After all, their fuel is free, whereas the bills of power stations that run on coal and natural gas are high and rising.
In this hypothetical, that would allow a utility to run one coal plant and one gas plant but the average would decline over time.
He cites China, where partly state-owned power firms are applying for credits for building gas-fired power plants instead of dirtier ones run on coal.
Another is to allow local people to be able to choose low-carbon local energy sources, rather than being obliged to rely on large-scale electricity grids run on polluting coal.
The country keeps adding new capacity: estimates run as high as two coal-fired power plants per week.
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The Democrats are fielding Heidi Heitkamp, a cheery former state attorney-general who now helps run a low-emission coal-fired power plant.
Many coal companies such as Alpha Natural Resources and Peabody Energy Corporation are mulling over the fate of coal as consumption has continued to decline in the U.S.. Natural gas has undoubtedly given coal companies a run for their money since prices began to slide last year.
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Privatisation is too politically sensitive, as is allowing private firms, let alone foreigners, to run riot over India's coal beds.
Coal, the cheapest fuel, currently produces America's baseload power: coal-fired plants run constantly to meet basic demand, with natural gas switched on when demand is higher.
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In the long run, it may do the coal industry no good either: gas-fired power stations are becoming ever smaller, so more customers in future will generate their own power.
The firm recently sold a coal holding after a big run, figuring the stock might be pricing in a Romney win.
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Bankrupt state-run electricity boards, an acute shortage of coal, skewed subsidises which end up benefiting rich farmers, power theft, and under-performing private distribution agencies are to blame, say experts.
Several months later, during a speech at an Alabama nuclear energy plant, he also spoke of the promises of nuclear energy, coal, ethanol and cars that could run on rechargeable batteries.
He said 17 new coal blocks will be allocated to state-run companies by the end of next month, but didn't specify the names of these companies.
Plenty of studies show we can run the economy on clean energy and shut down our coal, oil, nuclear and gas plants in the lifetime of the existing stock.
Suncor has run into an extra rich piece of ore with a high coal component, he said, which caused problems in the extraction process.
Sure, the economics favor gas today, as fracked natural gas floods the market, and it is in fact cheaper to build and run a gas-fired plant rather than one lit by coal.
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He said the country should develop an atomic energy programme to develop its vast open spaces as a hedge against the day when fuels like coal and oil, which Australia has in abundance, would run out.
In 1993, the government allowed private companies to mine for coal but only for captive use, as production from state-run companies was unable to meet domestic demand.
There is oil aplenty of other sorts (tar sands, liquefied coal and so on), so the stuff is unlikely to run out for a long time yet.
Dominion is converting its three remaining coal-fired power stations in Virginia to those that can also run on waste wood, all of which are expected to be operational by year-end.
Any policy to reduce heat-trapping pollution will inevitably target the main sources of Americans' energy: the coal burned by power plants for electricity and the oil that is refined to run automobiles.
Another home run for the company is railroad ties, which Koppers sells because they are coated with another coal product called creosote to resist rotting.
Blending of local and imported coal would have increased costs for power producers which source the fuel from the state-run monopoly supplier.
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