Why not convert the Sunflower plant to gas?
E. Thomas McClanahanThe $2.8 billion Sunflower power plant proposed for Holcomb, Kan., has been held up for years by controversy. Tuesday, a federal judge in Washington ordered another delay to allow time for completion of an environmental impact statement.
Why not convert the proposed coal-fired plant to natural gas? Thanks to the steady drop in gas prices, it would be cleaner environmentally and would probably be cheaper to operate.
The Wash Post reports that falling gas prices are scrambling energy markets across the nation, prompting some utilities to shift from coal to gas:
“Coal use is fading,” The Post reports. “PSEG [a New Jersey utility] is increasing natural gas’s share of its power generation mix from 15 to 35 percent and shrinking coal’s share from 35 to 15 percent. In North Carolina, Duke Energy’s new Buck natural gas plant is producing power 30 percent cheaper than the company’s renovated Belews Creek plant, one of the most efficient coal plants in the country.”
Gas emits half the greenhouse gases of coal, for those who wring their hands about “climate change.” The region needs more electric power and if gas is cheaper, then converting from coal looks like a twofer: Lower costs and lower emissions. Strange that no one seems to be talking about this.
UPDATE: Sunflower says it can’t change fuel source without seeking a brand new air permit. What they should perhaps wonder now, given the intensity of the opposition and the chronic delays, is whether the project has any future WITHOUT a new permit and a shift to gas.
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George Hunsucker
Northland
3 months, 1 week agoAnother ray of sunlight… Thank you ET….
I have often thought this too, and just dismissed it as being technically very expensive to do to the present design, logistically very expensive or some other reason. Like you, I would think that a longterm natural gas deal would be much cheaper for Sunflower and get the ecofreaks off their back.
Of course, then they would gripe about the natural gas exacerbating “gloabl warming”….