Coal

What is ‘Clean Coal Technology’?

The coal industry is using new technology to reduce the impact of the burning and mining of coal on the environment. One of the most well known “clean coal technologies” is carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), which involves securing the carbon dioxide created by coal, converting it to a liquid-like state and then storing it permanently underground.

The FutureGen project, for example, includes plans for a near-zero-emissions coal plant in Illinois that will use coal gasification technology to generate electricity while capturing harmful CO2 emissions.

Scientists predict that the world must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80% in order to avoid serious complications from global climate change. CCS technology is an important part of meeting that goal. Coal is a huge supplier of power, but it is also a huge producer of CO2. Underground storage capacity is more than enough to take on coal’s carbon emissions. According to the World Resources Institute, large US coal sources emit 2-3 billion tons of CO2 per year, but the Department of Energy estimates that the US contains underground capacity for 1-4 trillion tons, making underground storage a viable option for years to come.

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (a process of turning coal into gas, then removing impurities from and combusting the gas) and Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (which produces a high-pressure gas stream as well as steam that can power a turbine) are also promising technological advances in the quest for “clean” coal.