A report issued by the Ohio River Valley Institute shows counties in Ohio with significant oil and gas development in the last decade actually saw jobs, income and population all decline.
Coal production levels are continuing to plummet each year in Ohio, a trajectory that has accelerated during the pandemic. The overall use of energy has decreased a great deal. It s just further depressed the market, which was already depressed by price, Mike Cope, president of the Ohio Coal Association, said during a recent Ohio Reclamation Forfeiture Fund Advisory Board meeting.
As of Jan. 30, Ohio produced 301 short tons of coal so far this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is a 33.2% decrease compared with the same period in 2020. Records show coal production in Ohio has steadily dropped each year.
The owner of a power plant being built along the Ohio River in eastern Ohio is taking steps toward fueling it with hydrogen and not just natural gas, as originally planned.
When the 485-megawatt power plant at Long Ridge Energy Terminal in Monroe County opens later this year, the natural gas-fired plant will be blended with hydrogen, a carbon dioxide-free energy source being pitched as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The goal is to transition the plant to 100% hydrogen over the next decade potentially green hydrogen a renewable energy source that uses electrolysis to split water to harvest hydrogen molecules.