Clean Coal Key to U.S. Greenhouse Strategy, Utilities Say

Coal gasification and other “clean coal” technologies offer the most feasible ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the absence of a carbon cap-and-trade system in the United States, industry experts said yesterday. Addressing the Sustainable Energy Institute roundtable, John Novak of the Electric Power Research Institute discussed a new partnership formed by utilities last fall to spur innovations in coal technology. The “Coal Fleet for Tomorrow” aims to encourage development of integrated gasification combined cycle coal plants, or IGCC — the Holy Grail of clean coal development, he said. IGCC plants belch far less pollution than others and are considered stepping stones toward carbon sequestration — the process of capturing a facility’s carbon dioxide emissions and storing them underground. Carbon dioxide is a so-called greenhouse gas whose emissions are blamed for an accelerated warming of the earth’s atmosphere. The Bush administration has advocated carbon sequestration as a means of reducing greenhouse gases from industrial plants without having to wean them from coal, the nation’s cheapest and most abundant fossil fuel. Four IGCC plants have been proposed, Novak said, including facilities from Cinergy Corp., American Electric Power, a Minnesota plant from Excelsior and a joint project by Southern Co. and […]

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