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Several nations pledge to phase out climate change culprit coal

53 Comments
By FRANK JORDANS and SYLVIA HUI

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ianNov. 5  11:53 am JST

If we could somehow find a safe and cost effective way to dispose of waste outside the planet would go a long way for nuke acceptance

Yes we have turned the Earth into our own personal garbage dump let’s do that to the universe we and possibly others live in. Does our stupidity know no bounds?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Coal : the clean energy of tomorrow!

No matter how you dress it up, coal is always dirty energy and pollution generating.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

State of the art zero emission coal burning facilities are the new wave of the future, and promise cheap plentiful power with none of the drawbacks or dangers posed by nuclear power, fish killing hydro power, bird killing wind power or expensive solar power.

Coal : the clean energy of tomorrow!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Great rhetoric! However, without China and India, it will have little effect on climate change. China is continuing to build new coal power plants this year and into the near future years. The country is currently going through a period of energy shortage. Flooded coal mines and dispute with Australia.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Perhaps the emission generated by this gathering is negligible relative to the emissions of the 8 billion people or so everyday, but I just don't see much benefit to the physical gathering.

Deals, proposals, commitments, negotiation, reports, and assessments are not done over casual luncheons so most of the research work has to be done prior. All the physicality provides is off the record discussions which I don't see the need here.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

China is running its industries on polluting coal to make products that people in the world buy-time to STOP buying cheap Chinese products…!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I'm pretty sure by current technologies co2 can be extracted from the coal burning process and stored separately. It's not that hard to google it.

Thess hippy environmentlists are stereotypically ignorant

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Several nations pledge to phase out climate change culprit coal

They always setup a system that makes paying fines more financially viable than completing the task.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

One means of assisting in offsetting the need for energy to heat & cool residences and commercial buildings is through 'insulation' and other means of architecture & engineering.

Nuclear is more than problematic, which has been proven numerous times from Three Mile Island to Chernobyl to Fukushima. Additionally, there are the accumulated costs, which no matter the offsets via accounting make it the most expensive means for producing 'energy'.

One means of creating less demand is population reduction. Japan's demographics indicate a diminishing population, yet there are absurd notions advanced to increase the population and atop that immigrant workers. One voiced concern is that of tax monies to provide for the welfare of retired individuals: The mere fact the yen is a fiat currency determines that funding for 'pensions' and such can be achieved via tricks of banking and simply issuing credit which can be washed away by accounting measures. Less population, less energy demands.

The numerous construction projects aka highways and such are simply bridges to nowhere and encourage the use of the automobile. Same with big malls.

As for coal. NG has been one of the substitutes for nuclear, which requires contracts with Houston, Texas based NG providers and shipping via large vessels. Not exactly green.

Individual solar panels certainly should be encouraged, Japan just happens to have one of the finest manufactures of solar in the world.

Coal should be banished, it is one of the most exploitive and damaging energy sources, which is revealed by looking at Appalachia. Or simply view the movie: Matewan. Or the documentary: Harlan Countty USA.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

For all the differences nations have around the globe the one thing we all rely on is the planet itself.

Failure to work together simply means an end to our civilization and the possible extinction of our species in four or five generations. For those of us alive today the effect will get worse year on year.

For those not yet born they will come into a world wild with massive fires, floods, droughts and wind storms with winds 100-200 KM/hr as normal rather than the odd event. New diseases and pandemics will occur more frequently with temperature increase driving mutations.

We need to take the economic pain now to fix this issue now not in thirty years time when many of us will be gone. End all coal power generation by 2030. put as many resources as needed to make clean energy the only power generation means. All buildings and homes being built to be energy self sufficient and all old one's made that way. Nine years is enough to make a miracle happen with co-operation. Humanity can achieve this together because we have the technology, the manpower and the ability to design and build what is needed. What we lack is the correct sense of urgency and funding. But money is man made and can be altered to fit the needs of the planet. Make a ten year time bubble where money is treated differently and bent to do what we need it to do.

Keep putting a timeline decaides ahead puts off the pain and decisions to the next generations. it is just not good enough. We need to do better today and that can only happen with public pressure to do so, in every nation.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@rainyday

The article is not just talking about coal.

The USA is a major contributor to pollution and a major china customer.

After living in the USA for 30 years there's nothing anyone could say to make me believe the USA is on the right track with anything.

Actually both the article and your own comment which I was replying to were specifically about coal.

And yeah, I get it, the US does a lot of bad environmental stuff (as do all countries) but the fact is that the US is actually walking the walk on phasing out coal. I think this is a good thing, which isn't any less good just because the US lags in other areas. Credit where it is due.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Why would Japan, who has had PMs that got rich off coal (with slave labor making it happen) mines in the past, be for getting rid of it?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

I agree and you don't need Pichaku to prove it. Coal mines are filthy, unhealthy and not cheap. The areas they are in are depressing and meth making is another 'trade' in those regions.

Wind turbines, solar energy are far better. Maybe not cheap (yet) but it'll be better in the long run.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The answer is already out there, and it will be solved for the time being by restarting nuclear power plants. Kishida has not expressed any negative opinion about the restart of nuclear power plants either.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Hope in one hand and hold a pledge from politicians in the other.

See which comes true.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@rainyday

The article is not just talking about coal.

The USA is a major contributor to pollution and a major china customer.

After living in the USA for 30 years there's nothing anyone could say to make me believe the USA is on the right track with anything.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

At a good age, I detest senseless activists who take the liberty of using the characters of private companies for their political activities.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Japan doesn't use alot of coal but it burns alot of trash

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

The next Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is just an earthquake away.

If there is a (known) tsunami risk at the plant but they still put it just above sea level with the backup generation underground, then yes. Earthquakes matched with incompetence and cost-cutting are especially damaging.

Pollution from coal plants kills thousands every year and is a major source of mercury in the sea. For those reasons alone, it should be stopped.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

If we could somehow find a safe and cost effective way to dispose of waste outside the planet would go a long way for nuke acceptance

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The amount of car he own is not harmful to the environment only if he drives all 85 at the same time.

A US President arrives in an impressively large motorcade of vehicles many filled with well armed men and women there to protect him. Some of those black Chevy Suburbans have pop-up gun turrets and very often there is more than one Presidential limo to keep potential terrorists guessing which one has the President in it and which is(are) the decoy(s). Add vehicles for press and other administration staff and State Department types who travel to these events. The number of vehicles can add up pretty fast.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Gobshite: I don't think you realise how un-intelligent your comment is. I assume you mean Joe should cut down on his driving time?? To do his part in the fight against climate enhancement??? Not cut back on the cars he owns??? It that what you mean. The amount of car he own is not harmful to the environment only if he drives all 85 at the same time. Do you really think Joe can do that ????

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

For Japan's power consumtion, no coal = Nuclear... know what you are getting into

More emphasis on conservation is needed.

As is a good system of life cycle costing, so the public can get a better sense of what the best ways to generate electricity might be.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Fact:

Japan produces around 2% to 3% of Co2 emissions in 2020, but if you read online comments you would think we're next to China or America.

Japan ranks 6th in the world for Coal consumption, accounting for about 18.5% of the world's total consumption.

Before the shutdown of all Nuclear Power Plants that number was lower! For Japan that number will continue to go down as we turn on the plants nuclear plants again!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Really Climate change is a unintelligent phrase. Climate is a constant variable, so climate is continuously influx. So the phrase should be Climate enhancement when climate passes the average variable hight range and average variable low range. I welcome this enhancement because my life is better when the weather is warmer. I enjoy days of 40c+. But I am a minority and I realise the overall health community alway come before a individual. I am all for climate enhancement. I say bring it on I but realise there are more people in this world who can not handle warm weather and I have to side with the majority.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

The nations whose leaders used 400 private flights to get to Scotland that would be.

Don't even start me on Sleepy Joe's 85 vehicle procession. Hypocrisy at it's worst

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Oh, they don't know how it works here. If someone, especially a foreigner, says that something should be different, then those in leadership positions will only harden up and take it as a confirmation of their good work and continue to do it the way it has always been done.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Why didn't they meet online instead of flying en masse to (and from) Glasgow spreading a lot of carbon emissions into air? I mean, not only government officials and "green" biz leaders, but also many POKEMON activists above. I wonder how they have gathered out there.

COP26に専用機など400機 首脳、企業家ら 偽善との批判も

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/06a5efb5a60ef3f3c35755faad3482a57b123db5/images/000

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Unfortunately, the most practical alternative is nuclear energy.

You've done saying succinctly what I was about to say. It's (non-greenery) clean energy enabling stable distribution.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Yes, all the Asian countries that are friendly with the west, please follow us in reducing pollution levels.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

USA so hypocritical -

The USA hasn't opted to join the coal phase out pledges but its commitment to a clean energy future is clear.

Yeah right ?

The USA pleges to prioritize clean energy over fossil fuels abroad while not completely ruling out financial support for coal fired power plants.

That's just great Biden you buffoon !

Yeah, but the US has also drastically reduced its use of coal over the past decade. Coal use their peaked about 15 years ago and has been sharply declining ever since. Its way different than the situation in China, which is where the real problem with coal lies today.

I mean, it would have been great had it signed and also great for it to rule out financial support for coal fired plants (not sure why they didn't do those things), but I think in general the US is on the right track with ditching coal.

Data on coal use in the US:

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=44115

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Japan has so much coastline that wave power should be plentiful. Then there is offshore wind turbines. Finally any building that has a roof that gets ten hours of sunlight should be good for Solar. There are even Solar panels that replace the exterior glass on high-rise buildings.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/engineers-found-way-create-fuel-160150871.html

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Clean coal lol

Not funny seriously

Clear as mud

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Put tech to work on making super scrubbers for the gasses produced.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Japan has an energy problem. Nuclear power generation appears to be problematic in an area prone to heavy seismic activity. Are they going to clear all the forested areas into banks of solar panels as we are currently seeing, cutting down the very resource that helps us breath and makes the world worth looking at! Or do they dam up every river worth doing (they may have already done this) for hydro electricity. The world, and Japan in particular, needs to be looking for an energy source that doesn’t involve deforestation, nuclear or fossil fuels to generate power and the world at large needs to learn to turn something that does use electricity off when they are not using it. This wastage is currently a major problem.

I wonder if every roof in Japan had solar panels attached how much power could they generate from that alone. If government mandated and subsidised any new house built or renovated must have roof solar panels installed equal to or greater than it’s calculated usage would go a very long way to solving the current problem. A relatively simple fix that would go a long way. Maybe those in power have already calculated the decrease in brown envelopes, expensive steak dinners and hostess bar visits to bother doing it.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Hell no.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Kyo wa heiwa dayo neToday  07:48 am JST

USA so hypocritical -

Yes the U.S. is totally hypocritical and it's not just Biden. The Coal lobby has go Congress testicles in a vise grip and all the Coal lobby has to do is threaten to squeeze to kill any anti-coal legislation. They even have the oxymoron term "clean coal" that even Ex-Pres Obama used and don't get me started on Trump

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Japan has several coal and coal-related mascots, the latest are Tagatan and Gansho-kun:

https://twitter.com/mondomascots/status/1089893216533368833?lang=en

https://www.gunkanjima-museum.jp/data/539/en_detail/ -
-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Why involve Pikachu ?!? He generates his own, “clean” energy.

(Just needs sleep to recharge.) -
6 ( +7 / -1 )

Critics say that vision is still obscured by a lot of smoke because several major economies still have yet to set a date for ending their dependence on the fuel, including the United States, China, India

The top 3 which account for more than 70% of world coal consumption.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

For Japan's power consumtion, no coal = Nuclear... know what you are getting into

5 ( +9 / -4 )

USA so hypocritical -

The USA hasn't opted to join the coal phase out pledges but its commitment to a clean energy future is clear.

Yeah right ?

The USA pleges to prioritize clean energy over fossil fuels abroad while not completely ruling out financial support for coal fired power plants.

That's just great Biden you buffoon !

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

Maybe there can be research into large scale Coal gasification the process of producing syngas—a mixture consisting primarily of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), natural gas (CH4), and water vapor (H2O)—from coal and water, air and/or oxygen.  Still burning fossil fuel but cleaner than burning coal.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Coal will not go away for a decade or more at best. Still the sooner coal stops being used the better. As soon as someone figures out how to store nuclear waste for 10,000 years safely Nuclear will be usable. Fukushima is still spewing radiation in to the pacific and will continue to do so for the rest of everybody alive today lives. The next Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is just an earthquake away.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Not an easy choice as Japan continue to struggle to restart Nuclear power plants for obvious reasons, which other countries do not have.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Views of Coal Miner's Daughter surge on Netflix.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

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