|
One potential technological solution to the problem of carbon emissions from coal is to capture the CO2 at the source and store it underground – often called carbon capture and storage (CCS). Large coal and utility companies are promoting this solution, calling it “Clean Coal”. This idea has been getting a lot of traction in the halls of Congress and is scheduled to receive billions in subsidies from the federal government. Unfortunately, as Senator Reed has said about clean coal, “there is no such thing”. Even with CCS, these new plants still emit enormous amounts of pollution compared to the alternatives and will lead to the continued destruction of huge swaths of Appalachia from Mountaintop Removal coal mining (MTR) and coal processing. But, just focusing on the capture and sequestration issue, there are substantial unresolved technical and regulatory issues regarding the transport and storage of the CO2. If even possible, it will not be ready for large scale deployment for at least 10 years, and, on an economic level, it will make coal generated electricity far more expensive than efficiency measures and most renewables. We conclude that it would be both financially and environmentally more prudent to take the massive capital expenditures and government subsidies that are currently given to coal and instead, apply them towards efficiency measures and renewables development. In the long run, these will be cheaper, will have far less risk, and will benefit from the cost efficiencies that come with large scale deployment of any new technology. Read more here.
|
Coal Info. 
