Al Gore at Netroots Nation - Mountaintop Removal & Coal to Liquid Technology

great video (4.00 / 4)

hey! I'm a Kentucky blogger from just over on the other side of the mountains. I found your video in an effort to transcribe Gore's comments for my own blog. I just wanted to drop by and say great work on getting to ask Mr. Gore the question on an issue that's incredibly important to all of us. If you want a full and accurate transcription of his response to your question, I have it over at my blog. Here is a link: http://tinyurl.com/5hpdbb

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by: taylorshelton @ Sat Jul 19, 2008 at 18:24:00 PM CDT

I'm watching the CSPAN rerun right now (4.00 / 3)

and I just got to see WVBLUE ask the question. He's so cool! Unfortunately I couldn't get my computer set up quickly enough to capture him on screen, so I can't share with everyone what a handsome devil he is!

Anyway, part of Al Gore's answer was to make certain that as we crank down our use of coal, we should make certain that all coal miners who'd be knocked out of jobs are re-employed at safe, good paying jobs. As usual, he's right. But he didn't elaborate as to how to go about getting that facet of the problem solved.

Grassroots progressives need to start leading the way towards solving massive unemployment problems here in Appalachia. Putting folks out of work is not moving forward.

Over a decade ago in August of 1995, Virginia Gov. George F. Allen announced that a Swiss solar-panel manufacturer was opening a plant in the Cape Charles eco-industrial park, attracted by state money earmarked for makers of such energy-saving systems. So forward thinking legislators in Virginia had had already set up a state program allocating up to $4.5 million a year to help its state transition away from coal!

At yesterday's Netroots Nation q&a session, Gore revealed that one main constraint to converting sun into electricity is producing the special silicon cells being used, further stating that there is no shortage of cheap material (sand) with which to make it.

It just so happens that at one time, the Kanawha Valley here in WV used to be a major manufacturer of silicon. As a matter of fact, the ELKEM manufacturing company used to have a major operation here, a company which has long prided itself as being "one of the world's leading companies in the environmentally friendly production of metals and materials". In the 1930s the nearby New River was dammed up at Hawk's Nest, and the river was diverted through a tunnel to a hydroelectric power station to produce power for the manufacture of alloys at the EMCO plant.

That plant has a capacity of 70,000 tons per year of silicon metals, which could be used in a variety of products, including solar panels. The Norwegian company purchased the plant from Union Carbide in 1981, and sold it to Ohio-based Globe Metallurgical in 2005.

From the Globe Metallurgical website:

Demand for aluminum has grown steadily in recent years, reflecting increased economic activity in both the developed and developing world, as well as new uses as a lighter, more economical replacement for other materials. Silicon metal consumption by aluminum manufacturers has grown accordingly.

Aluminum? The first place I think of is Alcoa/ Century Aluminum in Ravenswood, WV. Why is it that our state's leaders our letting this giant business opportunity for jobs slip by? Hold on, because there's more...

The fastest growing market for silicon metal is for the very-high-purity product from which most photovoltaic ("PV") solar cells are manufactured. The Norwegian Institute of Technology's SINTEF research group projects continued rapid growth in this market, with solar cell usage exceeding current silicon usage for all other applications combined by 2020.

Now let's check out to what our next-door neighbor is currently doing...

The (Virgina) Division of Mines, Minerals, and Energy currently manages the Solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Incentive Grant Program, a performance-based incentive designed to encourage the product development and manufacture of a high-technology, renewable energy source in Virginia. Any manufacturer who sells solar photovoltaic panels manufactured in Virginia is entitled to receive an annual grant of up to 75 cents per watt of the rated capacity of panels sold.

The Division has also helped support both Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia's participation in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon.

Here, West Virginia University hands out bogus business degrees to the offspring of political leaders so they can get high paying coal industry jobs.

We are currently collaborating with the Science Museum of Virginia to expand the public's knowledge of solar and other innovative renewable energy technologies. The Division provides annual support to the Museum to host the annual Junior Solar Sprint - a hands-on activity where middle school students from across Virginia build and then race solar-powered model cars. The Division has also provided funding for the creation of several user interactive renewable energy displays as part of the Museum's planned Discovery Park. Most recently, The Division, in collaboration with Virginia Tech has moved the solar house that Virginia Tech entered in the 2005 Solar Decathlon from Blacksburg to the Science Museum of Virginia for public display. source

Toyota has just announced that it's going to be putting a solar panel on the roof of their Prius. Why aren't we making that panel right for the Prius (and other automobiles) right here in WV? I'm thinking that we Progressives should reeealy start pushing our state's political leaders on this. Otherwise they should to start explaining why they believe Ol' King Coal should keep us under filthy boot for another decade.

Do yourself and your kids a huge favor. From here on out, any time someone mentions, or writes, about "coal liquefaction", deride it as the desperate loser Nazi WWII era technology that it is.
 

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by: One Citizen @ Sun Jul 20, 2008 at 04:01:51 AM CDT