The Strategic Decommissioning of Coal Power Plants in Illinois — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Strategic Decommissioning of Coal Power Plants in Illinois

Name: Ember McCoy
Major: Environmental Science
Hometown: Aurora, IL
Faculty Sponsor: Tracy Gartner
Other Sponsors: Sun, Wenjie; Mast, Jerry
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

More than half of the United States’ energy comes from coal: its production reduces our reliance on foreign fuel and provides jobs to thousands of Americans; however it is no longer economically efficient and poses a great threat to human and environmental health. The objective of this study was to find a strategy for decommissioning Illinois coal power plants in the least harmful way possible. Ideally, locations will be shut down based on a system that allows for minimal impact on the environment, sustains social equality, and is feasible in terms of energy output and alternative sources. Ten potential sites were evaluated based on air pollution emissions, percent minority population and median household income of the surrounding area, size/energy output, and the cost-benefit of an alternative energy source. ArcGIS was used for mapping and spatial analysis of data acquired from the American Community Survey 2006-2010, 2010 Census, Environmental Protection Agency and SourceWatch coal plant information. Results depict which coal power plants would be the best to shut down first based on environmental justice, pollution emissions, and capacity, while indicating a five year time frame to make up costs of conversion for ideal candidates.

Poster file