Archive for December, 2008

Britain says yes to new coal-generated power plants

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said his country
will continue to build new coal-generated power plants with an eye toward
retrofitting those new coal plants with carbon capture and sequestration
technology when those technologies are fully operational.

"I will
not take a position which ignores our security of supply needs,” Miliband told
the Financial Times. He also stressed the need to drive the technology
into new plants "as quickly as we can.”

Secretary
Miliband has the right idea here. In fact, we’ve stressed the same thing since
the beginning.

America needs
to continue to build new coal plants because new plants create a market for
advanced clean coal technologies. And that
means supporting additional funding for clean coal technology programs – especially
carbon capture and storage projects.

We’re going
to need all of our available energy resources – wind, solar, nuclear and coal
– to meet future energy needs. We'll also need to continue to promote energy
efficiency, but at the end of the day coal use will continue to grow both here
at home and around the world in order to meet electricity needs. 

There has
never been an environmental challenge facing the coal-based electricity sector
for which technology has not provided the ultimate solution. In fact, today’s
coal-generated power fleet is 77 percent
cleaner than ever before, and we're moving forward with new technologies
that can be used to retrofit new and existing coal plants to meet requirements
to capture and safely store CO2. 

22 December 2008, 5:19 pm | Posted in Carbon Capture, Clean Coal, Technology | 6 comments »
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What a great ad on CNN.com!

I was reading the latest headlines on CNN.com a moment ago when I saw a flash ad by GE.

In the ad, GE Vice Chairman John Krenicki says,”The only way to solve the energy challenge is through technology.”

He says that the solution will be in technology investments in “biomass, renewables, natural gas, nuclear, cleaner coal, subsea exploration, cleaning up water…”

After watching the ad, I have to say… I agree. We’re going to need all of our domestic resources to meet the rise in electricity demand. I would add, of course, that our most abundant fuel source, coal, is going to continue to play a key role in meeting the energy challenge.

Note: General Electric Capital Corporation is a member of our organization.

17 December 2008, 11:18 am | Posted in Energy Independence | 9 comments »

Clean coal two-for-one

A public-private partnership including a research center at Virginia Tech
University and a geological firm are literally digging into
the issue of storing carbon emissions from coal-based electricity.

The Virginia carbon sequestration project will inject carbon dioxide
(CO2) into 300 million-year old rock strata, which will permanently hold the
CO2 and keep it from entering the atmosphere. What’s more, the entrapment of
CO2 in the rock strata is believed to aid in the release of natural gas trapped
in coal seams—another domestic energy source.

“When we inject the carbon dioxide into the Mississippian aged coal
deposits that were deposited 260-340 million years ago, the CO2 will stay there
permanently,” said Marshall Miller, CEO of Marshall Miller and Associates, the
geological firm participating in the joint venture. “The good situation is that
out from the coal seam comes a gas, CH4, (methane) that gives you additional
fuel.”

2009 looks like it will be an exciting
year for science, technology and innovation in the U.S.

Check
out the clean coal
technology map to learn about the clean coal projects happening near
you.

16 December 2008, 5:56 pm | Posted in Carbon Capture | 3 comments »

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