Update - Pauline's queued Letter to the Editor
I concur with Robert Guyton in his letter 2 Sept 2010, It is very concerning the ambitions of Solid Energy a taxpayer owned SOE, in regards its proposed use of our coal resources.
Most concerning is its pretentious ambitions to get involved in the coal to oil industry or CTL as it is commonly called overseas. The proposed CTL production Solid Energy proposes using the Fischer Tropsch method, will required huge capital investment to become a reality. Overseas experience tells us that with the size of economic investment required for a CTL plant, to repay the investment required, and make it a viable economic reality, the plant will need to produce daily thousands of barrels of oil. Internationally experts say as much as 50,000 barrels per day for at least twenty years.
According to overseas experience one ton of coal and one square meter of water is required to produce one barrel of oil with the FT method.
Many Southland industries including our freezing industry, some schools and hospitals rely on the availability, of our now economically priced coal for their energy needs, to be able to continue operating. If the CTL plant is built the price of coal will rocket up in cost, and as well gradually this plant will use up all our coal resources within probably twenty years, in relation to present known Southlands coal reserves.
Our water resource drawdown is already a concern with our dairy industry usage. We do not have the water resource that will be required to be drawn down for a CTL plant operations.
A CTL plant will eventually see large layoffs in employment in Southland was many of our present operations are forced to make economic cuts in expenses. This will be a necessary step in order to pay for the steep increases they incur in energy costs. All this due to a taxpayer owned company having empire building ambitions.
Pauline McIntosh (Candidate for Environment Southland) J
7 comments:
What an awesome candidate!
Come on Pauline - you can comment under your own name!
:-)
I see that Solid Energy is doing a presentation on its plans in Gore on 15 September: see http://howtomakeadifferencenow.blogspot.com/2010/09/mataura-update.html and click on the poster image for details. For $20, non-members can attend and, perhaps, air their views on the matter...
Hey thanks Tim!
Just so happens I'm free that morning and have $20 dollars crying out to be put to good use.
(The last time I had to roll into Gore that early was for a BlueGreens breakfast (by invitation I hasten to add) where I met Brash for the first time. Bill was there along with a lot of other blue-suited men and women.)
If the hotel where this is taking place is the old Croydon Lodge, Dad and I used to play golf on the pocket-scale course (holes about 100m long) next to it - but I don't believe I've ever been inside. I hope you get good value for your $20!
It'll be a matter of wringing value from the meeting I suspect Tim, but I'm quite good at that.
I will report on the meeting.
I'll look forward to it!
Post a Comment