Coal news and updates

Coal mining versus UCG in Bangladesh

Media reports say that the government is considering withdrawing the compulsory conditions for installations of solar panels on the rooftops of the newly-developed residential buildings in urban areas as a precondition to getting grid power connections.

The noble idea for popularising solar energy seems to be heading towards a u-turn, to the frustration of many. It is true that there were problems from the very beginning. The solar panel installation initiative on the rooftop have rather played havoc on system management and resulted in unnecessary financial losses for the people who were compelled to install the solar panels on their rooftops. The poor-quality equipment and battery supplied by the selected suppliers with unholy alliances with a section of officials of the power distribution companies created a negative impression on solar energy potential and its use. Unfortunately, the regulators failed to ensure that the solar systems installed on the rooftops secure power generation and the supplied equipment and accessories meet quality standards.

Now the government plans to revisit the provisions for compulsory requirement of installation of solar panels on the rooftop for providing grid power connections. As reported, Power Cell, the wing of the Ministry of  Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has carried out a survey which revealed that the compulsory solar panel installation on the urban residential building rooftops failed to add mentionable power generation capacity, although approximately 25,300 power consumers were compelled to install solar panels on their rooftops. The added cost of solar panel installation has been transferred to apartment owners and in most cases, the installed solar panels did not add electricity for the apartment building consumption. Also the batteries supplied with the solar power system do not last long and they are adding burden to waste management systems for the cities and towns as no sustainable recycling mechanism for the unusable batteries are available to the customers.

Similarly, though our policymakers have been repeatedly saying that the role of renewable energy in our power system will have 10 per cent contribution within 2020, we see little initiatives have been taken so far, especially for enhancing the role of commercial energy generation and supply in the power grid systems from the renewable sources.

Hydroelectricity, a renewable energy, has nearly 2.5 per cent contribution to our power generation systems.

CONTROVERSIES OVER MINING COAL: Coal development from local sources has been discouraged on the plea that the available technology for mining coal will affect land use.  Some activists in the energy sector advocate for 'underground coal gasification' and 'coal seam gas' exploitation initiatives to harness the energy from the considerable reserve of coal discovered in the country. The suggestion is based primarily on the myth that renewable energy and 'underground coal gasification' technologies do not have negative environmental impacts! Apart from technological limitations these energy options are challenging from the affordability point of view.

A recent study report released by the Australian institute -- TAI termed the coal seam gas (CSG) industry a 'myth' disagreeing with the fashionable advocates for 'Fracking the Future.' The coal seam gas industry frequently claims that using coal seam gas to generate electricity is up to 70 per cent cleaner than coal. The Guardian report (March 17, 2014) suggests that TAI survey in Australia found that the wastewater extracted from the coal seam in the process of fracking (fracturing underground coal seam through drilling from surface and circulating water mixed with chemicals under huge pressure for creating fractures in the seam for opening more surfaces and for enhancing permeability in the seam of coal to help release the methane gas which are usually adsorbed in coal) for extracting coal seam gas contains among others the drilling fluids and chemicals. These drilling fluids usually stored in specially prepared ponds but leaks and spills to contaminate the water bodies and environment. In addition the TAI report revealed that the coal seam gas production would not bring down the gas price. The Guardian report refers to the TAI study which examined the claims that 'the CSG mining was economically beneficial and better for the environment than other types of mining, both of which were rejected.' According to TAI the 'gas industry had been "prolific" in putting out claims about CSG's economic benefits while at the same time staying almost completely silent on the health and environmental risks.'

The issue of land scarcity is often put against mining initiatives and the gas industries claim that the CSG can co-exist with farming. But people who know the technology understand that the CSG development requires infrastructure facilities to connect wells with access roads, water management facilities, gas processing facilities, compressor stations, pipelines to power stations and gas transmission terminals. Coal seam gas requires an ever expanding network of wells to make such endeavours commercially viable. Over time, this will require a large area to be made available for the wells and associated infrastructure. Depending on the environment, the impact on the surface can undermine the agricultural productivity of an area or significantly disrupt the ecosystems and environmental values. Coal seam gas development cannot co-exist with intensive farming operations. With the development of CSG project a large section of farmland will become unavailable for conventional agricultural practices, forests will be cleared and fragmented, and residential communities and growth centres will become industrialised.

Therefore, CSG should not be considered as an alternative to mining coal and an easy substitute for primary energy solution.

Source: www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com