U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Rep. Lou Barletta highlighted the national importance of a new Penn State–industry collaboration during a recent visit to a Jeddo Coal Company mine in Ebervale, Pennsylvania.
Penn State Lehigh Valley Continuing Education’s "Six @ Six" lecture series begins again in March with an in-depth look at the impact that the coal industry had on the people and culture of northeastern Pennsylvania. David Longenbach, instructor in history at Penn State Lehigh Valley, will present six lectures on “Old King Coal – Then and Now: Anthracite, Mining, Immigrants, Unrest, and Unions” at 6 p.m. beginning March 18 at the Lehigh Valley campus. The series is open to the public.
Graduating seniors from the Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus' mining technology associate degree program presented their Capstone projects on Monday, April 23 on campus.
For almost 10 years, the Office of Physical Plant workers at the West Campus Steam Plant have gotten special visitors throughout the spring semester. The guests are upper-level Engineering students getting a first-hand look at a power plant in action.
Mountaintop removal mining, a particularly destructive form of surface mining which involves literally blasting away the tops of mountains to get at the coal reserves below, impacts vast areas of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky. Brad Woods, who received his doctorate in rural sociology and human dimensions of natural resources and the environment at Penn State in May 2010, describes his research into how mountaintop removal has impacted communities across Appalachia.
Penn State's Board of Trustees today (Jan. 21) approved Burns and McDonnell of St. Louis, Mo.,as the consulting engineering firm for the design of steam production modifications at University Park. The firm has significant experience in the design and construction of large university campus heating systems, power plants and related emission control projects.
Penn State will switch to natural gas as its source of energy in operating its University Park campus steam plants. Following are frequently asked questions and answers.
The Coal and Coke Heritage Center at Penn State Fayette has just published a book by John A. Enman that examines Pennsylvania coal and coke communities in such detail as to bring to light a great deal of information that was nearly lost. The book, titled "Another Time Another World: Pennsylvania Bituminous Coal, Coke, and Communities," will be available Dec. 10 at the Coal and Coke Heritage Center, in the lower level of the Penn State Fayette library.
Penn State will upgrade its West Campus steam plant starting in 2010 as part of its ongoing plan to promote greater environmental stewardship and ensure reliable heating for campus buildings. Over the last several years, Penn State has aggressively pursued environmental strategies that will reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and position it as a leader in "green" practices among universities nationwide.
Through the 20th century, the world relied on fossil fuels, most notably oil and coal, to supply its growing energy needs. Now, while the world ponders its energy future, coal remains a plentiful and a reliable means to meet much of today's energy demands. Rather than oil, this other "dark fuel" -- if burned more efficiently and cleanly -- just may be the bridge needed to usher the world fully into the next generation of energy technology.
Penn State researchers are looking hard at cleaner technologies for coal.
Northeastern Pennsylvania's anthracite region—a ten-county area only 35 miles wide—was once the world's largest producer of hard coal. At the height of its production early in the twentieth century, 180,000 miners toiled deep below the earth, hauling out a hundred million tons of coal a year.
Nearly a century ago, Rudyard Kipling wrote, "The things that truly last when men and times have passed, / They are all in Pennsylvania this morning!"
Pennsylvania, where coal has been mined for 200 years, is riddled with spoil piles, scarred earth, and abandoned tunnels.
"We're still finding them," says Louise Michaud, assistant professor of mining engineering. "A lot of these were old mom-and-pop operations, with no records of their locations."
There weren't environmental-impact regulations, either, when most of these mines were dug. "Fifty years ago, people weren't aware of the problems."
Ancient forests that once stood tall and dark are now buried, making their way back into daylight as coal. Researcher Patrick G. Hatcher wants to know how.
"One problem with studying how wood converts to coal is that the reactions take place over an extremely long period," said Hatcher, who is an associate professor of fuel science and geosciences at Penn State. When trying to duplicate those chemical reactions in the laboratories, he added, "We are faced with comparing something that occurs over a billion years with something modern."
