Deadly Gas Explosion Strikes China Coal Mine
At least 15 people are killed and 18 missing after blast, according to authorities
A gas explosion at a coal mine in southwestern China killed at least 15 people and left 18 others missing, local authorities said.
Monday’s blast took place late morning in a mine run by Jinshangou Coal Industry Co. in the city of Chongqing, the municipal coal-mine safety inspection bureau said in an online statement. State media said two of the 35 miners underground made it out after the explosion.
Rescue work was under way at the mine in Chongqing’s Yongchuan district, and municipal authorities ordered all coal mines in the city to suspend operations pending fresh safety inspections, the bureau said.
China’s State Administration of Work Safety, the national regulator, has sent a team to the scene to oversee rescue work and ordered an investigation, it said in a separate statement. It offered no immediate potential cause of the gas explosion.
Local inspectors recently cited a “Jinshangou coal mine” in Yongchuan district for “safety hazards” and ordered a halt to underground mining activities there, according to an Oct. 14 notice published by the Chongqing coal-mine safety inspection bureau.
During inspections conducted Oct. 9-12, the bureau found faulty sensors and communications systems, as well as disrepair to the ventilation system and passageways in that mine, the notice said. It’s unclear whether that mine was the one where the explosion took place.
Calls to Jinshangou Coal Industry owner Jiang Wenge rang unanswered.
Monday’s explosion coincided with a national conference of work-safety inspectors in Beijing, an occasion that President Xi Jinpingand Premier Li Keqiang marked by calling for greater efforts to improve supervision and enforcement of industrial safety.
China is the world’s largest coal producer and consumer, but its coal mines have been notoriously deadly. Government efforts to improve safety have sharply reduced coal-mining deaths in recent years, with fatalities falling to 768 in 2015 from a record 6,995 in 2002, according to data from the State Administration of Work Safety.
A total of 207 people died in the first half of this year. In September, at least 18 workers died in a coal-mine explosion in the northern region of Ningxia, which initial investigation findings attributed to illegal mining methods.
Much of the mining is done in underground shafts, which are typically more dangerous than strip mines. Some of the worst safety offenders have tended to be small mines operating with little oversight.
Beijing has described the reduction of mining fatalities as one of the positive outcomes of state-led consolidation of its coal sector, which is spread across a swath of industrial hinterland. As part of the push for greater state control over coal operations, the government has ordered 500 million tons of coal capacity to be phased out by the end of 2020.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/deadly-gas-explosion-strikes-china-coal-mine-1477924652
Coal sector responded well to prevent corruption: CVC
Coal sector has improved its system to curb corruption by introducing GPS-enable trucks to carry coal from mines to destination and geo-fencing their land to counter theft of the valuable natural resource, the Central Vigilance Commissioner said today.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had taken up "preventive vigilance" as the theme for Vigilance Awareness week in 2015 to suggest government offices and public sector undertakings to bring in changes in their system to reduce scope of corrupt practices.
When asked which organisations were most receptive to the ideas of CVC in bringing transparency and introducing anti-corruption measures, Central Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary said Coal sector, followed by banks and insurance.
He said trucks carrying loads of coal from mines etc. are now being fitted with GPS to track their route, and if they divert from their scheduled path and alter their route, action is taken, making pilferage and resulting corruption difficult.
The Commissioner also said the coal sector companies have introduced geo-fencing of their land to demarcate their boundary clearly thus disallowing any attempts to illegally mine valuable natural resources.
Launching "Vigilance Awareness Week" here today for the year 2016, Chowdary said banks too have learnt lessons and introduced changes in their Standard Operating Procedures to report frauds.
He also said lot of changes have been observed in the claims and audit section of insurance companies to reduce corruption.
The coal sector was hit by reports of large scale corruption in allocation of coal blocks, with Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) claiming losses to be in the tune of about Rs 1.86 lakh crore.
Coal consumers urge government to reduce tax burden in GST
India's coal consumers have suggested that the central government should subsume all central and state taxes levied on coal in the proposed Goods and Services Tax as almost 50 per cent of the cost of coal currently involves levies under different heads, a consumers' representative said on Monday.
"We humbly suggest that all these taxes levied on coal be subsumed in GST uniformly so that the indirect tax burden of different heads is reduced.
"Such uniform taxation regime would create level playing field both in power as well as non-power sectors across the states and would also act as deterrent for the usage of imported coal thereby reducing the current account deficit," said a letter sent by Coal Consumers' Association of India to Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Coal consumers contend that apart from common taxes on all collieries, several state-specific taxes and additional levies are also charged on coal.
"Nearly 50 per cent of the cost of coal involves taxes and levies under different heads. Except West Bengal, royalty at the rate of 14 per cent is being levied on all collieries. In addition, levies for National Mineral Exploration Trust, District Mineral Foundation, a clean energy cess of Rs 400 for every million tonnes of coal and other taxes are being imposed," Association's Secretary General Subhasri Chaudhuri told IANS.
Among state-specific taxes, Chhattisgarh levies environment and development tax while Madhya Pradesh imposes forest and terminal tax. West Bengal charges 20 per cent cess for rural employment and five per cent for primary education. Royalty in West Bengal varies from Rs 2.50-6.50 on different grades of coal, she said.
Coal consumers also said that in addition to 6 per cent excise duty, there were additional charges above rail freight.
"There are busy season surcharge at the rate of 15 per cent and development charge at five per cent being levied above Railway freight. Swachh Bharat and Krishi Kalyan cess at the rate of 1.5 per cent each on the total freight are also imposed," Chaudhuri added
China asks coal miners to cap 2017 prices: Reports
China’s government has asked the nation’s top coal miners to cap their 2017 supply contracts at or below current spot market levels, sources said, a highly unusual move that reflects Beijing’s growing panic about runaway prices. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) at an emergency meeting on Thursday asked miners to agree to set the prices for their 2017 long-term supply contracts at or below 12 cents per kilocalorie (kcal) for 5,000 kcal thermal coal and for 5,500 kcal thermal coal, two sources who were briefed on the meeting told Reuters.
Those prices are equivalent to 600 yuan ($88.63) per tonne and 660 yuan per tonne respectively, according to Reuters calculations. This was the third meeting that the NDRC, China’s top economic planner, has held with the coal industry in a week and the participants included state-owned Shenhua Group Corp, the nation’s largest miner, the sources said. The sources asked to remain anonymous as they are not authorised to speak to the press.
The NDRC did not respond to requests for comment. No agreement was reached in the meeting, but the sources expect negotiations overseen by the government to continue over the next few months.
Coal prices have skyrocketed over the past two months to record highs as government-enforced mines closures choked supplies to power companies and forced many to import feedstock.
http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/china-asks-coal-miners-to-cap-2017-prices-reports-3730275/
Coal to Natural Gas Switching in the U.S. Electricity System
Despite gas prices expected to reach $4 by winter, it’s clear that natural gas has been gaining market share in the U.S. electric power system over coal, the longtime mainstay. For coal, a smashing combination of low gas prices and increasing environmental regulations has caused power producers to choose gas (and other sources) over coal. Since 2010 alone, gas for power is up nearly 33% to 9.7 Tcf a year.
Through July this year, gas power burn is up 10%, when the hottest summer ever recorded (here) surged demand to an all time record of 38.2 Bcf/day. In stark contrast, coal demand for power is down 25-30% since 2010. Gas now supplies some 35% of our electricity, double its share 15 years ago.
U.S. Gas Power vs. Coal Power
Source: EIA; JTC
Yes, I know we keep hearing that Trump is so wrong and it’s low cost gas alone that has led to more gas power, and he can’t save coal. But, there is simply no question than an onslaught of regulations is hurting coal and helping natural gas. And this is sure to continue under a President Clinton, who will be pushing the Clean Power Plan, with coal being helped by a President Trump. As a general rule, be careful listening to the media on energy….the tendency to oversimplify keeps me up at night.
Despite gas prices expected to reach $4 by winter, it’s clear that natural gas has been gaining market share in the U.S. electric power system over coal, the longtime mainstay. For coal, a smashing combination of low gas prices and increasing environmental regulations has caused power producers to choose gas (and other sources) over coal. Since 2010 alone, gas for power is up nearly 33% to 9.7 Tcf a year.
Through July this year, gas power burn is up 10%, when the hottest summer ever recorded (here) surged demand to an all time record of 38.2 Bcf/day. In stark contrast, coal demand for power is down 25-30% since 2010. Gas now supplies some 35% of our electricity, double its share 15 years ago.
U.S. Gas Power vs. Coal Power
Source: EIA; JTC
Yes, I know we keep hearing that Trump is so wrong and it’s low cost gas alone that has led to more gas power, and he can’t save coal. But, there is simply no question than an onslaught of regulations is hurting coal and helping natural gas. And this is sure to continue under a President Clinton, who will be pushing the Clean Power Plan, with coal being helped by a President Trump. As a general rule, be careful listening to the media on energy….the tendency to oversimplify keeps me up at night.
For example, MATS compliance forced power producers to examine their older, less efficient coal plants to see whether adding emissions control equipment would make economic sense to bring plants into compliance, or perhaps another option was better, such as shutting them down and replacing that capacity with very efficient combined cycle gas plants.
The best options for coal-to-gas conversion are 50-plus year old units, less than 300 megawatts in capacity and generally early generation sub-critical utility boilers. These are the least efficient and most costly to operate and have the lowest overall capacity factors in the coal fleet, most located in the eastern U.S.
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