tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post2063916915608251871..comments2024-02-21T17:30:40.448-05:00Comments on An Objectivist Individualist: Coal-Fired Power Plants Produce Insignificant MercuryCharles R. Anderson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09610765984333672076noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-67012572056289301982012-07-06T10:00:12.515-05:002012-07-06T10:00:12.515-05:00Thank you for your comments Richard.
It is intere...Thank you for your comments Richard.<br /><br />It is interesting that you ask where the mercury is coming from and then wonder if it is coming from Mexico. Perhaps you are thinking the Mexicans are careless generators of mercury emissions.<br /><br />In an earlier post on this subject, http://objectivistindividualist.blogspot.com/2011/12/epas-newest-environmental-vendetta.html, I noted that coal-fired power plants produce about 41 to 48 tons of mercury a year. That post observed that forest fires in the US were estimated to release about 48 tons of mercury a year. Most of the big forest fires occur in the West, especially in many areas consistent with high concentrations in this map due to dry climates and low population densities drawing fewer fire-fighters. If these were the only sources of mercury, then the distribution of mercury across the US would still not differ much East to West since the forest fires of the West would be balanced by the higher concentration of coal-fired power plants in the East.<br /><br />In comparison to these puny sources of mercury, volcanoes, subsea vents, and geysers are thought to produce 9 to 10K tons of mercury a year. The areas of high mercury concentrations do not correlate very well with the newer and more active volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest in the US, however. But, it turns out that they correlate well with the old volcanoes of the Rocky Mountains shown in white in the map here: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ I expect the high mercury concentration areas are due to the erosion of mercury mineral deposits, commonly cinnabar, in these old volcanoes and from their environs. The mercury released by forest fires is clear evidence that there is substantial mercury in the ground in the West already distributed about. The Rockies have been eroding for a very long time now and mercury is distributed over long distances from these old volcanoes. This is my best guess about the source in any case.<br /><br />Some mining of mercury has been done in CA, NV, AK, TX, and AR.Charles R. Anderson, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09610765984333672076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-39004699058610508842012-07-05T10:23:32.154-05:002012-07-05T10:23:32.154-05:00So where is the southwest plume coming from, is it...So where is the southwest plume coming from, is it blowing up out of Mexico or elsewhere south?Richard Z.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-66597039120067446822012-07-05T10:15:01.925-05:002012-07-05T10:15:01.925-05:00Thank you for this information. Sen. Mark Pryor f...Thank you for this information. Sen. Mark Pryor from Arkansas is running an ad (date 7/5/2012) trying to justify his support of EPA's onerous coal fired plant regulations, saying 1 of 6 infants born has a high level of mercury. I suspect, have not asked yet, that he got that from the National Wildlife Federation website, which quotes studies about fish. mercuryfacts.org has documented debunking info.Richard Zelnicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-69066433441143523682012-05-31T00:11:38.280-05:002012-05-31T00:11:38.280-05:00Your post really helpful for my India Coal Power M...Your post really helpful for my <a href="http://www.bharatbook.com/energy-market-research-reports/india-coal-power-market-analysis-forecast-2012-2020.html" rel="nofollow">India Coal Power Market</a> Research and Development.Market Researchhttp://www.bharatbook.com/noreply@blogger.com