Peabody chairman says it’s “a new age for new coal”

Peabody Energy Chairman Gregory Boyce recently went on air with CNBC’s Squawk Box to talk about the Asia-Pacific’s booming coal markets and the tremendous progress being made to advance clean coal technologies.

Developing nations such as China and India are using their huge indigenous reserves of coal to keep up with their energy demand and as a result, coal-generated power plants are being built around the world at a record pace.

“We think there is going to be a new age for new coal,” said Boyce. “We need all types of fuel in the energy mix.”

Boyce also had a chance to talk about technologies like carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and enhanced oil recovery in detail, answering the anchors’ specific questions about the processes.

He cited StatOil, a natural gas company, as an example. Engineers at their Norway plant have been injecting carbon dioxide into the North Sea for more than a decade to help increase the amount of crude oil that can be extracted from a field.

Globally, Boyce notes that CCS projects are advancing and assured that the technology is safe. Carbon dioxide is injected to the ground as a liquid, he said, and because of the pressure from the geologic formations, it stays that way. “Carbon storage is a natural part of the carbon dioxide cycle,” he said.

We’re glad that the energy industry has voices like Boyce to help educate folks about clean coal technologies and remind the world there is a serious need for it.

Watch Boyce’s video clip and let us know what you think.

Comments

[John Cornelius]

I'm very impressed with Gregory Boyce and Peabody Energy for their leadership in energy-sector environmental leadership and economic development. Good work, Peabody!