As actions to combat climate change have heated up, many coal plants have finally begun to cool down. (And its about time!) Whether from the realization that coal is a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2 (as well as dirty and destructive in their extraction and processing of the coal itself) or just from the fear that regulation may cause undo financial hardships, many coal plants have been put on the back burner or nixed all together. Our compadres over at Earth2tech have put together a great interactive google map which shows the locations of coal plants that have fallen to the wayside, documenting the demise of these obsolete, smog belching beasts and presenting the info in powerful graphic form.
Here at Inhabitat, we talk about the design of the world we live in. Everything we write about, from architecture to fashion, is concentrated on sustainability and future forward design. All of these separate issues come together to create a larger world, a larger system in which we live. From our clothes, to our homes, to our neighborhoods and finally to the world at large, it is important to see how each of these separate issues effect one another. Maps are an amazing tool to visualize the world we live in, they can be as large as the universe and as small as the human genome. They also help empower grassroots actions, facilitating social and environmental change to fight injustices, and Earth2Tech’s map is doing just that.
As we move toward our clean energy future, it is important that we keep track of where our energy comes from, including renewable energy options. Utilizing the power of maps can give many people the power to induce change or at least be informed of what is going on in their own community. You can keep up with the coal plant deathwatch with Earth2Tech’s ongoing map updates.
+ Coal Deathwatch Map @ Earth2tech
it is truly great to see someone mapping this out, is there a map to show where the energy is coming from now? Having lived in the heart of Australian coal country, I’m glad to be in a hydro powered region now (Kootenays, BC), as long as more dams are not built!