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  The politics of coal heating up

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  Guilia Editor of GHGblog.com
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  The global warming battle over coal is heating up.

  Every day the news on coal as the Climate Change Culprit comes in thick and fast whether from England, China, the USA or Australia. At No Simple Matter Mike Davis August 11th 2008, discusses the fact that, "Coal production, is undergoing a dramatic renaissance, as the nineteenth century has returned to haunt the twenty-first century. China is opening two new coal-fired power stations every week.

  David Roberts August 11, 2008 of the Huffington Post is campaigning against the economic and environmental nightmare that is liquid coal. He is running his campaign against West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to fight off the coal to liquid plant proposed by Appalachian Fuel LLC who he believes is subsidizing an unsustainable industry.. The Governor has offered tax breaks and incentives worth about $3.3 million in government incentives for each of the 60 jobs the facility would provide. Many non-government organizations such as the US League of Women Voters -- a civic organization are calling for, "a moratorium on all new coal plants". National President of the League Mary G. Wilson says that, "Coal is the single largest source of global warming pollution in the U.S., with power plants responsible for 33 percent of CO2 emissions. Because of this pollution, we already face increasingly severe heat waves and droughts, intensifying hurricanes and floods, disappearing glaciers and more wildfires. If left unchecked, the effects will be catastrophic to us and our planet".

  However, most U.S. Senators and Congressman simply won't countenance the phase out of coal. For example Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) believes, "environmentalists will be forced to compromise next year and support the development of clean coal, nuclear power and other alternative fuels":

  In the face of China opening two power stations a week, GHGblog.com will look at Carbon Capture technologies. Critics of carbon capture or sequestration argue that the technology will divert attention from research on long-term clean energy options, such as renewable power. GHGblog.com supports solar companies such as solar-thermal technology developed by Dr David Mills from Sydney University, now being commercialised in the USA. His company, Ausra is making great strides and is billed as a cost effective alternative to coal fired power generation.

  However, not with-standing the real alternatives to coal, that exist, Global Research organizations at the behest of government are focusing on cleaning up coal. Most researchers see Carbon capture or sequestration as a bridging technology.

  The CSIRO 31st July 2008, scored a "Carbon capture milestone for CSIRO in China". Chief of CSIRO's Energy Technology Division, Dr David Brockway, said the project was part of a broad program to identify ways to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. The CSIRO and its Chinese partners have officially launched a post-combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant in Beijing that strips carbon dioxide from power station flue gases in an effort to stem climate change.

  What is Carbon capture? Carbon Capture and storage, also called carbon sequestration, traps carbon dioxide after it is produced and injects it underground. The gas never enters the atmosphere.

  In the USA, Sally Benson, executive director of the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) and professor of energy resources engineering believes the, "idea that we can take fossil fuels out of the mix very quickly is unrealistic", and that, "if all human-induced emissions were sequestered, enough capacity would exist to accommodate more than 100 years' worth of emissions", according to Benson, coordinating lead author of the IPCC chapter on underground geological storage.

  "Carbon capture has the potential to reduce more than 90 percent of an individual plant's carbon emissions" said Lynn Orr, director of GCEP, colleague of Benson and Professor of Energy Resources engineering.

  GCEP states that, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates of worldwide storage capacity range from 2 trillion to 10 trillion tons of carbon dioxide in its report on carbon capture and storage.

  Benson cites the costs of incorporating carbon capture and storage into a power plant at costs of $30 to $70 per ton of carbon dioxide-taxes on an emissions level playing field, would help make it viable.

  Further Excerpts from the CSIRO story. Full story CSIRO website.

  - Post Carbon Capture (PCC) is a process that uses a liquid to capture carbon dioxide from power station flue gases and is a technology that can potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 per cent.

  -The post-combustion research pilot plant at the Huaneng Beijing Co-Generation Power Plant is designed to capture 3000 tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide.

  -CSIRO's partners in the Beijing pilot project are China's Huaneng Group and the Thermal Power Research Institute (TPRI).

  -The next steps in the research would be moving to a much larger demonstration phase, before then progressing to a full scale system."

  -The installation of the PCC pilot plant in Beijing is a CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship research project which receives funding from the Australian Government through the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate initiative (APP). The APP program for PCC also includes a pilot plant installation at Delta Electricity's Munmorah power station on the NSW Central Coast, with an additional Queensland site currently under negotiation.

  • The Australian Government's APP support PCC research is A$12 million, A$4 million of which supports this work in China.

  • CSIRO is also undertaking PCC research outside the scope of the APP program with a A$5.6 million project in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia, which focuses on brown coal.
  On Obama energy adviser Jason Grumet talks climate, coal, and green jobs posted 1 year, 3 months ago 2 Responses