shoulder.  Sometimes you can do more, and with the bunch I run with, that’s a normal thing.

So, on this 4^th of July I wish you all a happy day. Remember what today represents, freedom from oppression and tyranny, the pursuit of liberty and self-determination. Remember that there are those who are not so lucky in either family or life situation. Set out tomorrow to help reinforce the reason for today.

Until next time.

Hey! Get out of my nuclear reactor control computer!

Howdy y’all.

Over the last few weeks you may have read that nuclear power plants have been “hacked” by nefarious operatives.  I’ve got bad news for you, it’s been going on for years, all across our critical infrastructure systems.  You are likely not sure how or why this is even possible.  So today's post will shed a little light on the subject.

Now before you go off and build that bomb shelter, lets first understand that just because a system was hacked, that doesn’t mean the operation or control was compromised.  Most control systems, sometimes called SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and Data Aquisition) have more than one level of authority and control in it.  So, gaining access to first, or second layer of the system may still not grant you control ability.

In the case of the nuclear power control systems there are multiple layers of access in the network.  There are physical constraints that protect the most sensitive systems and controls from other parts of the network.  I’m not saying that a hacker couldn’t get in and cause chaos and maybe even equipment damage; but the likelihood of starting a meltdown at the plant is next to impossible. 

The thing is, all of our critical infrastructure systems have been under cyber-attack for years.  And some of those attacks have been successful.  Water, wastewater, power, smart grids, even traffic control systems can have networked design and be “hackable” in some sense of the word.

Holy Crap!! So, what do we do?  Well, what we do is be diligent, alert and observant.  There are some amazingly intelligent and talented folks at the federal, state and local levels of government that help the operators of these facilities keep an eye out for cyber intruders, and even respond when something does happen.  Also, there are several companies state side that support those cyber security efforts both on and off equipment used in these control systems.  Some of the things those kids can do would make your head spin off.  Next there are groups or teams if you will, that are comprised of technical experts that deploy when an “event” happens to help get things back up and running as quickly as possible.  Finally, the professional operators who run these systems on a daily basis notice when things are out of the ordinary, it’s their job to make sure everything runs right at all times.

No system will ever be perfect, you can bet on that.  And given enough time and resources it’s fair to say that state sponsored hackers will cause some interruption in public services at some point.  It’s a reality that all of us in the critical infrastructure world understand and accept.

While I would never go into any detail into how we (the industry) would respond, rest assured there are plans in place.  Those plans aren’t just in some binder in a safe somewhere, they are trained on, adapted and developed as new threats emerge.  There are backups at the ready for the most urgent of systems.  Most importantly the men and women whose job it is to keep your lights on, your water flowing, and keep you safe take their jobs seriously.  They will, and have, always found a way to hold it all together when the unimaginable happens. 

All that said, its everyone’s job to be able to help themselves for a few days when bad things happen.  Don’t let yourself or your family become a statistic during a disaster.  The disaster or event really doesn’t make much difference, the preparation is much the same for any of them.  This is the part where I tell you to have 3-5 days of medications ready in a bag.  Have a few dollars in that bag to.  You will want a change of clothes or two.  Have a flashlight and some granola bars or MRE’s in there to.  You’ll need some water also, but its heavy so plan for a quart a day, you’ll need to ration some but that’s the exchange for the extra weight you won’t be carrying.  If you need to get up and get out, then grab that bag and get out.  Everyone in the family should have one of their own that meets their needs.

If you’re staying in your home, then have half a gallon of water per person at least.  Keep the can goods stocked up, and have a manual can openers handy.  Remember that toilet tanks and hot water heaters and supply sanitation water if needed.  Have plenty of candles, a few flashlights or lanterns, blankets and of course the required medications readily accessible.  Also, have some cards, board games, etc.  Distractions to pass the time are not a bad thing.  Finally, if you are a pet owner, you’ll need to have some food and water for them to. 

Most importantly however, know your neighbors.  Be part of your community, not just some person who lives down at the end of the road.  There is no debating that almost anyone would help a friend before a stranger, especially when the crap hits the fan.

Until next time.

https://www.ready.gov/

https://emergency.cdc.gov/

https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/90354

Clean Coal, (and other bed time fairy tales)

In recent weeks, if you live in America, you’ve heard a ton of how the coal industry has been oppressed under the Obama administration. You have heard that President (excuse me I just threw up a little) Trump is bringing back coal.  Putting them miners back to working their ass off, etc.  Well actually his tweet said minors, but whatever, I’m about 50% sure he means miners. 

In this post, I’m not going to get into the actual numbers of mining jobs, or how much coal is produced.  Nope, I’m going to talk about what “Clean Coal” is.  Sit back and relax as we toddle down the road of clean coal half truths and alternate facts!

First things first, what is Clean Coal?  Well, according to the Department of Energy, who I must point out is led by none other than ‘ol pointy boots himself Rick Perry, clean coal is a series of processes and technologies that make coal less harmful, help it produce more power, and other really nice sounding things.  The big-ticket item in clean coal is carbon dioxide capture or sequestration.   

Basically, burn the hell out of it, and pump the CO2 underground and hope for the best.  At no point in the process is the coal any less hazardous than it always was.  Clean coal should really be called “cleaner coal smoke” because that’s where whatever improvements in the process are can be found.  The exhausted gases if the system works as describe will be lower in CO2, and sulfur.  There could be some reduction in the heavy metals leaving the stack, but the majority of that is not from clean coal tech, but rather the stack scrubbers operating at higher levels of efficiency, or the scrubbing elements of the stack being improved in general.

While speaking of higher efficiency, clean coal tech reportedly is being used to make the process of power generation with coal more efficient.  Pushing the process to higher levels of efficiency is awesome, right? Well, there’s one problem with that statement, combustion has a maximum efficiency of that relates to the amount of oxygen present in the process.  That is the ONLY factor that can improve the process, assuming that the coal you have is the same type from one test to the other.  Now for the record, there are five primary types of coal they are peat, lignite, subbituminous, bituminous and anthracite.  In my geology studies, we didn’t count peat, since it is the parent material for coal, and not readily used in the coal energy production model for power generation.  In general, however they are harder and thus more energy packed per unit in the above respective order.  The hardness is related to how the coal formation was deposited, the amount of pressure and heat it underwent and the amount of plant material remaining in a sample. 

Anyway, so let’s say you have a pound of high quality West Virginia anthracite coal and you have a fire roaring along, then throw that coal in there.  In normal oxygen levels, that one pound of anthracite will produce 12,700 BTU’s, which are British Thermal Units.  Now, let’s say I start blowing air into the fire with a fan or some sort of apparatus.  The fire will get hotter because there is more air, i.e. we are in excess, and the combustion becomes more efficient.  At the end of the day this is great, but there is a limit on the efficiency of combustion.  Under most models that I’ve seen, the limit on the best coal burning power plant translates to around 60% efficiency, while some of the worst are down into the range of 15%.  Older plants, by in large were less efficient than newer plants.  The efficiency is also effected by the coal type burning, but again, that difference is minor compared to how the reaction is managed.

Now the clean coal folks would have you believe that gasification and other processes improve efficiency and while that statement isn't wrong per say, it’s not telling the whole story.  The process overall can be improved by using gasification in so much as it can reduce levels of sulfur or in some cases CO2 in the gas product BEFORE its reacted.  The process doesn’t improve the burn because again that is limited by the amount of oxygen present in the reaction chamber.  There is a point also where you can feed no more oxygen into the chamber and not start reducing the heat output because it’s being lost to all that air blowing in.

Long story short, clean coal is a lot of smoke and mirrors.  The coal itself is just as dirty and dangerous as it always was.  The men and women mining it are getting just as sick from black lung and all sorts of other aliments from the work as they always were.  The danger is that under the guise of science, the truth of their plight and the truth of coal is being hidden.  The real dangers are being overlooked in favor of profit margins and frankly the deaths of the miners and the illness that plague the communities is simply blood on the hands of the government who allows the use to expand and the people making money off the effort. 

Those who would deceive you have gotten really good at making the tech sound “sciency” and cutting edge.  And to be complexly fair some of it is novel and does help clean up the exhausted product, but nothing and I do mean nothing, can make the coal coming out of the ground less dangerous. 

Remember, the fight for our environment is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.  We all need clean air, clean water and clean land to survive, and no amount of political rambling and certainly no amount of hot air from the GOP and Trump can change the biology of survival.  Keep resisting!

Below you will find links to various sources that discuss coal, clean coal and the economics of it all.  

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/boiler-combustion-efficiency-d_271.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_gasification_combined_cycle

https://www.energy.gov/fe/science-innovation/clean-coal-research

https://energy.gov/fe/how-coal-gasification-power-plants-work

http://www.enn.com/energy/article/50625

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clean-coal-power-plant-ordered-to-run-on-natural-gas/article/2626794

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/22/news/economy/trump-jobs-claims/index.html?linkId=39089500

http://geology.com/rocks/coal.shtml

Until next time ~