Often, I’m asked by colleagues in the energy industry how can lignite continue to prosper in North Dakota considering all the doom and gloom about the coal industry from the national media. Beyond the media narrative, anti-coal activists also continue to promote inaccurate propaganda related to cost and competitiveness of coal. But the real answer is quite simple: lignite is different.
The mine and power plant workers in North Dakota are different. The process to mine in North Dakota is different. The research and development projects in North Dakota are different. Each of these attributes sets lignite apart from other forms of coal. Lignite is also resilient, reliable, and dispatchable which sets it apart from even other energy sources in North Dakota. Lignite keeps the lights on, our homes comfortable 24/7 and the regional economy humming.
In North Dakota, where our power plants are right next to the coal mines, we’ve eliminated the transportation bottlenecks and resulting costs. This allows our lignite electricity to be produced at a third less cost than all other forms of coal which ensures our electricity exports to Minnesota are competitive. We ship our electricity by wire instead of coal by train.
Lignite is also abundant. At current usage there are more than 800 years of recoverable coal resources in western North Dakota. On top of that, lignite is also environmentally sustainable. Our members spend millions of dollars a year to reclaim the land to equal or better condition than before mining began and more than $2 billion has been invested in clean coal technology. These investments have allowed North Dakota to continue meeting and exceeding all federal and state ambient air quality standards.
The future makes lignite different. LEC members have been investing heavily in carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS) technologies which will allow our mines and power plants to prosper in the future – under any political circumstance.
Our research and development program is a partnership between state government and industry. We also partner with the U.S. Department of Energy and many of the best energy researchers in the country and the world.
You can learn more about how lignite is different from a new video project we released at www.lignite.com/different.
Jason Bohrer