quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: again - BOTH candidates - and most of the nation - wants to move forward from this existing failing energy system. the future is electric

umm... Pyrth, no offense but you do know where most of our electric comes from, right ?

quote Originally posted by D B Cooper: umm... Pyrth, no offense but you do know where most of our electric comes from, right ?

yes - coal. thats the point. thats what this whole thread is about. moving forward from coal to other sources. this is why someone is saying "Obama says he will bankrupt the coal industry". even tho all candidates want to move forward from these energy sources. Not, as some are implying that someone wants to shut down coal mining. These desperate leaps are getting sillier everyday.

It's still going to take a while to get alternate electricity sources on line though. As rough a shape our economy is in, care should be paid not to send energy costs skyrocketing right now. IMO a gradual switch would be much more viable. We have plenty of coal on hand; it's not really a big issue.

quote Originally posted by D B Cooper: It's still going to take a while to get alternate electricity sources on line though. As rough a shape our economy is in, care should be paid not to send energy costs skyrocketing right now. IMO a gradual switch would be much more viable. We have plenty of coal on hand; it's not really a big issue.

But more importantly, Coal can be burned cleanly. Hell when I was designing burner management systems for coal fired power stations back in the 80's we were getting 97% efficiency! Today it is over 99%. Your car, by comparison, is 33%!

America is sitting on an ocean of coal and not using it is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. It creats jobs here, saves money on power generation, can be done cleanly, and will last for 300 years!

quote Originally posted by Toddster: But more importantly, Coal can be burned cleanly. Hell when I was designing burner management systems for coal fired power stations back in the 80's we were getting 97% efficiency! Today it is over 99%. Your car, by comparison, is 33%! America is sitting on an ocean of coal and not using it is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. It creats jobs here, saves money on power generation, can be done cleanly, and will last for 300 years!

exactly - and also why this whole thread is silly.
there will be renewable & alternative energy sources made and put work - but coal is going to be at the root of our energy for a long long time.