Informant38

I am prepared to go into a room:

When Scargill suggests that, by mining and refining coal, "we can provide all the electricity, oil, gas and petrochemicals that people need, without causing harm to the environment", he shows that he is living in a world of make-believe. He rightly demands that we "end the import of shale oil, tar sands and other so-called unconventional oils" and calls them "the dirtiest fuels on the planet". But while the total carbon emissions from petrol made out of tar sands are 30%-70% higher than those from conventional petroleum, turning coal into transport fuel raises emissions by 85%. The process also requires 10 gallons of fresh water for every gallon of fuel produced. Coal, not tar sand, is the dirtiest fuel on the planet.

Monbiot
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Kingsnorth at the GuardianUk