During our company visit at the Ledvice Power Plant, which is owned by ČEZ Group, we were given a tour of both the plant itself as well as the lignite, or brown coal, open mine that provides the company with the fuel needed to generate power and electricity. Both sites were magnificent, and the sheer size of the machines operated there is beyond comprehension. From the plant’s cooling tower to the mine’s bucket-wheel excavators (see top middle image), I had never seen anything like what I had witnessed today.
I found the most fascinating part of the tour to be the lignite mine. This was not only because of the machines used to harvest the coal, but it was also because of the general process behind mining itself. I learned that, first, geologists must test the soil by boring into the Earth so that they can determine whether or not a large enough coal deposit is there to mine. I also learned that as the coal is mined, the already mined parts are simultaneously covered with soil that had been dug up in order to kickstart the recultivation process. This process is essential in making sure that the surface of the Earth that has been mined is not permanently scarred or destroyed by the process of mining. While mining and using fossil fuels is generally viewed as negative with regard to our environment, it seems as if the mining company is doing as much as they can to minimize their footprint.
Swanson School of Engineering 