Though only a free market could bring in the final verdict, it seems highly likely that it would be more economical to ship coal by pipeline rather than by rail; at the very least, the railroads could be whipped into shape by the competition of pipelines, until recently conceived as slurry lines, pumping a mixture of water and crushed coal.
There are several reasons for thinking so. First, the historical trend of fuel transportation in all industrial countries has been relentlessly from bulk transport to pipelines (and energy transmission); and we have considerably more confidence in such trends than in lawyers who concoct eminent domains.
Second, independent expert opinion, such as the 1978 OTA report, give some highly encouraging data on pipelines, making it clear that they would often be more efficient, economic, and reliable than rail transport.
Third, a number of slurry lines now running are doing fine; equally convincing, perhaps, are the lines that are not running because they were driven out of business by the competition
¾not by its better service, but by its better relations with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).For pipelines do have one overwhelming
¾indeed, lethal¾ disadvantage: the railroads won't let them pass under their tracks. They have eminent domain over their land, not by property rights, but by the grace of Congress. And failing that, by the grace of the ICC.There was, for example, an Ohio slurry line in 1957, delivering 1.2 million tons of coal a year from a Consolidated Coal Co mine to a generating plant in Cleveland over a distance of 108 miles. Six years later, it was shut down because the railroads obtained the ICC's authorization to charge competitive rates in "general" cases that would specifically kill this pipeline.
This may change in the future, but at present it is a type of risk well known to the nuclear industry, which calls it "regulatory uncertainty;" less inhibited men know it as coercive government meddling in the economy.
[more: Technology Assessment of Coal Slurry Pipeline, OTA Report 1978, 052-003-00523-9, GPO, Washington, D.C. (was $3.25); L.K. Richardson, "Coal slurry pipelines: issues and problems," Publ. Util. Fortnightly, 16 Aug 1979; "Slurry pipelines: a maze of rights," Coal Mining & Proc., Aug. 1979; C.F. Clark, "Coal transportation by slurry pipeline and unit train," Energy Center Newsletter, Stanford Res. Inst., Menlo Park, Calif., Jan. 1979.]
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Vol. 9, No. 6
Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Issues Issue/No.: Vol. 9, No. 6 Date: November 23, 2004 01:29 PM Title: Conceding the moral vacuum
Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
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