Huntley dream was just too speculativeClean-coal technology was pricey, unprovenBy David Robinson NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER Updated: 07/20/08 At first glance, the advanced coal power plant proposed for the Huntley Station in the Town of Tonawanda seemed like a good solution to some of America’s energy problems. Use America’s abundant — and relatively affordable — supply of coal to generate electricity in a groundbreaking new way that would keep the carbon dioxide that causes global warming from spewing into the atmosphere. But the reality was far different for the Huntley Station project — and at least 11 other similar plants that had been on drawing boards across the country. Read more...Power project short-circuitsLoss of Huntley clean-coal effort hurts, but the numbers simply didn’t add upEDITORIAL Updated: 07/19/08It’s a shame it had to come to cancellation, but the decision to abandon plans to build a technologically advanced clean-coal generating plant in Tonawanda looks like the right move. When the science is uncertain and the cost is prohibitive, few other choices remain, especially when the state — which would have to subsidize the project — is already facing a massive deficit.
Read more...Gore calls end of fossil fuel reliance key to resolving economic crisisBy Dina Cappiello - ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated: 07/18/08WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore called Thursday for a “man on the moon” effort to switch all of the nation’s electricity production to wind, solar and other carbon-free sources within 10 years, a goal that he said would solve global warming as well as economic and natural security crises caused by dependence on fossil fuels.
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Video and text of Gore's speech are
here.
Scrapped coal plant would have cost taxpayers at least $175 million a yearHuntley Station project also would have relied on unproven technology By David Robinson NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER Updated: 07/17/08State officials pulled the plug Wednesday on a proposed $1.6 billion advanced coal project that would have brought more than 1,000 construction and operating jobs to the Town of Tonawanda, saying the electrical generating plant would cost taxpayers too much and relied on technology that remains unproven.
Read more...Lackawanna project needs hard lookCoal-to-synthetic gas plant sounds good but waste-carbon process is incompleteEDITORIAL Updated: 07/11/08 Everybody wants to be in on the ground floor of the next big thing. The question about the proposed Lackawanna Clean Energy project is whether it is the wave of the future or a delusional last gasp for the carbon-based economy. That is the question that will need to be pondered as state officials consider environmental permits for the project and when, and if, project managers seek anything in the way of public funding or tax breaks.
Read more...Proposal for synthetic gas plant at Bethlehem Steel site raises both hopes and doubts. NEWS report by Stephen T. Watson is
here.
New Under The SunOutrages & Insights Blog By James Heaney 7/10/08Ah, progress. The mainstream economic development agencies are waking up to the potential of the green economy. Buffalo Niagara Enterprise has launched a campaign to attract solar manufacturers to the region, piggy-backing on plans by Globe Metals to open a plant in Niagara Falls next year to produce high-grade silicon, the key material for the panels.
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