Quote:
Originally Posted by RWebb
Once again... the above does NOT take into account the health costs from burning coal, much less transporting it.
Coal contains mercury, and Hg is a neurotoxin.
There are lots of other problems with coal too - ash disposal, CO2 emissions, strip mining or mountain top removal; deep shaft mining entails pollution and risks as well
burning coal to make electricity is about like burning dirt
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Actually I believe levelized cost does consider fuel transportation costs. I am with you on coal generation though. The sooner we eclipse it with cleaner technology the better. Nat gas, nuke, geothermal all have a proven 50 year history of clean generation in the US in addition to wind and solar without a bunch of human side effects.
In small rural towns in India, solar panels might be useful as long as they have NG or other fuel generation for when the sun goes down and they want lights. Energy storage is the achilles heel of solar.