Clean Coal is an Expensive Myth

If last week’s VP debate was any indication, Senator Biden and Governor Palin didn’t get the memo on “clean coal”.  It reads something like this:  ”Coal cannot be effectively cleaned, we should invest our limited government funds (see: Bailout) in energy solutions that are environmentally safe today.”

Clean coal technology is also VERY expensive, and will have rising variable costs over time (transportation of fuel, miners’ wages, maintenance of complex cleaning systems, etc).  Compare to solar and wind energy sources, which have fewer incremental costs once built.  How much does the transportation of sun and wind cost?  ZERO!

A Costly Proposition
In a study released by McKinsey, carbon capture and storage plants in the European Union would be economically viable by 2030, but would need an investment today of approximately $13.6 billion.

America has its own version of investment already in play.  FutureGen, a project to build clean coal power-plants with near-zero emissions, is constructing a 275 MW plant in Illinois with an estimated price tag of $1.8 billion.  That’s $6.5 per watt just for construction, not including the cost of the coal or relatively-high operational costs.  For comparison, T. Boone Pickens is spending $3 per watt on his 400 KW wind farm in Texas.  Note that FutureGen was originally a partnership between FutureGen Alliance and the U.S. Goverment.  The Department of Energy decided in January 2007 to withdraw funding due to rising costs and environmental concerns.

Dirty Mining, Toxic Fly Ash

Let’s get back to the subject of dirtiness.  Even if we can successfully prevent CO2 emissions during the process of creating electricity,  we still have big environmental problems to address with mining and toxic solid waste.  The term “Clean Coal” has greenwashing’s hidden trade-offs splashed all over it.

Mining for coal is notoriously dirty and dangerous, and is linked to chronic health problems in mining communities.  Acid drainage pollutes local water supplies, fine particulate matter pollutes the local air, and frequent, deadly accidents highlight the obvious safety concerns.

As for the production of electricity, any time coal is burnt, contaminants are released and they have to go somewhere. They can be released via the fly ash, the gaseous air emissions, water outflow or the ash left at the bottom after burning.  Ultimately, they still end up polluting the environment, even if carbon dioxide is successfully sequestered.  Here are some of the dangerous elements released:

• Sulfur dioxide – causes acid rain
• Mercury and lead – neurotoxins
• Arsenic – poisonous to humans
• Carbon monoxide – toxic to central nervous system and heart
• Nitrogen oxide – regulated in auto emissions standards

Currently 1/3 of waste ash is recycled (cement, etc). And the chemicals added to clean up emissions – such as ammonia, lime and calcium hydroxide – make the ash worse, environmental groups say, because they take toxins such as mercury out of the air but leave higher levels of it in the ash.  Add another cost to clean coal, the transportation of hazardous waste with elevated levels of mercury.

The United States already has $5.2 billion invested in clean coal, with little progress and no practical solutions available within the next 20 years.

The BIG PROBLEM

We can’t avoid coal–it will be used as a major power source world-wide for many decades to come, regardless of U.S. policy.  Some investment in cleaner coal is necessary, but the focus should be on retro-fitting existing plants.  The billions of dollars spent on new-plant technology, in my opinion, is much better spent on truly renewable technologies and promoting those technologies to the world.  

Coal is by-far the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, emitting 29% more than oil, and 80% more carbon dioxide (the main driver of climate change) per unit of energy than gas.  Much higher emission cuts can be made using currently available natural gas, solar, wind and biofuels that are already in widespread use.

Additional Resources

Summary of Clean Coal – Wikipedia

Carbon capture viable by 2030 but needs £8bn to begin now – The Guardian

Chronic Illness Linked To Coal-mining Pollution, Study Shows – Science Daily

Don’t Mess with Texas Wind – Interview with T. Boone Pickens