Weekly coal news highlights: 29 June – 3 July 2015

Coal news highlights: 29 June – 3 July 2015

The MATS ruling

• Dr Lesley Sloss, IEA Clean Coal Centre, provides an outline on what is going on with the US Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS).
• The US Supreme Court’s decision to rule the US Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to consider costs of power plants when regulating plants as unreasonable has been met with praise.
• Advanced Emissions Solutions provides an outlook on the US Supreme Court ruling of MATS and highlights the subsequent influence of the ruling.
• Due to the long lead time for environmental compliance projects, many US utilities have moved ahead with MATS compliance despite uncertainly surrounding the legality of the rule.

Developments, achievements and current affairs

• Bharat Heavy Electricals has commissioned the first of three 250 MW coal-fired units at a project in Assam, India.
• A new biomass terminal has been planned for the Port of Liverpool to facilitate a large-scale decarbonisation project at Drax power plant.
• AGL has recommenced transportation and treatment of flowback water from its Waukivory Pilot site in New South Wales.
• Dyno Nobel accomplishes a new through seam blast world record, using DigiShot® Plus.
• Glencore is to close some of its Optimum Coal operations in South Africa due to weak coal prices, sparking an angry reaction from unions.

Corporate affairs

• Samson Materials Handling selects Malcom Youll as the new Managing Director and will be based at the Samson Office in Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK.
• Murray Energy announces two lawsuits against the Obama EPA for illegal and unconstitutional rule expanding jurisdiction over waters and dry land in the USA.
• Peabody Energy announces Amy Schwetz as the new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
• BHP Billiton has announced changes to the Group Management Committee. The changes will be in effect from 1 July and 1 August 2015.

Moving forward with advanced coal technologies

• The World Coal Association is pleased and welcomes China’s announcement of its continued commitment to low-emissions coal technology.
• A new report from the IEA Clean Coal Centre discusses the developments of advanced sensors and smart controls for coal-fired power plant and the potential differences they can make.

Not to be missed …

• A look at why recent changes matter for global thermal coal markets.
• Paul Marty, Moody, provides an overview on Europe's electricity market.
• A new report indicates that the global CBM market will grow at almost 6% per year to 2020.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/cbm/03072015/weekly-coal-news-highlights-29-june-3-july-2015-2515/