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2293-007
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Blast on the edge of mined area next to property line
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Ammonium nitrate is used to blast away the “overburden” to get down to the coal seams. An average of four people die each year in the USA from “fly rock” coming from these blasts. The tree covered area on the right is private land off limits to mining, and shows the verdant landscape being destroyed. |
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2306-014
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Mountaintop removal coal mining |
Mining operations work around the clock at amazing speed; this lonely stand of trees disappeared in barely a day. The small bulldozer on the upper level pushes loose material down to the loader, which scoops it up into the next earth mover in line which will dump it into a nearby “valley fill,” burying the stream there. |
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004026
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Morning haze at coal fired power plant |
Burning coal is a leading cause of smog, acid rain, global warming, and air toxics. In an average year, a typical coal plant generates:
* 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary human cause of global warming--as much carbon dioxide as cutting down 161 million trees.
* 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which causes acid rain that damages forests, lakes, and buildings, and forms small airborne particles that can penetrate deep into lungs. |
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3165-074
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Onward March |
Border between mined and undestroyed areas and Bagger |
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3165-098
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Striated rows of overburden |
As the Baggers dig through earth of varied composition, the coal is conveyed to the furnaces, and the non-useful material is stacked to the side to be used as fill |
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3165-185
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Bagger working |
This bucket-wheel excavator is digging in the top layer of earth and coal with the conveyor in the background. The “dirt” is overburden and will be set aside in neat rows, and the coal goes straight to the power station.
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3165-256
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Red Liquid |
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| 3165-043 |
Bagger marks |
Arbitrary marks left from digging contrast with the straight power supply line. The power consumption of these machines is too large for an internal combustion engine, and must be tapped directly from the power station. It would be interesting to know the ratio of power consumption by the baggers to production of the power stations they feed. |
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3165-155
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Cooling towers at coal fired power plant |
The steam arising from the cooling towers creates clouds around the generator plants, altering the weather. Lignite, or brown coal, is much higher in moisture content and much lower in energy than black coal, and thus is principally used for power generation.
The tops of the stacks in the foreground are sealed.
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3165-117
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Four coal power plants |
A typical 500-megawatt coal plant (burning the cleaner black coal) creates more than 125,000 tons of ash and 193,000 tons of sludge from the smokestack scrubber each year. 50-year old Frimmersdorf is a 2500 megawatt "lignite" or "brown" coal plant, a much dirtier fuel.
Among the toxic substances found in the waste are arsenic, mercury, chromium, and cadmium all hightly toxic to humas. |
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