[Matman]

Coal can't die without a replacement period. I've been saying that for years, I know that coal will not last forever, but it needs to be phased out slowly as other energy's are developed. However before we kill it we have to find a replacement for it, I don't think wind and solar alone are the answers. As a country we have to not only maintain our energy demands, but increase our energy output.

I'm not familar with Celgard or their products, but according to an excerpt from the article below Celgard has expanded to South Korea. Celgard's parent company Polypore lost $117 million last year and is in debt to a tune of $803 million.

In 2008, Pulwer told an industry trade publication he was excited about the opportunity car batteries presented. He noticed that every carmaker at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit "had a display on the auto floor with power packs and lithium-ion batteries," according to the article in Chemical & Engineering News.

A recent company filing said the lithium battery market is expected to grow 10 percent annually, driven in part by the demand for hybrid electric cars.
And in recent years, the company has been buying competitors - though its debt has grown.

In 2008, Celgard spent $18million to expand its Charlotte site. It also bought a site in South Korea for $23 million and announced last month it will spend $30 million to expand it.

This year, with help from a $49 million federal stimulus grant, Celgard announced plans to invest $91 million to expand its Charlotte facility, creating 80 jobs, and build a new plant in Concord, adding 209 workers by the end of 2014. The overall average wage will be $56,960, plus benefits.

Celgard's parent company doesn't break out the division's financial data. But Polypore lost $117 million last fiscal year and has "consolidated indebtedness" of $803 million.

I agree. Coal can not die without a replacement. However what i find equally important is that the replacement be made/harvested/manufactured/processed in the coal producing areas. Thats why i mentioned the biomass. There are plans to overhaul some existing coal technologies to become biomass plants.