'Coal plants will cause premature deaths'

[rooster59]

'Coal plants will cause premature deaths'

BANGKOK: COAL PLANTS in Thailand cause an estimated 1,550 premature deaths every year, according to new research by Harvard University and Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

That number could climb to 5,300 a year if plans to expand electricity production by building new coal-fired plants go ahead, the study found.

The report, "The Human Cost of Coal", is the first of its kind and looks at illnesses and deaths associated with Thailand's coal-fired power plants. Figures are based on state-of-the-art atmospheric modelling techniques deployed by a research team at Harvard University.

A proposed "clean coal" power plant in Krabi could cause 1,800 premature deaths over an operating life of 40 years, according to the report. With BLCP and Gheco-One plants at Map Ta Phut, Rayong, the number of premature deaths is projected to climb to over 14,000.

The report comes in the wake of an aggressive move by the Energy Ministry and Egat (the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand) to build an additional 7.43 gigawatts of coal power plants under the Power Development Plan 2015.

"Emissions from coal-fired power plants form particulate matter and ozone that are detrimental to human health. Our results show that planned coal expansion could significantly increase pollution levels across Southeast Asia. The health cost of air pollution cannot be ignored when deciding Thailand's energy future," Shannon Koplitz, lead researcher for Harvard, said.

Lauri Myllyvirta, a coal and air pollution specialist with Greenpeace International, said: "Global trends show that coal consumption is in decline. Coal use in the US, China and EU is falling fast and new electricity generation is based predominantly on renewable energy. China has covered its electricity consumption growth entirely with non-fossil sources since the end of 2011.

Chariya Senpong, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said that as a participating country in a global deal negotiation at the Conference of the Parties in Paris this December, Thailand could play a significant role in accelerating the region's energy transformation and the shift away from coal and other fossil fuels.

"It's clear that coal-fired power is bad for the nation's health, environment, energy security and international standing.

"Now is the time for Thailand to commit to truly secure, safe, clean and Thai-based renewable energy options," Chariya said.

The report is part of a Harvard University research series looking at the level of morbidity and mortality associated with coal power plants in Southeast Asia. It follows a recent study by Harvard and Greenpeace Southeast Asia called the "Human Cost of Coal-Indonesia".

That study placed the estimated annual premature deaths in Indonesia as a result of coal-fired power plants at 28,300. It emphasised the need for an immediate shift to renewable energy in Indonesia.

A similar report launched in September showed that coal plants in Vietnam are causing an estimated 4,300 premature deaths a year there.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Coal-plants-will-cause-premature-deaths-30273421.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-21

[seajae]

so its been ok for non asian countries to burn coal since they realized it could be used to generate power but now they are trying to lambast Thailand etc, countries that dont have the wealth/technology of western countries into not using it. We are all aware of global warming but trying to say that these plants will kill locals is a pretty p*ss poor thing to do when they refuse to do it to their own countries especially when the poorer countries need to be able to generate electricity at a greater rate for its people at a reasonable cost and one they can maintain without having to rely on other countries. You only have to look at the blackouts we have during the hot weather to realize Thailand needs to generate more power, using coal is a start for them and they can always develop better ways in the future but at present they need to get power to the people now, not further into the future.

[shirtless]

I would be more worried about the radiation still spewing into the pacific ocean from Fukushima , this is slowly poisoning the whole world and its food chain, What about Indonesia, those fires are from coal under the earth they have been burning for 5 years , poisoning most of SE asia,

[Hawk]

Coal has caused millions of deaths already!

[Reigntax]

Coal has caused millions of deaths already!

Its use has also caused many to live a better quality of life.

Unfortunately, from the time every living thing is born, they are also dying. It just depends what gets you first.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Reigntax

[elgordo38]

Clean coal is a good source of electricity providing it is "serviced" properly. Sadly serviced is a foreign word here in the LOS. Another coal burning Titanic. Things always done on the cheap here.

[F4UCorsair]

Greenpeace is involved. That's a cause for concern in itself. Mix them up with a university operating on a grant, and it's a recipe for misrepresentation at best.

[Lampang2]

Coal kills.

As easy as that.

Lot of people suffering from astma in Lampang area.

This being blamed on farmers.

Beacuse the are visible and the plant is not.

[Nuddy]

Yes coal is bad alright, I have to say that. Maybe I lose credibility on that but really what would you have the Thai's do. Maybe they can build a nuclear power station?

I have written on this before, I see coal, with the filtration systems in place as the lesser of the two evils. Yep solar is the answer of course but it only works half the time.

They can burn oil of course as they do but its all the same. The problem is that the technology does not exist yet to Efficiently store and feed out electricity when the sun goes down. Solve that and there will be no more coal, oil or nuclear power stations. Sure Teslor is working on that but it has a long way too go. Producing solar cells and related equipment to the solar produces crap as well. The best option, not practical of course, is to buy in solar from other countries, and power storage facilities that have not been perfected yet! Meanwhile let the coal power station be built! Let the people have the electricity.

[bazza40]

Clean coal is a good source of electricity providing it is "serviced" properly. Sadly serviced is a foreign word here in the LOS. Another coal burning Titanic. Things always done on the cheap here.

Clean coal is junk science. Thermodynamically impossible. You might as well argue the feasibility of perpetual motion machines. Do you have an example of a process that operates at 100% efficiency?

In layman's terms, burning coal produces carbon dioxide. If you take the energy cost of capital equipment, capture, storage, transport and deep well injection, there will always be a deficit. It's called entropy.

It doesn't matter how good the "servicing" is. Clean coal is up against the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which has never been beaten. And I have yet to see a so-called "clean coal" plant declared a success.

[soalbundy]

Clean coal is a good source of electricity providing it is "serviced" properly. Sadly serviced is a foreign word here in the LOS. Another coal burning Titanic. Things always done on the cheap here.

Clean coal is junk science. Thermodynamically impossible. You might as well argue the feasibility of perpetual motion machines. Do you have an example of a process that operates at 100% efficiency?

In layman's terms, burning coal produces carbon dioxide. If you take the energy cost of capital equipment, capture, storage, transport and deep well injection, there will always be a deficit. It's called entropy.

It doesn't matter how good the "servicing" is. Clean coal is up against the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which has never been beaten. And I have yet to see a so-called "clean coal" plant declared a success.

I cant see why they need to burn coal, my electricity comes out of the plug, everybody should have plugs.

[BSJ]

As soon as I saw greenpeace had something to do with it I knew the elastic use of the truth would be evident in no short time.

[Gonsalviz]

Foreign NGOs are at work.

[willyumiii]

Clean coal is a good source of electricity providing it is "serviced" properly. Sadly serviced is a foreign word here in the LOS. Another coal burning Titanic. Things always done on the cheap here.

"Clean Coal" is a myth started by the coal industry.

It is only a consept, ot theory.

It does not exist.

Coal, all coal is the dirtiest fossil fule on earth.

If USA can not utilize the "Clean Coal consept"...

How could anyone expect Thailand to make it work?

[willyumiii]

Coal is the worst fossil fuel on earth.

It has the highest Co2 immisions of any fuel.

There is no such thing as "clean coal".

If Thailand needs to produce more electricity, Thailand should build dams for flood control, drought prevention and the production of hydro electric power.

[ggt]

"Clean Coal" is an oxymoron...there is no such thing as clean coal...

Coal dust...so small that it cannot be seen by the naked eye...causes black lung disease...over time...

This problem is real...and as yet steps to reduce coal dust has not been met with satisfactory results...

It becomes an emotional issue for those whose livelihood depends on coal...

[Reigntax]

Coal is the worst fossil fuel on earth.

It has the highest Co2 immisions of any fuel.

There is no such thing as "clean coal".

If Thailand needs to produce more electricity, Thailand should build dams for flood control, drought prevention and the production of hydro electric power.

Of course it has the highest Co2 emmisions. It is natures purest form of carbon. Carbon can only change state through complete combustion to Co2 or incomplete combustion to Co.

It cant wake up one morning and decide it wants to be a hydrogen molocule and grow up to eventually be water.

As for hydro electricity there are a few important requirements missing, available head, hence velocity and volumetric flow rates.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Reigntax

[Reigntax]

Coal kills.

As easy as that.

Lot of people suffering from astma in Lampang area.

This being blamed on farmers.

Beacuse the are visible and the plant is not.

But is is strange how coal technology used in power stations which allowed the supply of affordable electricity to everyone, allowed industrial advances over the last 100 years and during this time the average life expectancy has increased by almost 30 years, is now blamed on causing death.

Cake and eat it comes to mind.

[halloween]

Greenpiss pushing their little agenda again. No mention of the emissions difference between lignite and the proposed anthracite stations. No mention of the number of people likely to be living under the exhaust plumes of the new stations, likely to be quite small due to the locations.

But plenty of diversions to CO₂ rather than the dust mentioned in the report.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts have been removed.

[Srikcir]

"Coal use in the US, China and EU is falling fast and new electricity generation is based predominantly on renewable energy."

A misleading statement at best.

The USA has been using natural gas fracking to replace coal usage and turned coal production into primarily an export. Yes, the USA has ben building large solar and wind energy projects but with massive tax credits and cash grants to make them profitable for private industry. Essentially, alternative nonfossil generated energy is still in a R&D stage and cannot provide base load reliance necessary for electrical grid delivery. USA is focued on nuclear fusion for long-term energy generation.

EU imports over 50% of its energy, largely from Russian natural gas. Now with Russia attempting to use its NG as a political weapon, EU is turning to other energy sources including nuclear energy in its future energy mix.

China has embarked on a massive nuclear energy program to replace coal-fired power plants. It currently is building over 20 plants with 30 more being planned.

[waldroj]

With due respect to the Harvard study, despite its findings (based on modelling), the fact is that increasing demand for electricity is unstoppable!

"Emphasising" a shift to renewables, fails to deal with the realities of providing an affordable and reliable source of electricity to communities and industry in developing countries.

The solution truly remains a classic "wicked problem"!

Without coal, what other fuel do you use?

Choose from other fossils, hydro, nuclear, renewables?

Depending on the country, some fuels are cheaper than others, some are impractical or not available, some are too dangerous, yet all (with maybe the exception of geothermal energy) have impacts on the environment when used to generate electricity!

[Stocky]

"Coal plants will cause premature deaths"

This is sensationalist scaremongering of the worst sort. The report gives no details as to how premature these deaths are, there is no baseline data of life expectancies against life expectancy after the power plant was built; the report uses data from the existing Rayong coal-fired power plants as a basis for this study. It estimates emissions from the two existing power plants at Rayong to be responsible for 360 premature deaths per year, how premature, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years or more we're not told. Please note that the impacts for Rayong were modelled over a 1500km x 1500km domain covering Thailand as well as Cambodia and the southern parts of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. There are approximately 150 million people living within this domain. So that's 360 people who die prematurely by possibly a year or two out of 150 million. The projections for the Krabi power plant is for 45 premature deaths per year.

There are far, far greater risks facing people every day in Thailand, particulates from coal-fired power stations are the very least of them.

As far as concerns over greenhouse emissions, Greenpeace ought more properly concentrate on getting the developed world, the countries that can best afford it, to stop using coal rather than picking on a country like Thailand.

The actual report is here:

http://www.greenpeace.or.th/Thailand-human-cost-of-coal-power/en.pdf

[Lampang2]

Gigantic solar plants being built in Lampang area.

[Narratio]

I cant see why they need to burn coal, my electricity comes out of the plug, everybody should have plugs.

Laughed my self silly when I read this. Reminded me of being back in Saudi in the 80's where we poor oilfield engineers had to teach the engineering summer interns about our disciplines, mine being electrical engineering. I asked the youngsters where electricity came from and the reply was "It comes from Allah!". After the slack jawed moment and a head shake I rephrased the question asking where do the room lighting come from. The reply was, 'From the wall switch" and a spirtied debate broke out in Arabic as some disagreed and said that the plus also gave electricity and, what's more, it was better electricity...

So yes, I agree, plugs. Everybody should have plugs.

[h90]

Clean coal is a good source of electricity providing it is "serviced" properly. Sadly serviced is a foreign word here in the LOS. Another coal burning Titanic. Things always done on the cheap here.

Nuclear power is way better....but maybe not in Thailand.

Thailand could easily cut off the peak consumption with solar cells: The time when most aircons run is the time when the sun brings most power. That may save 1 coal plant.

Having proper insulation would bring a short time economic grow (must be produced and installed) and may save another coal plant.

(instead of burning the coal, I would rather build Fischer-Tropsch factories like China does so less money goes to crazy countries)

[taff33]

Where I live in the Lampang area there is open cast mining,they are taking out coal and "rocks "for the making of cement,is there any law/rules for how close they can work/extract to the local villages.

[katana]

Gigantic solar plants being built in Lampang area.

Interesting. Morocco has recently made progress in that direction too:

Moroccan solar plant to bring energy to a million people

A giant plant using energy from the Sun to power a Moroccan city at night will open next month.

The solar thermal plant at Ouarzazate will harness the Sun's warmth to melt salt, which will hold its heat to power a steam turbine in the evening.

The first phase will generate for three hours after dark; the last stage aims to supply power 20 hours a day.

Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34883224

Edited November 23, 2015 by katana

[The Deerhunter]

Gigantic solar plants being built in Lampang area.

And an absolute monster in operation some where on the way to Khon Kaen from Korat. Saw it again a few weeks ago. I had forgotten how big it was.

[willyumiii]

The entire world needs to get over it's fossil fuel addiction.

All fossil fuels cause premature death, and are very unhealthy for the enviornment as well.

The corporations who make billons providing fossil fuels have bought our governments and do everything they can to prevent us from not relieing on fossel fuels for our every day lives.

The science is here today, we can get all the energy we need without fossil fuels now..

It is still financially more expensive, but like every new developement, the cost is dropping fast.

The new sources of energy are far less expensive as far as damage to health and the enviornment.

Damn the corporations.

Start choosing governments who refuse to be bought by corporations.