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OSU team develops process to clean coal mine drainage and extract rare earth elements

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Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a novel process to clean coal mine drainage and extract rare-earth elements from it. Coal mine drainage (CMD) impairs tens of thousands of kilometers of U.S. CMD, coal mine drainage; TEP, trap-extract-precipitate. —Miranda et al. Miranda et al. —Jeff Bielicki.

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Converting Coal Power Plants to Nuclear Gains Steam

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On a planet aspiring to become carbon neutral, the once-stalwart coal power plant is an emerging anachronism. It is true that, in much of the developing world, coal-fired capacity continues to grow. But in every corner of the globe, political and financial pressures are mounting to bury coal in the past.

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Rice lab’s flash Joule heating extracts rare earth elements from waste at high yields

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The lab’s flash Joule heating process, introduced several years ago to produce graphene from any solid carbon source ( earlier post ), has now been applied to three sources of rare earth elements—coal fly ash, bauxite residue and electronic waste—to recover rare earth metals. —Deng et al. —James Tour.

Waste 434
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EIA: US electricity generation from coal and natural gas both increased with summer heat

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In August 2012, coal produced 39% of US electricity, up from a low of 32% in April 2012, when the natural gas share of generation equaled that of coal. The August coal share of generation is still notably lower than the 50% annual average over the 1990-2010 period. Other plants use PRB coal transported by rail.

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CSIRO and partners to test Direct Injection Carbon Engine to reduce brown coal emissions by up to 50%

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DICE involves converting coal or biomass into a water-based slurry (called micronised refined carbon, MRC) that is directly injected into a large, specially adapted diesel engine. The process has very high conversion efficiency >97% (LCA); he fuel choice determines the carbon footprint. DICE development network.

Coal 257
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Updated NETL study provides more detailed economic and environmental assessment of coal-to-liquids and CTL with modest biomass

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The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has released a follow-on study to its 2009 evaluation of the economic and environmental performance of Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) and CTL with modest amounts of biomass mixed in (15% by weight) for the production of zero-sulfure diesel fuel. This equates to diesel prices in the range of $2.70

Coal 225
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BNEF report finds hydrogen promising decarbonization pathway, but carbon prices and emissions policies required

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This is equivalent to gas priced at $6-12/MMBtu, making it competitive with current natural gas prices in Brazil, China, India, Germany and Scandinavia on an energy-equivalent basis. Renewable hydrogen can be made by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, using electricity generated by cheap wind or solar power.

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