RECS: We need coal to meet our energy demand

This week, we’re attending the Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration (RECS) –a 10-day research program that advances scientific research and professional training in the field of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

On Monday, we began with a presentation from Dr. Revis James, the director of the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) Energy Technology Assessment Center. EPRI is an independent non-profit R&D foundation that provides technology, policy and economic analyses in emerging energy technologies.

Dr. James set the table for why coal will continue to play an important role in meeting America’s energy needs, especially with the capture and safe storage of carbon dioxide (CO2).

In 2007, America’s electricity consumption was 3,750 terawatt-hours. (Note: 1 terawatt equals 1 trillion watts.)

This year, the U.S. Energy Information Agency’s Annual Energy Outlook projected that by 2020, America’s energy demand will have increased by about 780 terawatt-hours. That 21 percent increase is the equivalent of adding another California, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania worth of energy demand.

To give you a sense of the scale of generation, a standard commercial-scale coal plant adds 3.5 terawatt-hours in annual production. On the other hand, a standard wind farm contributes just 0.35 terawatt-hours.

As we’ve been saying all along, the solution will involve an all-of-the-above approach all of our domestic resources. But the numbers above shows that one fuel helps out better than the rest.