We have a choice...

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We have a choice...
Industrial-aged coal
Clean renewable energy
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Where do we get electricity?
For Sweden, thats just the beginning! They have
committted to get 60 of their power from
renewables.
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Where do we get electricity?
In Utah 95 of our electricity comes from...
COAL
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THE TRUECOST OFCOAL
ITS ARTIFICIALLY LOW The costs to our
environment, health and economy are not included
on your electric bill.
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THE TRUE COST OF COAL
Environment

• Extraction
• Mining of coal requires continuous extraction and
  transportation.
• Greenhouse gas contributor
• One coal plant typically emits 3,700,000 tons of
  carbon dioxide (CO2) in a year. CO2 is the
  primary contributor to global warming.
• Acid rain pollutants
• One coal plant typically emits 10,000 tons of
  sulfur dioxide (SO2) and 10,200 tons of nitrogen
  oxide (NOx), the principle source of acid rain.
• Water Waster
• A typical 500 MW coal power plant uses 2.2
  billion gallons of water, enough to support a
  city of approximately 250,000 people.

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THE TRUE COST OF COAL
Environment
A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS!
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THE TRUE COST OF COAL
Environment
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THE TRUE COST OF COAL
Health

• Mercury is a serious neurotoxin
• 40 of all mercury in our environment comes from
  coal-fired power plants. Forty-six states,
  including Utah, have issued fish consumption
  advisories because of high mercury levels.
  Between 316,588 and 637,233 children each year
  have blood mercury levels high enough to cause
  permanent IQ loss.
• Emissions
• In an average year, ONE coal fired power plant
  creates 500 tons of particulate matter, 10,200
  tons of nitrogen oxide, 720 tons of carbon
  monoxide, 220 tons of VOCs, 170 pounds of
  mercury, 225 pounds of arsenic and 114 pounds of
  lead.
• Human health consequences
• Coal is responsible for 24,000 premature deaths,
  38,200 non-fatal heart attacks, 16,200 cases of
  bronchitis and 554,000 asthma attacks. UMWA
  estimates that 1,500 miners still dies every year
  from black lung disease.

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THE TRUE COST OF COAL
Economy

• Productivity losses
• 3,186,000 lost days of work are attributed to the
  burning of coal.
• Mercury toxicity costs the U.S. economy an
  estimated 8.7 billion annually in lost
  productivity, of which 1.3 billion is
  attributable to coal power plants.
• Millions of acres of farm land are at risk of
  losing productivity potential over the next
  century due to global warming.
• Can we put a price on the cost of your child
  being afflicted with asthma or someone dying
  prematurely from lung disease?

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Coal proponents are proposing four additional
plants in Utah.

• Intermountain Power at Delta (IPP)
• 950-MW pulverized coal-fired plant
• Sevier County Power at Sigurd
• 270-MW circulating fluidized bed
• Hunter 4 in Castle Dale
• 600-MW pulverized coal-fired plant
• Bonanza Power in Bonanza
• 110-MW circulating fluidized bed

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Coal proponents are proposing four additional
plants in Utah.

• At least 75 of IPPs current power goes to
  California, with most of the projected power from
  IPP 3 also going there.
• Because of Californias air quality standards are
  much stricter than here, they are not allowed to
  build any more coal-fired power plants.

California gets the power Utah gets the crud.
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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
Environment

• Small imprint
• Wind turbines and solar panels have minimal
  impact to our landscape. Crops can be grown and
  livestock raised right up to the base of such
  devices.
• Inexhaustable
• So long as the sun shines, wind blows, earth
  creates heat and humans produce organic waste,
  there will be potential energy!
• No waste waste utilization
• Wind, solar and geothermal do not create waste
  that coal, oil and nuclear power produce.
• Biomass makes the most of waste by extracting gas
  from composting organic material.

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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
Health

• No emissions
• Wind-powered turbines, solar panels, and
  geothermal create no air or water emissions that
  are associated with health problems previously
  mentioned.
• Biomass is cleaner burning
• Methane gas, a by-product of composting organic
  material, is a free fuel that would otherwise be
  emitted into our atmosphere. Since it is even
  more lethal than CO2 in terms of its contribution
  to global warming, bio-mass energy is a win-win!

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THE SENSE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
Economy

• Increase local tax base
• Property tax payments of 1 of the value of a
  wind project will equal approximately 10,000 per
  megawatt in tax revenue.
• Income for farmers and rural landowners
• Biomass and wind can provide additional money to
  struggling farmers.
• Job creation
• Creates good paying jobs in manufacturing,
  transportation, and construction, especially for
  rural communities.

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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

• Solar Power
• All energy stored in the earth's reserves of
  coal, oil, and natural gas is matched by the
  energy from 20 days of sunshine.
• Over the past two decades, the cost of solar
  power has declined by 90.
• Utah has the potential for producing 69,000
  GWh/yr.

Photovoltaic cells convert the suns rays into
electricity.
In 2002, Utahs total electricity consumption was
23,267 GW.
Parabolic troughs concentrate light to heat
water and create steam.
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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

• Wind Power
• 32 states now have wind farms, aggregately
  creating enough energy to power 3 million homes.
• Over the past two decades, the cost of wind power
  has declined by 80
• Utah has the potential for producing 23,000
  GWh/yr.

Wind turns the large turbines and generate
electricty.
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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

• Biomass Power
• Supplies over 30 times as much energy in the U.S.
  as solar and wind power combined.
• Trees, grasses, corn, sorghum and soybeans are
  all energy crops.
• Utah has the potential for producing 1,000
  GWh/yr.

Fuel can be extracted from decomposing
agricultural waste.
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THE PROMISE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

• Geothermal Power
• Geothermal produces 5 of Californias power and
  one third of El Salvadors energy.
• Seismically active areas are conducive to
  harvesting the earths heat.
• Utah has the potential for producing 9000 GWh/yr.

Geothermal plants spin turbines with the
earths internal heat
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• What can I do?
• Write a letter to your local newspaper
• Contact your legislator and city/municipal
  officials
• Urge them to invest in clean, renewable energy
  BEFORE purchasing more dirty coal power.
• Contact the Governor
• 801-583-1000
• http//governor.utah.gov/goca/form_comment.html
• Sign a postcard
• Sign our Utah Global Warming Initiative
• Sign up for the Blue Skies program w/ Utah Power
• Contact the Public Service Commission