Apparently, there's a silver lining in the occurrence of earthquakes—and it comes in the form of gold. Australian scientists recently confirmed the link between the formation of gold deposits as a result of earth's naturally occurring 20,000 annual earthquakes.

Researchers from the University of Queensland and Australian National University released the study detailing the process to Nature Geoscience—the first time the hypothesis has ever been mathematically demonstrated. According to their findings, mineral rich fluids in the earth's crust undergo intense pressure reduction during an earthquake, instantly vaporizing while the minerals inside the solution crystalize almost instantly (within just a few tenths of a second). This process of flash vaporization along 'fault jogs,' the cracks connecting the main fault lines in the earth's crust, forces silica and gold out of the fluids and onto nearby surfaces.

Although scientists have long suspected a link between gold deposits and ancient faults, the study takes the idea to a new extreme.

"To me, it seems pretty plausible. It's something that people would probably want to model either experimentally or numerically in a bit more detail to see if it would actually work," Jamie Wilkinson, a geochemist at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, told OurAmazingPlanet/

A single event would produce just a tiny gold vein, but the process occurs in even small earthquakes. In a single fault system, thousands to hundreds of thousands of small earthquakes could occur per year, which could lead to a sizable buildup of gold reserves.

“Over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, you have the potential to precipitate very large quantities of gold,” University of Queensland seismologist Dion Weatherley told Mining Australia. “Small bits add up.”

Repeated earthquakes could even lead to “economic-grade gold deposits,” he says, helping future prospectors find new regions where fault jogs are common.

The study also points to the reason why rocks in gold-bearing quartz deposits are marbled with small gold veins, using the mathematical model to calculate the impact earthquakes have on fluids in certain fault zones.

"They expected for any given vein, depending on its size, it may be years to tens of years for the fracture to fill up with quartz and the associated metals such as gold,” Weatherley told Australia's ABC News.


"The most surprising aspect of the mathematical modeling was that we thought there was a good chance that very large magnitude earthquakes might be able to achieve this, but what we actually found is that even very small magnitude earthquakes [do so].



"It was a bit hard to imagine that very small earthquakes - in the order of magnitude two to magnitude four - would do much work on the fluid.

"But when we did the calculations we found that, in fact, a magnitude four earthquake was far and away large enough to produce a massive pressure differential of the order of about 1,000 times.



"While the amount of gold that would be deposited in any one earthquake is quite small, when you consider that tens or hundreds of magnitude four quakes and thousands of smaller magnitude quakes may occur each year within an earthquake fault system, the possibility exists that over time, large gold deposits may result."

Although most of the world's ore deposits exposed at the surface have been mined, the study could help prospectors tap significant deposits at new depths. The earth experiences roughly 50 earthquakes per day, or 20,000 earthquakes per year, according to the National Earthquake Information Center.

"Our research paper aims to reveal new findings and knowledge about the physical processes that will assist exploration geologists to discover blind ore deposits that are deeper within the Earth," said Weatherley. 

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Retiring the long-running San Onofre nuclear power plant in California is set to cost at least $553 million or more depending on when authorities are able to officially shut it down.

Located between San Diego and Los Angeles, the twin-domed plant is owned by Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside. It hasn't been producing electricity since last January after a small radiation leak revealed other unusual damages. Since March 31, $109 million has been spent on repairs and inspections, while $444 million is still needed for replacement power, according to Edison International.

After the $670 million overhaul in 2009 and 2010, the plant was shut down when tests found that some of the generator tubes were badly eroded, which posed risk of releasing radiation. Hundreds of tubes have been taken out of services since as a preventative step.

Even though San Onofre's Unit 1 reactor was anticipated to run until 2004, it was shut down in 1992 due to decaying generator tubes. Southern California Edison has asked the federal government for permission to restart the Unit 2 reactor, letting it run for a five-month test period. Otherwise, both may be shut down this year.

When up to speed, the two reactors produce enough power for 1.4 million homes, making it one of California's most important sources of electricity. However, Edison faces increasing obstacles from strict regulations, investigations and anti-nuclear activists and lawmakers.

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East Asia Minerals Corporation—an Asian-based, Canadian mineral exploration company—says it's working closely with Indonesia's government on an exploration project that would strip the status of some 1.6 million hectares of forest on the island of Sumatra.

The plan would re-zone large areas of the protected forest in Aceh for industrial activities, including almost one million hectares for mining (under its Miwah gold mining project), 416,086 ha for logging, and 256,250 ha for oil palm plantations.

"The company is working closely with government officials in the country and have company representatives on the ground in Aceh to obtain reclassification of the forestry zone from 'protected forest' to 'production forest'," East Asia Minerals said in a press release. "Once forestry designation has been reclassified, the company will be granted the ability to continue the drilling program with the goal of expanding the resource at Miwah."

Environmental groups in the Aceh area, however, fear that the plan would severely jeopardize the province's world-renowned biodiversity, including a number of endangered species. Biologists and conservation scientists warn that it could also come as a blow to the province's economy.

"Aceh forests are essential for food security, regulating water flows in both the monsoon and drought seasons to irrigate rice fields and other cash crops," states a declaration from the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC). "Forest disruption in Aceh’s upland areas will increase the risk of destructive flooding for people living downstream in the coastal lowlands."

The plan to transform the “protective forest” into a “productive forest” has many in an uproar. Meanwhile, CEO of East Asia Minerals Ed Rouchette remains optimistic about what he still feels is “good progress and positive news for mineral extraction in the area.”

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Vanadium—a rare earth metal traditionally used as an additive to strengthen steel—is well on its way to playing an even more critical role in its potential use in mass energy storage as next generation lithium-vanadium-flow batteries (VFBs) become the next big thing. The same metal Henry Ford used to strengthen his Model T cars on the outside, revolutionizing the auto industry, has a newfound ability to strengthen cars on the inside through better performing batteries in electric cars.

A Critical Resource

The “green metal” has been used for decades to strengthen and reduce the amount of steel needed in the construction and auto making industries. It's also used to make titanium alloys, an irreplaceable element depended upon in the aerospace industry. Adding small quantities of vanadium to steel results in environmental savings including an overall reduction in iron ore mined, which, in turn, leads to less iron smelted, refined and shipped.

Today, vanadium is getting more attention from its unexpected potential to serve as the “missing link” in the renewable energy industry. VFBs bear the power to provide high volume energy storage for electricity generated by intermittent sources like solar and wind power installations. With an efficiency rating of about 90 percent, VFBs last 20 years or more and can release massive amounts of electricity when needed, while storing energy when demand is low. Unlike lithium, vanadium does not produce profuse amounts of ambient heat while charging, and is truly scalable—capable of meeting the demands of a single home to an entire power grid.

What's more, the super metal may also serve as a gamechanger in the electric vehicle battery industry. Lithium-vanadium-phosphate batteries have been proven to provide high energy density and voltage, translating to more miles per charge and significantly less charge time. Not to mention, it's less expensive compared to the alternatives currently used in the industry.

So what's the problem?

Two major factors have held back the vanadium breakthrough we're about to see: a lack of attention and high-quality supply. Until just recently, attention has been zoned in on scaling up the renewable energy industry, leaving behind an equally important variable to its success: efficiently storing and distributing that energy. Thus, funding initiatives have historically favored the development of mass renewable energy systems over energy storage technologies—a real chicken-or-egg type scenario. Secondly, supply is limited, mined and sold only in Russia, South Africa and China, where vanadium is starting to be suspected of being hoarded as demand increases. Until now...

American Vanadium, a Canadian metals exploration company, owns the rights to North America's first and only primary producer of vanadium, with full intentions of breaking into the energy storage industry at full speed. The Gibellini mine in Nevada, 350 miles north of Las Vegas, has the capacity to produce 14 million pounds of vanadium pentoxide, about half of the total vanadium consumed in North America. Due to the unique geology of its location, the mine has the potential to become the world's lowest-cost primary vanadium producer, says the company's CEO Bill Radvak.

“We're able to produce the very high purity electrolyte required for these types of batteries at a globally competitive cost,” says Radvak. “The vanadium mined in other parts of the world—China, Russia and South Africa—is mostly suitable for the steel industry. Very little of it can actually go towards energy storage technology, so we're in a very strong position globally.”

It wasn't until roughly one year ago that the company decided to take that unique approach, moving away from providing quality premium vanadium products for steelmaking to essentially driving the energy storage business in the US.

“It's a big shift,” says Radvak. “We saw where the world was going and we understand the power of our deposit.

“If we would have just sat back, hoping VFBs would develop over time, we wouldn't be building on the deposit in enough time for us to capitalize on it,” he explains unapologetically.

Shifting Industry

The company is in talks with battery leaders involved in VFB development under the proposition that American Vanadium will provide long term stability in the price of the metal for a piece of the battery business. Since vanadium is such a massive component of a VFB, solving the issue of vanadium's volatile price and limited supply is key for any battery developer breaking into the multi-billion dollar industry.

“If you're planning on having a sizable energy storage business, you can't risk relying on the open market,” says Radvak. “We're hoping to leverage that supply, rather than just selling it, to maximize what we can get as an electrolyte supply and we're more than ready to give up some of that extra profit if we can be a part of the battery business.”

That move will not only make VFB development more stable for both parties involved, but also actually give it the chance to be a successful technology in America in the near future, which is expected to go commercial as soon as this year. Under a recently announced memorandum of understanding with GILDEMEISTER energy solutions of Germany—a world leader in integrated energy solutions for the production, storage and utilization of renewables—the two companies will work together to become a leading provider of energy storage and micro grid solutions in North America.

“Storage is a tremendously huge market and the route we've taken presents a great opportunity,” says Radvak. “It's an exciting space in which we're ecstatic to be able to play such an important role.”

Federal officials are working to develop a plan to add monitoring and ventilation of the tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation under the advisory of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The site was originally created in the 1940s as part of the secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb, costing the nation billions of dollars in cleanup efforts since. Six of the tanks are said to be leaking into the soil and infecting groundwater, according to federal officials.

As the board seeks to confirm an Energy Secretary in the next week, fears of a possible explosion from the contamination are getting a lot of attention. There are also concerns over a hydrogen gas buildup within a tank, containing deadly waste.

"All the double-shell tanks contain waste that continuously generates some flammable gas," the board said. "This gas will eventually reach flammable conditions if adequate ventilation is not provided."

Technical challenges remain to encase the waste for long-term disposal—issues that must be resolved soon and before other parts of the plant can be completed. The federal government spends some $2 billion a year on Hanford cleanup efforts. The design and construction of the plant is estimated to cost over $12.3 billion and is about halfway built. The recently identified issues with the plant, however, are expected to delay the construction schedule further.

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Global nuclear energy generation will climb by almost 30% by the end of the decade, thanks in part to an influx of new nations developing nuclear programs, says research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company’s new report predicts worldwide nuclear energy generation to jump from 2,386,449 GWh in 2012 to 3,078,130 GWh in 2020, with 198 nuclear reactors scheduled to begin commercial operations within the forecast window.

The predicted increase follows the modest growth witnessed between 2000 and 2011, and the sharp drop of 2011-2012 when some countries shut down reactors in response to the Fukushima disaster.

At present there are around 45 nuclear-free countries looking at adding the controversial power source to their energy portfolio, including the UAE, Turkey, Poland and Bangladesh. Of this group, the UAE will be the primary nuclear energy driver over the forecast period, with four nuclear power plants expected to come online by 2020.

The escalating need for power, combined with soaring fossil fuel prices, is driving the demand for nuclear energy around the world – especially amongst rapidly developing countries where large scale alternative energy generation is impractical. According to GlobalData, global power consumption will climb from 20,114,049 GWh in 2012 to 27,496,560 GWh in 2020, increasing at an Annual Average Growth Rate (AAGR) of 4%.

A substantial number of reactors coming online in countries such as China, India and South Korea will see the Asia-Pacific region lead in terms of global nuclear energy generation over the forecast period, states the new report – jumping from 323,989 GWh in 2012 to a massive 851,698 GWh by the end of the decade.

Source: GlobalData

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Remembering the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster that happened two years ago today, Green Cross International (GCI) is calling for the phasing out of the use of nuclear energy and the movement towards more environmentally-friendly, sustainable power solutions, which in turn can also enhance prospects for a nuclear weapons free world.

On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced a 9.0 magnitude earthquake 130 km off shore from the city of Sendai. Due to that ferocious natural disaster, three of the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s six reactors suffered a meltdown, inflicting structural damage to reactor #4. Rated at Level 7, the highest possible rating on the INES (International Nuclear Event Scale), the 2011 Fukushima catastrophe was initially reported to have emitted amounts of radioactive caesium into the atmosphere equal to 168 Hiroshima bombs. This number later rose drastically based on new findings issued by the Tepco Electric Power Company.

“Shockingly, this danger of tsunami-caused meltdowns had been publicized since 2008 in documents issued by the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization, but plant owners effectively ignored this contingency,” said GCI President Alexander Likhotal. “It was the failure of human action to take the proper safety precautions against known, highly possible, natural threats that resulted in such a disaster.”

Since its founding in 1993, GCI has advocated for an end to nuclear-powered energy, citing the great costs and risks involved with such technology. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine was a catalyst for GCI’s actions, and today, Green Cross supports communities in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus who are still feeling the impacts of that nuclear mishap.

Nuclear power, while being hailed as a source of cheap, clean energy, is instead exorbitantly expensive, particularly when it comes to construction, maintenance and decommissioning of plants that generate it. Despite claims by nuclear energy advocates that just two major accidents have occurred, at least 100 nuclear accidents involving loss of life or significant property damage were recorded between 1952 and 2009, totaling over US$20.5 billion in damages: or more than one incident and US$330 million in damage per year.

GCI stresses the importance of integrating supply with demand, but within the limits of a model of sustainable development that preserves the environment and promotes equity. “Energy efficiency and the harnessing of renewable resources is (sic) crucial to alleviating current international tensions and security threats,” says Paul Walker, Director of GCI’s Environmental Security and Sustainability programme.

Optimistically, nuclear power’s contribution to global electricity production has dropped as energy demand has increased. With nuclear energy at its peak in 1986 at 16% of the energy mix, there has been a small decline in nuclear power use, contributing around 13-14% of global power sources in 2009. Clean sources of power, like solar and wind, are becoming increasingly cost competitive in many world markets.

SOURCE: Green Cross International

Image sourced via flikr by Paul J Everett

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In an effort to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site in Washington—found to have six of its underground tanks leaking—state Governor Jay Inslee fears that billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts could hinder action.

Those six single-shell tanks could leak about 1,000 gallons of radioactive sludge each year, according to Inslee and the US Department of Energy's (DoE) estimate that each tank is leaking less than 3 gallons a day.

"These tanks, we were told by the federal government, were stabilized years ago. We know that is not the case," Inslee told reporters Wednesday. "The federal government has a legally binding obligation to both remove this material and to make sure we curb this leakage."

As a result of weapons production at a site where the US government developed its first atomic bombs, the reservation contains over 43 million cubic yards of radioactive waste and 130 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Clean up efforts are overseen by the Washington Department of Ecology, the EPA and the DoE. Unfortunately, that means that the money behind those efforts are almost completely federal, and government funding is set to be cut by $85 billion as of March 1st. By the end of the decade, the DoE estimates that the effort will cost $114.8 billion.

Lacking an adequate budget and the technology necessary to stop the leaks, the surrounding community could be in grave danger. Inslee appears intent on making sure that doesn't happen.

"We have been the unpleasant home of millions of gallons of radioactive waste for decades now," Inslee said on Wednesday. "We hold the moral high ground on this, and we ought to be insistent and we will be."

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The smoggy city of Los Angeles will completely end its use of coal energy within the next 12 years, Mayor Antonio Villaraigos recently said at an event at UCLA.

About 39 percent of the city's power currently comes from two out-of-state coal plants: the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona and the Intermountain Power Plant in Utah.

“In a couple of weeks I will be signing agreements to get completely out of coal by 2025,” Villaraigosa said at UCLA's Institute of Environment and Sustainability's event called, “What a mayor can do to green a city.”

Following the Villaraigos' plans to eliminate the dirty fossil fuel in his inaugural address in 2009, debates over a carbon tax and energy rate increases have delayed reaching that goal. The city is also slowed by the terms of its contracts with Navajo and Intermountain, and the higher cost of renewables compared to coal and natural gas.

Related story: LA to Purchase Power from Tribal Solar Plant

The Department of Water and Power is working on new legal agreements to secure an end to coal by 2025 through its 2012 Integrated Resources Plan, a strategic road map, recommended divestiture from the Navajo plant by 2015. Four years ahead of schedule, the plan also urges similar moves to take place at the Utah plant:

“LADWP’s other coal source – the Intermountain Power Project—is undergoing discussions which could enable a future conversion to lower emitting resources. Because LADWP is one of thirty-six purchasers of IPP energy, any future plans must be agreed to by all project participants.”  

More information should be revealed about the Mayor's plans over the next few weeks.

Image sourced via jonlclark

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Ghana Gold Corporation has announced that it is supporting efforts to reduce liquid mercury pollution in Ghana.  The effort to reduce the deadly mercury emissions is being spearheaded by several groups in Ghana, including Ghana's Minerals Commission and a Ghanaian not-for-profit group, "Earth Advocates".   Mercury emissions are extremely prevalent and a major health and environmental concern particularly in small scale gold mining popularly called "galamsey" activities.

Related story: World's Largest Solar Plant Coming to Ghana

Liquid mercury is used in amalgamation of gold to recover gold in its native or "free form".  While mercury simplifies the gold collection process considerably, it is extremely dangerous.  Part of the gold collection process requires that the miners bake the amalgam balls.  These stone sized mercury and gold amalgam balls are heated on an open flame to separate the mercury from the gold.  This process results in virtually all of the mercury being vaporized into the atmosphere, thus leaving only the raw gold.  The United Nations Environmental Program "UNEP" estimates that mercury usage in Ghana alone could be as high as 500 tons per year.

Ghana Gold is preparing itself to be a primary provider of inexpensive Mercury retorts.  Mercury retorts are used in the "baking" process whereby approximately 95% of the mercury is recovered and not released into the atmosphere.  Technicians at Ghana Gold's metal working facility in Obuasi have designed and fabricated what is believed to be the first mercury retorts ever built in Ghana. Industry reports suggest that as many as 100,000 people work in the Small Scale mining sector in Ghana. 

Related story: Endeavor to Buy Adamus for West African Gold Mine

Ghana Gold Advisory Board Member, Mr. Paxi-Jones Alorgbe states, "This is a win-win for the environment, Ghana's people and also the Company.  We could potentially be needed to produce thousands of retorts each year."

SOURCE Ghana Gold Corporation

Edited by Carin Hall

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Taxes on power generation, if not widespread, are becoming increasingly popular in Europe, as governments target utilities making significant profits from burning cheap coal in a low carbon price environment, states a GlobalData energy consultant.

January 2013 saw the Netherlands introduce a €13.73 per tonne tax on coal in an aim to reduce coal consumption, raise revenue and target generators profits. The Spanish government has also proposed a 6% tax on all power generation to help pay for its “tariff deficit” – the subsidy that the government uses to keep regulated electricity prices below cost. “Whilst the utilities cry foul, and argue that it is the government’s policy to keep regulated prices low, the government also knows that the utilities make significant profits on generation, especially coal-fired generation in the present environment,” claims Jonathan Lane, GlobalData's Head of Consulting for Power and Utilities.

“The UK’s utilities make far more profit in their generation businesses than their retail businesses. The industry regulator, Ofgem, introduced a license condition in 2009 requiring the major energy suppliers to produce accounts segmenting their supply and generation activities 6 months after their financial year end. The “Big Six” energy companies made a whopping £2.6 billion total profit on their combined generation businesses in 2011 (with EDF Energy making £1 billion on its nuclear generation alone) compared with a paltry £646m in their retail businesses.”

It is therefore clear that there are substantial profits for the government to target through implementing generation taxes, which could raise over £1 billion for the government on an annual basis. However, the financial benefits must be weighed against the ability of utilities to invest and raise finance, and there are concerns that the tax would be passed through into the wholesale electricity price.

“A coal tax would be interesting, as it would have environmental benefits as well. A coal tax would increase the cost of coal-fired generation but may not overly influence the electricity wholesale price.” According to the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), major power producers consumed 40 million tonnes of coal in 2011, so a tax equivalent to that in the Netherlands could raise around £500m. This would impact the profits of the largest coal generators, whilst not significantly impacting consumers.

Lane states that a tax on fossil fuel is the most likely energy tax to come about: “It is doubtful that the government would look at a nuclear generation tax given its reliance on EDF Energy for nuclear new build, although its threat may prove a handy negotiating tool.”

Source: GlobalData

Photo sourced via peggydavis66

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After failing to report the release of toxic chemicals, including cyanide, lead and mercury, the US EPA has ordered that three gold mines in northern Nevada pay a total of $618,00 for violations from 2005-2008.

Each mine is a subsidiary of the Canada-based Barrick Gold Corp: Cortez Gold Mine, Ruby Hill Gold Mine and Homestake Mining Co.'s Bald Mountain Gold Mine. Each operation has agreed to pay a total of $278,000 in fines in addition to $340,000 on a project to benefit the environment. Audits will be performed at all of the companies' other operations in Nevada and Montana, where a $10,000 to $250,000 penalty fine will apply if other violations are found.

Fortunately, the violations have not posed an immediate danger to mine workers or residents in the surrounding areas, the EPA said in a statement. Metal-ore is responsible for as much as 98 percent of toxic releases reported to the agency, who has been investigating numerous operators since 2008 to ensure that gold mines comply with federal reporting laws. 

Officials at Barrick said that the company had filed 330 reports to the EPA during the time period, but less than 40 were questioned.

"Barrick disagrees with EPA's position and the company's operations have complied in good faith with all requirements of annual TRI reporting since (first established in) 1998," Louis Schack, director of communications for Barrick Gold of North America, told the Associated Press. "Nonetheless, to achieve regulatory certainty regarding its TRI obligations, Barrick has agreed to enter into a settlement agreement with EPA."

Image sourced via ˙Cаvin 〄

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A devastating coal mine blast in northern Russia this morning left 18 people dead. Thus far, ten bodies have been recovered from the Vorkutinskaya mine, an officer at the Russian interior Ministry told the Associated Press.

At the time of the explosion, there were 23 men in the mine; two were able to escape and three were rescued. The blast was caused by a build-up of methane, according to the Emergency Situations Ministry.

Investigators will look into the safety violations leading to the deadly incident, which has become commonplace in Russia where negligence in mining operations runs rampant. Two mining incidents in January also killed nine people. In 2010, a major mine blast killed over 60 people in the Kemerevo region, while another blast killed 110 people in 2007 in the same region.

Although shares of mine owner Severstal fell 2.2 per cent in Moscow following the blast, the accident should not have a huge impact on its output (approximately 1 million tonnes per year).

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New federal rules passed today that could help save the lives of many from another disaster like West Virginia's Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine explosion in 2010 that left 29 men dead. Inspired by the country's worst coal mine disaster in four decades, the US Department of Labor has since undertaken “a serious and comprehensive evaluation of mine safety practices.” Think of it as the 'Deepwater Horizon oil spill' of the mining industry.

"The tragedy at the Upper Big Branch Mine should not be forgotten. It exacted a terrible toll on the nation, coal miners' families and coal companies. Over the last three years, the Labor Department has undergone a serious and comprehensive evaluation of mine safety practices, and that has led to reforms to protect America's miners. The rule we are announcing today will hold mine operators accountable when they disregard life-saving safety measures," Secretary of Labor Hilda L Solis said in a statement.

Related Story: $210 Million Settlement in Coal Mine Disaster

"This rule is long overdue, and it will, over the long term, serve to make mines safer for those who choose to be miners in this country," Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) director Joe Main told The Associated Press.

In the same day, UBB superintendent Gary May was sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in the explosion, following the FBI's investigations. In March 2012, May pleaded guilty to conspiracy to impede the MSHA's enforcement efforts between 2008 and 2010. He also admitted to concealing heath and safety violations, and had miners illegally rewire a methane gas detector on a piece of equipment.

Part of the new rules will allow MSHA to designate a company a pattern violator without prior warning. The requirement to consider only final orders has also been eliminated, meaning mines will no longer be able to delay designations through appeals, which could take months or years.

Related Story: West Virginia Mine Shuts Down, More Lawsuits Ahead

"There has been recognition by many that the system has been broken, with no mine being placed on POV status until 2011 – 33 years after the law went into effect," Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, said in a statement. "MSHA should not be prevented from taking action to protect the lives of miners for months, or even years, while we await the final outcome of citations and orders that a mine operator can easily contest. The new rule addresses those flaws."

The National Mining Association, however, is less than happy about the new regulations, citing that it will strip miners of their due process rights.

Violation data has been available to operators and the public online since April 2011, leaving it up to the companies to ensure safety standards are up to par. Those who recognize a problem can submit an improvement plan to MSHA, which may lessen the penalty.

"The primary purpose of the POV rule is the restoration of safe and healthful conditions at noncompliant mines," said Main. "The final rule better achieves the goal of the Mine Act and the intent of Congress."

Related Story: Drug Abuse Runs Wild in W.Va. Coal Mines

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Dangerously high levels of smog from air pollution in Beijing has forced many to stay indoors throughout the week, as hazy skies block visibility.

The severity of pollution is now the worst since the local government began keeping records a year ago. The density of PM2.5 particulates, tiny particles considered the most harmful to health, reached over 700 micrograms per cubic meter in parts of the city, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. Anything beyond 500 micrograms is considered “beyond index.”

Related Story: China Says it's Illegal to Monitor its Pollution

The air is headed for the worst on Thursday and is expected to remain highly hazardous through Wednesday, according to state media. Several other cities in China, including Tianjin and Wuhan, also reported severe pollution over the week. Authorities blame fog and a lack of wind for the extreme hike in the concentration of air pollutants, which typically gets worse during winter as residents use more electricity for heating needs.

"Pollutants have gradually accumulated over the course of recent windless days, making the air quality even worse,"  Zhu Tong, an environmental sciences professor at Peking University told the news agency.

Despite the city's claims that air quality has improved since 2008, residents say the opposite.

A report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that China's carbon emissions hit their highest ever recorded level in 2011. In the same year, China produced 9.7 million kilotons of carbon dioxide, while the US produced 5.42 million kilotons, according to the European Commission.

By 2020, China is targeting a cut in greenhouse gas emissions of 40-45 percent, boosting its use of renewables to 15 percent of its overall energy in that same time frame. We'll see how that goes.

Related Story: China Invests $27 Billion to Cut Emissions

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This week we highlight some of the top stories from Energy Digital in 2012. Check back to see which stories make the cut.

Mining for precious metals and resources is about to go where no man has gone before—space. Planetary Resources, a startup company with plans to mine NEAs, is being backed up by the likes of Director James Cameron, Google Executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, billionaire Ross Perot, X Prize Founder Peter H. Diamandis and Microsoft's Charles Simonyi. With that kind of financial power, the company may be able to accomplish ventures that restricted agencies and politically driven agendas never could.

See the full story here.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency recently released a report revealing the truth about coal: the rate at which the world burns the most polluting fossil fuel will continue to rise by 2.6 percent each year—enough to challenge oil as the top energy source.

By 2017, coal consumption will climb to 4.32 billion tons of oil equivalent, compared to about 4.4 billion for oil, according to the IEA. Usage will rise in all regions except for the US, where cheap natural gas is taking over.

Despite a weakening presence in the US, coal is surging worldwide, with nearly 1,200 new coal plants on the drawing board, according to the World Resources Institute. In Europe and Asia, US coal exports have reached a two decade high. According to an analysis by the Associated Press, coal exports topped 107 million tons of fuel worth almost $16 billion last year—the highest level since 1991. China will account for 67 percent of the increase, becoming the world's largest importer of coal.

“Thanks to abundant supplies and insatiable demand for power from emerging markets, coal met nearly half of the rise in global energy demand during the first decade of the 21st Century,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said. “Coal’s share of the global energy mix continues to grow each year, and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade.”

US Coal Exports Booming in Europe

The report notes that the trend will continue unless carbon becomes more expensive or competition from low-priced gas can trump its value. The report also bases its forecast on the troubling assumption that carbon capture and sequestration technologies will still not be available in the near future.

Is Coal Dead?

“CCS technologies are not taking off as once expected, which means CO2 emissions will keep growing substantially. Without progress in CCS, and if other countries cannot replicate the US experience and reduce coal demand, coal faces the risk of a potential climate policy backlash,” Ms. van der Hoeven said.

Concerning the case of China's impact on the coal market, the report offers a Chinese Slowdown Case, indicating that even if the demand for coal were to lessen in China, it would still increase around the globe.

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After the reelection of President Barack Obama, big coal has come under the threat of imminent extinction in the United States. With the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules under the current administration, coal plants face stricter pollution rules, making many facilities unprofitable and forced to shut down altogether. Some companies, like Mitt Romney-endorsing Murray Energy, laid off hundreds of workers days after the results of November's presidential election, knowing full well that they would not be able to survive a second term under President Obama. But are politics really to blame?

First things first: the US coal industry is indeed in decline—the country is burning far less coal to generate electricity than it did five years ago. Secondly, due to the EPA's new regulations targeting pollution, it is true that many utilities are retiring coal plants rather than installing expensive new scrubbers. As a result, jobs will be lost. It is not true, however, that the Obama administration is wholly responsible for the decline of coal, despite Romney's accusations of the administration's “war on coal.”

ALL HAIL SHALE

Coal's biggest enemy isn't the EPA, a political party or GreenPeace. It's the country's recent influx of cheap natural gas—a trend that no administration has the power of reversing. Between 20 to 25 percent of the country's coal-fired plants, 59 to 77 gigawatts, are set to retire by 2016, according to the latest report from the Brattle Group, a consulting firm. But that trend, the firm notes, has largely been driven by market forces:

“This 2012 reassessment indicates that somewhat more retirements are likely (about 25 GW) than we foresaw in late 2010. However, that change is primarily due to changing market conditions, not environmental rule revisions, which have trended towards more lenient requirements and schedules.”

Natural gas is booming. Thanks to refined drilling technologies that allow companies to extract more gas from shale rock, the US is even set to become the world's biggest producer of oil within just five years, according to recent data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

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Structural Decline

In other states like West Virginia, other factors are at play. Mining jobs have dwindled for 40 years in the king-of-coal state, thanks to competition from Wyoming's vast Powder River Basin and the advent of mountaintop-removal mining, requiring fewer miners to go underground. What's more, coal is also running out, Ken Ward Jr. recently reported:

“Analysts agree that much of the best coal in Southern West Virginia has already been mined. Thinner and lower-quality seams are left, meaning production and productivity are dropping. Tough competition from inexpensive natural gas and other coal basins makes matters worse. New environmental restrictions only add to coal’s problems, and production is headed down regardless of air or water pollution restrictions.”

The Green Economy

To a lesser extent, wind turbines and solar farms are popping up across the country, creating far more jobs than the coal industry could abandon. Green Goods and Services Jobs (“GGS jobs”) in the US in 2010 amounted to 3.1 million, according to the green jobs report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS).

In analyzing the BLS' report along with other reports on employment, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a study that suggested that green industries have shown faster job growth than the overall economy. According to the findings, “for every percentage-point increase in an industry's green intensity (the share of employment in green jobs), annual employment growth was 0.034 percentage points higher,” and states with higher “green intensity” have survived economic turmoil better than those without it.

That's good news for anyone looking for work, especially since those reports also indicated that those jobs are even accessible to workers lacking formal college education.

Is coal dead?

In the US, undoubtedly, but globally? Not at all.

Despite a weakening presence in the US, coal is surging worldwide, with nearly 1,200 new coal plants on the drawing board, according to the World Resources Institute. In Europe and Asia, US coal exports have reached a two decade high. According to an analysis by the Associated Press, coal exports topped 107 million tons of fuel worth almost $16 billion last year—the highest level since 1991.

“There’s no question that our supplies of coal are adequate. The question is, how do we find new markets for coal to keep the share of electricity generation strong?” said Luke Popovich with the National Mining Association. “While its use is relatively declining here, it is absolutely soaring in most other places.”

In short: the US coal industry's woes go far beyond Obama's policies. Although it is possible that the Obama administration could do even more to tighten carbon-dioxide emission restrictions, that hasn't happened yet. The current market is taking care of it itself and utilities are increasingly ditching coal in favor of cheaper, cleaner natural gas. 

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The world's first wind turbines designed to work in extremely cold weather conditions adorn Rio Tinto Group's $5.2 billion Diavik diamond mine operation in northern Canada this winter.

With frozen roads closed to diesel fuel deliveries for up to ten months of the year, the mining giant strategically invested some $30 million into wind energy in order to provide year-round energy to the site. Representing the world's second largest mining company, clean power now provides a third of Rio Tinto's energy.

But Rio Tinto is not alone. Other mining companies are catching on to the benefits renewable energy can bring to their ability to many of their operations in challenging locations. Barrick Gold Corp, for instance, is testing the highest wind turbine (13,450 ft) at an altitude almost halfway up Mt. Everest. Anglo American, the world's biggest diamond producer, has invested around $180 million in low-carbon technology, and almost one quarter of the company's energy needs come from clean sources. Newmont Mining Corp spent an upwards of $171 million on hydropower, biodiesel and geothermal power last year. And the list goes on...

Gold and diamonds are found in parts of the world where almost no power lines are set up, oftentimes vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. Subsequently, mining companies accounted for 1.8 percent of global clean-power spending this year, double of what was spent in 2010, according to Ernst & Young and Bloomberg.

“What makes this trend much more convincing is that it’s not a broader altruistic corporate motive” driving investment, said John Drexhage, climate change director at the International Council on Mining and Metals. Instead, it’s “the simple bottom line that renewables are helping to actually work as an effective means of helping to cut down both exposure and costs.”

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Despite a weakening presence in the US, coal is surging worldwide, with nearly 1,200 new coal plants on the drawing board, according to the World Resources Institute.

Most of the new plants will be built in China and India, accounting for 76 percent of proposed capacity, but Turkey and Russia also have big plans in the works. While natural gas comes at a higher cost in Europe, many European countries are taking advantage of lower coal prices in the US. Many developing countries including Cambodia, Guatemala and Uzbekistan, are also looking into coal to fuel economic growth.

Whether or not all of the many proposed plants will get built is somewhat unclear; it all depends on policy and market trends. The US, for instance, had plans to build 36 new coal plants—a farfetched idea now in light of the availability of cheap natural gas and new pollution rules.

The US is a different case, however. The downturn of coal production in the US has been more the result of market economics than politics, with a “flood of natural gas from new sources displacing high-cost coal in some areas,” according to the New York Times.

Although coal is experiencing a slow death in the US, it's starting to gain new life in other parts of the world. As the demand for coal declines in the US, Europe and Asia offer an outlet, where US coal exports have reached a two decade high.

“There’s no question that our supplies of coal are adequate. The question is, how do we find new markets for coal to keep the share of electricity generation strong?” said Luke Popovich with the National Mining Association. “While its use is relatively declining here, it is absolutely soaring in most other places.”

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US Coal Exports Booming in Europe

Is Coal Dead?

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Building just a quarter of the proposed coal plants would be equivalent to doubling the coal capacity of the US. Coal burning, accounting for about 44 percent of the world's energy-related carbon emissions, remains attractive for its low cost.

Over the next few years, global demand is expected to grow to 8.9 billion tons from 7.9 billion tons this year. By 2035, coal use is expected to increase 50 percent, according to Milton Catelin, chief executive of the World Coal Association in London. It currently represents about 30 percent of world energy—the highest share since 1969.

“If you poke your head outside of the U.S., coal-fired plants are being built left and right,” said William L. Burns, an energy analyst with Johnson Rice in New Orleans. “Coal is still the cheapest fuel source.”

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