Trains, Coal and Mercury
Recently I posed the following question to CSX, the railroad whose long, coal-bearing trains we have seen passing through Brunswick, Maryland for many years:"For many years we have been crossing the Potomac River at Brunswick, MD and have seen extremely long trains of open cars carrying coal standing on sidings.
Could you take just a moment and tell us generally where this coal comes from, what type of coal it is and what its destination is?
Many thanks,
"
RobertThe response from CSX on September 27, 2005:
"Mr. MacDowell - Thanks for the question.
Most of the coal trains traveling through Brunswick originate from the "B&O Coal fields" which are generally in the vicinity of Grafton, WV, or from the "MGA Coal Fields" that are located in southwest PA.
The coal is predominately "steam" or "thermal" coal used by utilities to produce electricity. A very small amount is coking coal used in steel making. Some utility plants can burn a "train a day". A typical coal train is 100 cars, or 10,000 tons. Some are bigger but grade and elevation limit train size traveling over any particular track.
The coal is moved to several different electric utilities served by CSX on the east coast and in the southeast. Some of the coal is exported by ocean going vessel through Baltimore to Europe and even to Japan.
CSX moves about 170 million tons of coal each year. While Central Appalachia accounts for most of the coal originations in the east, the Northern Appalachian coal fields (B&O and the MGA) will remain a very important source of coal for years to come.
"========
Ponder, if you will, how much coal is burned at a large power plant just to run unnecessary lights. If 25% of all electricity is used in this way, then about a quarter of that train load of coal is potentially wasted - 2500 tons per day per large power plant. I wonder about the Mount Storm power plant in West Virginia - it's huge - it burns coal - and it's up-wind from us...
When we waste electrical energy by running unnecessary lights, we degrade our environment, which has effect on us and our friends and neighbors. There has been considerable press about the mercury emissions that come from burning coal ending up in fish, resulting in the ingestion of mercury by all of us who eat fish. Mercury is a serious health hazard and especially for young people and pregnant women.
The following links are off-site, so please bookmark us before you go.
A great deal of official information about this particular issue is available on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Website. The link:
There is a very informative Website in Great Britain that provides information on how much coal is needed to illuminate various types of lights, including a calculator you can use to determine how much coal various lights cause to be burned. I found it well worth a visit. The link:
Campaign for Dark Skies ( British Site ) Environmental Page
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