heres one you dont hear about....
We all know that coal is one of the bigget vilians when it comes to global warming. We all hear the talk about phasing out coal powered electricity plants.Well, I was on the rail trail by my house today and I found a piece of coal. it's actually very interesting stuff.It was formed when vegetable /organic material was covered by an inland sea during the carbonifeous period. Because it was not exposed to air, the carbon didn't oxidize. Over time and under pressure, very simply, it turned into coal. Pennsylvania has a great deal of coal. In fact, Pennsylvania holds 97 % of Anthracite reserves: 15 billion tonnes. (Don't forget too, the first oil well was in Titusville PA!) Anyway- here I am thinking about all the things that burn coal. Some homes, power plants, a few antique trains and I'm sure a few other things. Then, I started thinking about my home state of PA. And I started thinking about Centralia, PA. I have been fascinated by Centralia since I was a kid.Cetralia is on fire. it has been since 1962.You can't see the fire though, because it is underground. It is a coal fire. In 1962, a trash fire ignited an exposed seam of coal and it went underground, burning coal. It's still burning today.Today the fire is estimated at 3700 acres. And pumping out CO2 like nobodys business. Frighteningly, there are 45 other mine fires burning uncontrolably in PA alone. I tried to find data on CO2 production estimates from these fires, but came up empty. I did, however, read about a coal fire in China that has been burning for many years as well. It burns 200 million tons of coal per year. And that one Chinese fire (again, one of many) produces slightly more CO2 than every car in the US combined. Per year. It is estimated China has over 100 such mine fires burning out of control. As is the case in the US, officials feel the only recourse they have is to let them burn until there is no more coal in them.Centralia is estimated to have another 100 years worth of fuel. The reason I posted this was to ask if anyone knows whether there is more CO2 data on this subject ( and also because I figure not everyone knows about this issue). I have no idea whether there is any solution, but it is a CO2 source you never hear about. if anyone can offer anything or any links, please do! Have a Happy New Year!

Hey York,

Interesting subject to learn about. Here's a link mentioning a 1-3% of global CO2 emissions caused by all of China's fires:

http://www.newstatesman.com/200711290024

I think CO2 from coal fires are a serious concern.

Thanks York! That was what I was getting at...NEW material to analyze and discuss! Always supply the new materials...but I have been screaming about coal for quite some time now!...Living on the Ohio side of the PA border most of my life, you don't have to tell me about Titusville...How about Oil City?...or the QUAKER STATE refinery in WVA?...Many people do not realize how much OIL was found for use in Pennsylvania! When folks think of OIL then Texas comes immediately into focus...One of the FIRST oil wells that actually sprouted out west was in Tulsa, OK...(actually Red Fork...I can show you that FIRST well...)Then the suburb cities around Tulsa were shown as the richest find in this nation! Cities like Glenpool, Bixby, and Kiefer were all 'oil' towns...then of course Texas realized if Oklahoma has OIL then that ocean of petroleum was also under the Lone Star State...The PROBLEM is when ALL of that OIL was found, we thought it would last forever...but the supply dwindled over time from lack of conservation...but how were WE to know then that this nation would end up depending on foriegn oil? That the DEMAND would become THAT big? :?:

And you don't have to tell me about Centralia either...knew for years that town was 'on fire' underground...WVA also has high amounts of coal in tonnage...The PROBLEM is for every TON of anthracite coal we have TONS of bituminous coal that is full of sulfur and unclean...we NEED to find better ways of using coal, because unfortunately no matter HOW much you SCRUB the exhausts it still ends up dirty...the BEST use for coal in my opinion is the production of 'coal tar' and 'coke'...because Reagan pretty much disassembled our steel making capabilities in the 80's by letting Japan & Germany flood us with steel...the steel mills closed (like USX and Youngstown Sheet & Tube along with Colt Industries Crucible plant and MANY others) the NEED for 'coke' lessened...today if we HAD to produce our own steel for industrial, military, and consumer goods like cars then we would be in trouble... :!:

As for underground coal fires like Centralia and in China...it is actual 'stupidity' to allow them to continue to burn out of control...ALL that coal using 'innovation' can become quite an energy resource...not to mention ALL that 'coal tar' being wasted by letting it go 'up in a plume of smoke'.... :wtf:

Gee, York! I'll bet you thought you were dealing with just ANOTHER STUPID GORE SUPPORTER! :wtf: