Even in tough economic times, it’s still possible to come across a positive headline or two in the news.
For instance, it was nice to read a few stories today about the teams of researchers who are hard at work building the next generation of clean coal technologies, including ones that will capture and sequester carbon dioxide (CO2).
Alstom Power and Dow Chemical announced today they are building a pilot plant to capture about 1,800 tons per year of CO2 from the flue gas of a coal-fired boiler in South Charleston, W.Va.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy is joining Archer Daniels Midland in financing a seven-year program to show the viability of underground CO2 storage. Soon, teams will begin injecting CO2 into mile-deep rock formations. The formal groundbreaking is April 6.
These are exciting times. Already, technology has made coal 77 percent cleaner in terms of emissions currently regulated under existing Clean Air Act programs per unit of energy produced. And with continued advances, clean coal technologies will soon include technologies that capture and store CO2.
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.
There’s no such thing as clean coal. Even the best PR firm and lobbyists in the world can’t change that.
I think you mean join the rigorously censored conversation.
Carbon dioxide is a trace gas. It composes less than four tenth of of one percent of the earth’s atmosphere. But don’t take my word for it. Google it or open a junior high school earth science textbook and see for yourself.
This minute amount of CO2 supports all the plant life on planet earth.
I live about 30 miles from a coal powered electric plant. In my sixty plus years I can’t remember the air being any cleaner than it is today.
After the coldest winter we’ve had in years during which we’ve had unheard of snow storms in Houston and New Orleans, so-called environmentalists expect me to believe that this cold spell is a symptom of global warming caused by a gas that occupies a minute portion of our atmosphere.
I believe this is just a tactic to force electric and gas companies to purchase carbon credits and pass the cost of them on to the consumer resulting in higher gas and electric bills. They can’t sqeeze any more money out of the American public with higher income taxes so they plan to get to us through the back door. Just look at what has happened in Europe.
Corporations don’t pay taxes. They just pass them on to the consumer.
I could be wrong but I doubt it. I’m open to evaluate any evidence but I won’t accept any evidence based on voodoo science without checking it out against known scientific fact.
There won’t be any takers.
Clean coal is a dirty lie. Your efforts would do the world better if you focused on renewable energy such as wind and solar which have zero emmisions.
Jake:
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Desiree:
We support the use of renewables in our nation’s energy mix. However, coal accounts for nearly half of our country’s electricity and we can’t ignore its integral role in providing affordable, reliable energy for millions of people.
Our goal is to develop the next generation of clean coal technologies, including carbon capture and storage, so that we can continue to use our most abundant resource in a climate-friendly way—and potentially export these technologies to developing countries without the wherewithal to curb emissions on their own.
When you guys can burn a ton of coal and not produce one single ounce of CO2 then you can call it clean coal. Meanwhile, remember in Reality there is no such thing as clean coal technology. You are just playing (pardon the pun) smoke and mirrors with the less informed members of society.
Clean is a relative term. Even gas-fired electricity generators emit nearly half as much CO2 as a current Coal plant (i.e super-critical coal emits 0.9t/MWh vs .0.4t/MWh for gas). So neither is completely clean. We 5 Billion humans produce more CO2 just breathing. And most of us whiners and armchair environmentalists seem to have no problem leaving our computers and TV’s on (or half on, so we don’t have to wait 4 seconds for them to warm up). We colectively are the ones who are making it profitable for other people to hack down the rainforests that are the best natural sink for CO2 just to provide our insatiable appetite for lumber and coffee.
We can’t solve the whole CO2 problem by blaming and fixing the people who make the electricity. We need to save some of our CO2-laden breath and spend a bit more time resolving ourselves to use less energy to begin with. No greedy capitalist ever invested time and money in products that people don’t buy. Use less power. They’ll build less generation.
Carbon capture and sequestration uses a lot of energy itself. Estimates are as high as 35%-50% for capturing, compression and pumping. So, if you need 100MW of power, you need to produce say 150MW so that you can have the 50MW it needs to hide the CO2 it produces. I have a bit of a problem believing that this is a good road to venture down, especuially if coal makes up over 50% of the US fleet. Just that extra pumping would require several hundreeds of new coal plants. Sure, do the research, but don’t go with a wholesdale retro-fit until we can come up with something a whole lot more energy-effective.
Doug:
While I’m familiar with that catch phrase, it doesn’t speak to the facts. The facts are that clean coal technology has been around since the 1970s and has made today’s coal-based generating fleet 77 percent cleaner in terms of emissions currently regulated under existing Clean Air Act programs per unit of energy produced. This includes reductions in emissions like NOx, SOx and carbon monoxide.
Today, the challenge is reducing CO2 emissions—and we’re facing that challenge head on by developing the next suite of clean coal technologies. Take a look at this map to see the myriad clean coal projects underway around the country.
Apparently power outages do happen. They may last for hours, days, and in extreme cases—sometimes even months. Well, you have an option: you can either sit there and cross your fingers in the dark, hoping that the electricity comes back on quick. Or you can be prepared with a powerful generator that would automatically switch on and immediately restore power to your home or business.