Clean Coal - An Oxymoron?

"Coal is an abundant resource in the world...It is imperative that we figure out a way to use coal as cleanly as possible."

Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy
Senate Confirmation Hearing
January 13, 2009

Because coal is considered an abundant resource, a couple of decades ago the US Department of Energy (DOE) began looking for methodologies to burn coal in a manner that would not contribute to acid rain, global climate change, or adversely affect peoples’ health. Called the “Clean Coal Power Initiative,” this government co-financed program supported a first round of eight projects, a second round of four projects, and the third round (for which proposals were due in July) has so far seen 2 projects selected. Read about the Clean Coal Power Initiative and the projects here.

Is Clean Coal Possible?

Given the above information, the DOE seems to think so, and so does some of the rest of the U.S. government, or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) wouldn’t have added an additional $800 million to the funding for the 3rd round of clean coal projects. So does the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricty (ACCCE). But if you ask a number of other people, like Jeff Biggers at the Washington Post or This is Reality, which is solely about answering “misleading articles and false statements about coal,” “clean coal” is an oxymoron. Is it perhaps politics, rather than confidence in an eventual solution that drives clean coal project funding? And should we let the coal industry alone until we know one way or the other? Or will we find out too late?

Mountaintop? What Mountaintop?

Since the late 1960s, early 1970s, the coal industry in the rich fields of Appalachia have been using mountaintop removal to get at the coal seams. It’s popular with the industry because it allows access to all of the coal seam and requires fewer employees, but it also involves clearcutting the forests atop the mountains and the debris from the clearcutting as well as coal removal usually ends up in the streams and rivers, so it’s a method that’s less popular with the residents.

The Secretary of Energy was quoted at the beginning of this post as saying that coal is an abundant resource, but Dirty Coal says that’s a myth. Their position is that the studies showing large fields of coal in the U.S. was done in the 1970s and that study was based on data gathered in the 1920s, therefore no accurate data exists on how much coal really exists.

What Are the Options?

One method for cleaning coal involves washing it to separate the impurities. Another is to try to control the burn to minimize emissions vented with the flue gas that comes out of the plant smokestacks. Gasification avoids burning the coal altogether. Companies like Ergo Exergy use an injection process on non-mined coal fields to turn the coal to gas in the seam and integrated gasification includes using the heat energy from the gas powered turbine to power a steam turbine to produce even more energy. How clean UGC or IGCC can make coal power is disputed (PDF).

One of the more promising technologies is carbon capture and sequester, which is currently being tested in real power plants. The problem remains, though, with what to do with the captured carbon. And even if the technology proves viable, how will the coal industry pay for getting onboard with it and with the carbon disposal requirements? While the rest of us are driven by a desire for cleaner air and water, businesses are reluctant to move into new technologies without a clear idea of whether they are economically feasible for them.

The coal industry likes to point out that half of the country “depends” on coal for energy. But is it really a dependence or a habit? And how much would it cost to break that habit in terms of technological research, business disruption, cost to homeowners, including those with limited economic resources?

These are all questions that will have to be answered, and none of the answers will be easy or clean.

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