4 – Carbon/Emery Energy Guide – March 2010
ENERGY 2010 For over three decades the Sun Advocate and Emery County Progress have been bringing Eastern Utah our energy guide each winter or spring. The publication has always been for those in our community who provide jobs in the most dynamic industry in the world, energy. It has been for the companies to bring information to the public, for the miners to spread the news about their profession and for the jobbers to show off their part in the coal and gas industry. Most of all, this special is about our readers, who want to know more about the energy industry, its technology, the issues facing it and what its future is. There are many challenges facing the energy industry today. Times are changing and the sure thing of coal being king seems to be waning as people start to look to alternative sources of power for homes and businesses. But coal still provides around 50 percent of the electricity used in the United States. In Utah, it provides over 80 percent. This publication contains articles about coal, its production and what may be happening with it, as well as information about associated industries
and gas production, which has also become a big part of our community’s network of businesses. There are also some stories concerning alternative energy sources that in some cases are pertinent or will be pertinent to the local area. While being rich in coal, this area also has huge amounts of coal bed methane, natural gas and tar sands, which are just in their infancy when it comes to development. The area also has a lot of renewable energy capacity as well. In some parts of the area, the wind blows as much as it does in many other places where turbines churn out power for grids, suppling thousands of homes. The area also has nearly 300 sunny days a year, which could mean it is a good place to generate solar power as well. But for now, the coal-fired power plants are the backbone of our power generation and that is here to stay for some time. We make no pretension that this publication covers every aspect of energy or energy development that is going on in our area, but we have tried to give a snapshot of what is up and what could go on in the future. We truly appreciate the individuals in our area that agreed to be interviewed for this special and those that contributed to it. Without their help we just couldn’t produce this one of a kind guide every year. This is also the second year our annual Carbon and Emery Energy Guide is housed in a slick cover publication. We are very proud of the way this has turned out and look forward to your comments about it. Richard Shaw, publisher Sun Advocate Emery County Progress
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