Coal, the dominant fuel for electric power in the US, China and elsewhere, faces an uncertain future amid growing concerns about global warming and a race for new ways to curb emissions.
Some experts say coal can still play an important role with new technology being developed to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions underground. But environmental activists, who have long seen coal as the biggest culprit in global warming emissions, cite an urgent need for incentives to reduce greenhouse gases from power plants.
A study released Wednesday by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that coal can remain an attractive option from an environmental and economic standpoint if the right steps are taken. The key, the study concluded, is to move forward with technology to "sequester" or capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) gases, blamed for global warming. There are no technical obstacles to sequestration of CO2 in geological formations, but this has not yet been used on a scale large enough to get commercial support, the study authors said, and no regulatory framework exists.
The report said power plant operators will only have an incentive to use the new technology if there is a tax or cap on carbon emissions. "What is needed is to demonstrate an integrated system of capture, transportation, and storage of CO2, at scale," the report said.
In the meantime, coal is a front-burner issue with energy needs increasing world-wide even as concerns about global warming are on the rise. In China, an average of one new coal-burning power plant is being started up each week, with little attention paid to emission controls. Coal provides 80 percent of China's electricity and two-thirds of its energy needs. And fast-growing India depends on coal for 70 percent of its electricity.
In the United States, which produces half its electric power from coal, utilities have tentative plans for over 150 new coal-fired plants by 2030, even though Congress is mulling ways to curb greenhouse emissions.
"The worst thing we could do in terms of global warming would be to build more coal-fired power plants," said Josh Dorner of the Sierra Club, who said most of the plants would use "the oldest and dirtiest technologies."
Earlier this year, a private equity group offered to buy Texas utility giant TXU, hoping to sweeten the offer with a pledge to scrap eight of the group's 11 planned coal-burning generators. The MIT report warns of a "perverse incentive" to bring new coal-fired plants into service in anticipation of stricter emissions standards, with utilities expecting these would be exempted or "grandfathered" in any new regulations.
"Congress should act to close this 'grandfathering' loophole before it becomes a problem," the report said. The MIT scientists said new coal plants that meet strict criteria for capturing greenhouse gases would likely have to be built from scratch, with retrofits impractical.
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