Coal loading equipment in Seward is set to be demolished (Fairbanks: contractor, university)

[AKStafford]

https://alaskapublic.org/2024/03/05/...-coal-exports/

For thirty years Alaska had a small coal export industry, but with demolition slated for the state’s only coal loading facility, those days are likely gone forever.

At its peak in 2011, Alaska exported 1.1 million tons — or 18 ships’ worth — of coal annually. The coal traveled down the Alaska Railroad from the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy to the Seward Coal Terminal. There, it was loaded on boats headed for South Korea, Japan and Chile.

But within five years, coal exports had dropped 95%. In 2016, the railroad and the mine shut it down.

“There simply wasn’t the global business to justify continuing with the operation at that time,” said Meghan Clemens, a spokesperson for the state-owned Alaska Railroad Corporation, which owns the Seward loading dock.

Demand for coal never came back, a signal of the global energy transition toward lower carbon fuels. Meanwhile, the coal-loading equipment on the Seward dock has sat idle for eight years, deteriorating to the point that it is unusable.

“It’s more of a liability than anything else right now,” Clemens said.

Now the railroad has decided to demolish the coal terminal in the hopes that it can find a new use for the dock.

“With this equipment out of the way, how can we better use this dock in Seward to bring some additional business through town?” Clemens said.

Bidding on the project closed last week and Clemens said the railroad will soon select a contractor. She said the demolition budget is $1.5 million to start.

With the coal loading infrastructure gone, it’s unlikely the mine or the railroad ever reinvests in coal exports, said University of Alaska Fairbanks energy historian Philip Wight.

“It’s hard for me to see any situation where this is not the end of Alaskan coal exports,” Wight said.

Usibelli Coal Mine did not respond to a request for comment.

Coal was never a huge part of Alaska’s energy exports. But Wight said its decline is one example of changes driven by the global energy transition.

Nations have committed to reducing their contribution to global warming, which means switching to lower carbon sources of energy.

Around the world, coal has been increasingly replaced by natural gas. Wight said since the 2010’s, countries in Asia have imported more liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

“And that made a big difference in the power sector, where countries like South Korea and Japan burned a lot more LNG rather than coal for electricity generation,” he said.

Natural gas releases less carbon into the atmosphere than coal when it’s burned, which has led it to be seen as a cleaner option. But it’s still a fossil fuel, and new research has raised questions about whether it has a lower climate impact than coal.

Despite that, demand for natural gas is growing. Wight said that’s in part because it works well as a backup to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

“We’re looking at a transition where LNG is going to continue to play a large role in that regardless of its carbon emissions.”

Even if the state likely won’t be exporting any more coal, it still remains a major energy source inside Alaska. In 2020, a third of electricity generated in the Interior came from coal, according to the Alaska Resource Development Council.

But coal infrastructure in Alaska is aging. And local utilities are eying other options – including wind energy and natural gas.

[jdhpa]

"Global coal consumption climbed to a new all-time high in 2022 and will stay near that record level this year as strong growth in Asia for both power generation and industrial applications outpaces declines in the United States and Europe, according to the IEA’s latest market update.

Coal consumption in 2022 rose by 3.3% to 8.3 billion tonnes, setting a new record, according to the IEA’s mid-year Coal Market Update, which was published today."

https://www.iea.org/news/global-coal...levels-in-2023


"China permitted more coal power plants last year than any time in the last seven years, according to a new report released this week. It's the equivalent of about two new coal power plants per week. The report by energy data organizations Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air finds the country quadrupled the amount of new coal power approvals in 2022 compared to 2021."

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/11604...ies-report-fin

[recycled]

^^^ I was watching a news report last night about a visit to the largest lithium processing factory in the world (no surprise in China). Lithium is one of the essential raw materials needed to produce batteries for EVs and countless other devices in our digital world. Ironically, right next to the lithium plant was a coal-fired power plant needed to deliver the massive amount of electrical power needed to run the lithium processing factory.

Yes, coal has declined as a share of US power plant fuel sources, but it still plays a massive role in power plant fuel sources around the world. My guess is not that the market for coal had dropped so much, but the price per ton had dropped enough so that Alaska count not bring it to market for a competitive price. The scale was simply not there for the mine in Alaska to compete against larger coal exporters like Australia.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by jdhpa

"Global coal consumption climbed to a new all-time high in 2022 and will stay near that record level this year as strong growth in Asia for both power generation and industrial applications outpaces declines in the United States and Europe, according to the IEA’s latest market update.

Coal consumption in 2022 rose by 3.3% to 8.3 billion tonnes, setting a new record, according to the IEA’s mid-year Coal Market Update, which was published today."

https://www.iea.org/news/global-coal...levels-in-2023


"China permitted more coal power plants last year than any time in the last seven years, according to a new report released this week. It's the equivalent of about two new coal power plants per week. The report by energy data organizations Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air finds the country quadrupled the amount of new coal power approvals in 2022 compared to 2021."

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/11604...ies-report-fin

But the time frame mentioned for the 95% drop in exports from the original post was 2011-2016. Since the shutdown back then the equipment used for loading has fallen into unusable condition.

It's possible the Seward operation could find an Asian market for the coal today, but it'd have to be someone besides China I would think. Of the three former destinations listed, Chile, Korea and Japan, possibly Japan could currently be a player with Alaska coal since they've put sanctions on Russian coal. All three of those countries intend to phase coal out of their energy future, or so they say.

[Northrick]

I believe Alaska coal was always more expensive than other suppliers but it was viewed as a reliable source and certain countries were willing to pay a premium for that. As more natural gas plants came on line replacing coal plants they decided paying extra wasn't worth it any more.


China has plenty of their own coal and imports the rest from places cheaper than Alaska (Australia, Indonesia, and Russia).

[mitgreb]

Bad choice!

[Northrick]

Tourism baby!


https://www.adn.com/business-economy...p-seward-dock/


The Alaska Railroad is making a new push to replace its aging cruise ship dock in Seward with a larger one that can handle much bigger ships.


They are looking at installing a new cruise ship dock where the decrepit coal loading facility is now.

[jdhpa]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trude...220843019.html

"the expansion almost triples the capacity of the line to 890,000 barrels a day, vastly increasing the volume of crude that Alberta’s oil producers can ship to growing Asian markets.

[...]

Cargoes off the new line are already scheduled to be shipped to China, California and India. Tankers will be able to begin receiving oil from the expanded pipeline by mid-May, Trans Mountain said."


Alberta's oil comes from tar sands.

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...nds/index.html

"In fact, oil from tar sands is one of the most destructive, carbon-intensive and toxic fuels on the planet. Producing it releases three times as much greenhouse gas pollution as conventional crude oil does. "


Worldwide fossil fuel consumption continues to climb.

[Northrick]

Originally Posted by jdhpa

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trude...220843019.html

"the expansion almost triples the capacity of the line to 890,000 barrels a day, vastly increasing the volume of crude that Alberta’s oil producers can ship to growing Asian markets.

And... what does that have to do with a coal loading facility in Seward Alaska?

[jdhpa]

Originally Posted by Northrick

And... what does that have to do with a coal loading facility in Seward Alaska?

The article in the original post states that there is no demand for Alaskan coal because energy use is switching to green energy, and there is lessening demand for fossil fuels. But that is not the case, as the articles I posted show.