CLEAN WIND TO DIG DIRTY COAL

Wind could power coal mines
Jeffrey Tomich, May 13, 2009 (St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Casper Star-Tribune)

"…Peabody Energy Corp.’s three Powder River Basin mining complexes in northeast Wyoming…aren’t just major sources of power plant fuel. The mammoth shovels, draglines and conveyors used to scrape away earth and transport coal to rail cars are also big electricity users.

"Like other businesses, the mining industry is constantly searching for ways to reduce energy costs. For Peabody, the world’s largest private sector coal producer, that quest has executives considering an unlikely option -- wind…Peabody is still in the early stages of its analysis and couldn’t say how many turbines it is considering or when a decision would be made."

It could be that Peabody wants to take advantage of one of the biggest natural resources in the West...(click to enlarge)

"Peabody is quick to note that it already benefits from low-cost electricity in Wyoming, fueled mostly by home-grown coal. But the company is also keenly aware of the state’s wind resources and is looking for ways to reduce its energy costs…Wyoming, which is easily the nation’s largest coal producer, also ranks No. 7 in the nation in wind energy potential…And wind energy development in the state is rapidly expanding.

"…[Gregory H. Boyce, Peabody’s CEO, recently said] the company supports the expanded use of all forms of energy…Still, the image of wind turbines spinning to help run the world’s largest coal mine -- Peabody’s North Antelope Rochelle mine near Gillette -- is ironic given the opposite positions that the coal and wind industries have been assigned in the debate over global warming and climate legislation."

...And it could be that Peabody knows it is running low on economically-recoverable coal. (click to enlarge)

"In fact, the development of wind farms in Wyoming and elsewhere could benefit the coal industry if it leads to the development of additional transmission capacity linking Plains states to larger cities…[C]oal-generated electricity is already being used to help build turbines and other components used in wind farms.

"Christine Real de Azua, a spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association in Washington, D.C., said the possibility of wind turbines helping power Peabody mines in the Powder River Basin illustrates the flexibility of wind energy…And while [AWEA] is urging Congress to adopt legislation that will help fuel expansion of the wind industry, perhaps at the expense of other energy technologies, [it] isn’t anti-coal…"