Boyce is the top exec at Peabody Energy, the worlds largest coal mining company. How un-clean-tech can you get?
But coal won’t be disappearing anytime soon. The U.S. derives 49 percent of its electricity from coal. China has been erecting 2 gigawatts worth of power plants a week, according to an oft-heard stat, and most of them run on coal. In 2007, Peabody garnered $4.6 billion in revenue and $421.3 million in net income. And prices for coal are rising. Boyce, CEO of Peabody, also clearly wants you to know that his company and the coal industry understand the implications of carbon dioxide emissions. Peabody even invested in clean coal expert GreatPoint Energy. Peabody sat down with CNET News.com at the Clean Tech Investor Summit earlier this month to discuss clean coal technologies, capturing carbon dioxide, and where the market is going. Q: Why don’t you give us a quick overview of Peabody’s business at the moment. Greg Boyce: Peabody is the world’s largest publicly held coal company. We’re the largest producer of coal in the U.S., as well as a major operating presence in Australia, the Pacif
