Re: Northbound PRB coal
Author: Dave Smith
Date: 09-29-2008 - 19:50
Well, not in BF proper, but rather located in the vicinity. Probably south of town near Naples. These days most big time production facilities are not located in their cities of residence proper, but are usually located outside of the city a few miles. Thus for a mostly rural area there isn't the residential impact you'd have in a more urbanized area like Kootenai county. There's less chance of inversion impact from south of town than there would be if a production facilty was located down along the river valley or one of those benches overlooking the valley.
As for emissions, I'm not sure what if any (from a standpoint of significance) would be emitted from a gasification plant compared to a power plant. In a gasification plant, the coal's carbon-hydrogen makeup is reformulated into the syngas, whereas in a power plant the carbon is being completely combusted and emitted as CO2. In gasification, there is some loss of carbon in the form of CO2, and I'm sure some steam would be vented even with condension technology, but nothing compared to a power plant.
I would also think commercial land prices are cheaper in Boundary county than in Kootenai and Bonner counties.
By the way, is the Kootenai River Inn a good train watching motel? I see that it's located right along the BNSF and just across the river from the SI.