Published:
August 25, 2015
Energy Institute Director Dr. Tom Edgar and Assistant Director Dr. Fred Beach are prominently featured in a story on Texas’ lignite that aired recently on National Public Radio. In the story, which also includes quotes from Bureau of Economic Geology Senior Research Scientist Dr. J.P. Nicot, Edgar notes that most Austinites have ‘no clue’ that a strip mine is located only 30 miles away, just east of the town of Elgin, best known for its barbeque and sausage. About a dozen lignite mines, stretching in a series of arcs from northeast to southwest Texas, produced enough coal to account for roughly 36 percent of the state’s electricity in 2014. For more, listen to the entire NPR story.