Clean coal and the new president

During the election, President-elect Obama talked a lot about investing in America's energy future. While that will involve investing in all of our available domestic energy resources, the President-elect was clear that developing and deploying clean coal technologies would reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, create American jobs and hold down U.S. electricity costs.

In President-elect Obama has had to say about the future of clean coal:

“I am a big proponent of clean-coal technology and I want us to move rapidly in developing those sequestration technologies that's required.”

“What we need to do though is to put clean coal technology on the fast track and that means money. It means investment in research. That's something that we should have already been doing.”

“An Obama administration will provide incentives to accelerate private sector investment in commercial scale zero-carbon coal plants.”

We're looking forward to working with the new president, his administration and the new Congress as we seek ways to increase energy independence, reduce energy costs and invest in new technologies to meet new environmental challenges such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector.

In a recent interview with E&ETV, our CEO Steve Miller noted that the new administration would wrestle with a trio of issues, including fitting energy into an economic stimulus; moving the country to greater energy independence; and meeting our responsibilities to the environment.

We think a number of energy projects can help us overcome these challenges, including the revival of FutureGen, which is a public-private partnership to build the world's first near zero-emissions coal-fueled power plant. As Miller said: “President-elect Obama has mentioned five one-of-a-kind carbon capture and storage projects that his administration would be willing to fund; we hope that’s [FutureGen] one of them.”

ACCCE—a coalition of more than 40 coal-based electricity providers—stands ready to work with the president-elect, his administration and the 111th Congress to pioneer a new generation of advanced clean coal technologies that will capture and store carbon emissions and position America as a leader in innovation.

Join us in leading the way.

Comments

[Bob Kincaid]

Coal is our most abundant fuel? You're kidding, right?

That bright, shiny thingy in the sky? The one you can't look at without seeing spots? That's the SUN. That's our most abundant energy supply.

That thing you CAN'T see, but makes you feel cool when the bright shiny thingy's making you feel warm? That's the WIND. It can power homes without EVER having to blow up a single mountain or making a single worker cough blood and phlegm into his handkerchief or make even one widow follow her miner husband's coffin to a cold, grim grave.

Coal? Dirty. Poisonous. Filthy. SO 18th century. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

Your days are numbered, Coal Mob!

[Megan from ACCCE]

Bob:

First of all, thanks for taking the time to comment. We appreciate it.

Now on to the topic at hand.

We've long said that with our growing energy demand, we’re going to have to call on all of our domestic energy sources. We absolutely need to grow renewables like wind and solar. However, solar and wind are not replacements for coal, which provides the baseload power needed to stabilize the grid and meet a constant demand.

Right now, you must use so-called hard-path fuels such as coal to provide baseload power. And we're optimistic that advanced clean coal technologies like carbon capture and sequestration will help us meet our energy demand and our responsibility to the environment.

[Mulator]

Complete utter fraud! HA! How is coal clean? It doesn't burn clean and it requires the complete destruction of the earth! Please re-tool Obama. LOL

[Monica from ACCCE]

Mulator: Technology has already made coal a cleaner energy resource – our plants are 77 percent cleaner based on regulated emissions per unit of energy produced. And with new advances in technology, we’re looking at a future where coal will meet America’s growing electricity needs with little to no emissions of the pollutants regulated by federal and state clean air laws.

As a nation, we cannot ignore coal as a source of energy. (It accounts for almost 50 percent of the electricity generated today.) We cannot be left worrying about how we meet our future energy needs without becoming more reliant on imported forms of energy. We have to invest in our energy future by recognizing that coal is a fuel for America’s future.