Evergreen Energy Inc EEE

Cleaning Up Lignite & K-Fuel Does This Job:

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K-Fuel Makes Lignite Useable: Ask TXU Test Results Were Great! Dependent on a Dirty Fuel German Coal Mines Thrive Despite Push for Cleaner Energy By Craig Whitlock Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, February 8, 2008; D01 ROHNE, Germany -- Underneath the marshy ground here is a huge deposit of cheap brown coal -- manna for a nearby power plant that is among the biggest emitters of global warming gases in Europe. The presence of the fuel may mean that this village and its 680 residents have to go, moved out by the unceasing demand for dirty fossil fuels. In recent years, Germany has made a large push into clean, renewable energy, and it is among the world's leading suppliers of wind and solar power. But like many European countries and the United States, it remains hooked on coal, its biggest source of energy. That reliance is projected to grow in coming years. Utilities are seeking to build two dozen power plants to be fueled by lignite, the crumbly brown coal that lies just beneath the surface in much of eastern Germany and that has been strip mined for generations. Under new regulations proposed by the European Union, Germany will have to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. At the same time, the German government has decided to phase out nuclear power, which does not pollute the atmosphere and accounts for a quarter of the country's electricity supply. Many skeptics doubt Germany can simultaneously replace nuclear power and cut emissions. As a result, economists predict that Europe's largest economy will continue to mine and burn as much coal as ever in future decades, regardless of the environmental drawbacks. "Without brown coal, Germany will not be able to meet its needs for electricity," said Detlev Daehnert, head of mining planning for Vattenfall, the Swedish energy conglomerate that owns the Nochten coal mine and Boxberg power plant near here. The likelihood that Germany will become more dependent on coal has environmentalists in a sour mood. They have launched intensive campaigns to derail construction of new, coal-fired power plants, which they call "climate killers." They've also started a massive petition drive to limit strip mining in eastern Germany, a mainstay of the area economy for nearly a century. Rene Schuster, an organizer for the Green League of Germany, said the group wants to see the country phase out use of brown coal by 2050. To do so, he acknowledged, would require a major boost in the use of renewable energies: solar, wind, biomass and hydropower. It would also mean a big cut in overall energy consumption, not easy in a country with a factory-based economy and drivers who love to speed on autobahns in gas-guzzling Mercedes and BMWs. But he said it was important for Germany -- the world's largest exporter of goods-- to set an example for poorer countries, such as China, where coal consumption is on the rise. "In Germany, we have good -- or at least better -- chances than other parts of the world to become independent from brown coal," said Schuster, who monitors the coal industry in the eastern German states of Saxony and Brandenburg. "It's outdated and it's terrible for the environment. Why do we have to use it?" To address climate change concerns, Vattenfall is building an experimental power station in Saxony that would capture carbon emissions and store the gas underground, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. Vattenfall officials say they are confident their technology will work when the plant is ready in 2015. The question is whether it will be financially competitive, even with expected government subsidies. For the project to move forward, "there must be political support, the legal framework has to be in place and the economic conditions also have to exist," said Daehnert, the firm's mining director. Germany offers generous subsidies for many other forms of energy, including solar and wind. Since the 1960s, it has also paid more than $200 billion in subsidies to the hard coal industry, which mines mostly in the Ruhr Valley and is a major supplier to steelmakers. Unlike brown coal, Germany's hard coal lies in deposits thousands of feet underground. The mines are highly unprofitable but employ more than 30,000 people. The government decided last year to end the hard coal subsidies by 2018, partly because of concerns that the money was propping up an industry that contributes to global warming. In comparison, the economics of brown coal are hard to beat. It can be mined relatively cheaply in highly mechanized operations, and the supplies are vast. Germany is estimated to have about 7.8 billion tons in reserve, the most in the European Union. Production of brown coal peaked in the 1980s under the former communist government, but the industry still employs thousands of people in a region plagued by unemployment. Even so, popular support has been waning in recent years. Part of the reason is a heightened awareness of the environmental costs. There's also growing anger at the relentless expansion of mining operations, which has resulted in the relocation of dozens of villages. Under German law, mining companies can effectively condemn private property as long as they agree to resettle residents. Despite past promises to end the practice, companies such as Vattenfall are now filing applications with government agencies to flatten villages through 2020, thanks to the renewed demand for lignite. One of the communities on the hit list is Rohne, where people have lived on the edges of the enormous Nochten mine since it opened in the late 1960s. Although their fate has not been officially decided yet by state and local officials, many residents think the fix is in. "When entire communities are being eliminated, it's not something you can really fight against," said Edith Penk, 69, who was born in her house in Rohne and hoped to live out her days there. "Most people are more reserved about it than I am. They don't want to cause a commotion or complain, but in doing so, they just let themselves get bulldozed by the coal mines." Most residents of Rohne and the surrounding villages are Sorbs -- a Slavic-speaking minority persecuted by the Nazis and the communists. If forced to move, many residents fear their cultural traditions will be at risk. "People are losing not just their homes, but their identities -- this is where we come from," Penk said. "The whole Sorb tradition is in the heart of our village. It lives here and thrives here. If they tried to move it, it just wouldn't be natural." Vattenfall officials said that they do everything possible to ensure that communities are relocated as a unit, and that living conditions in the new, centrally planned villages are usually much improved. "These moves will always be a painful experience," said Peter Fromm, a Vattenfall spokesman. "There will always be people who ask, 'Does it have to be my village that needs to be resettled?' " About 4,000 people who live near the Nochten mine could be forced to move over the next 12 years. Although Vattenfall officials said they hoped to minimize the disruptions, they said the demand for their product wasn't likely to dry up any time soon. "Brown coal is a very important power source in this region and Germany would be well advised to keep giving brown coal a chance," Fromm said. Special correspondent Shannon Smiley contributed to this report.