What is Clean Coal?
“Clean coal” is an industry term which refers to increasing the efficiency of coal mining, making power plants which use coal for energy generation more environmentally friendly, and/or making coal itself more fuel efficient and clean burning. Since coal contributes a large volume of carbon dioxide to the Earth’s atmosphere every year, the idea of cleaning up coal is quite appealing to many consumers and governments. In any discussion of clean coal, it is important to remember that carbon dioxide is still released in the environment when coal is used for fuel, and other harmful emissions are created as well. In addition, since coal is a fossil fuel, ultimately the world’s coal reserves may be exhausted. Many environmentalists term the concept of clean coal “greenwashing,” meaning that companies are using the concept to make themselves look better. They argue that since coal is a fossil fuel, investing in cleaner coal technology is not as sound as investment in renewable energy. However
Politics is full of rich oxymorons: peacekeeping missiles, business ethics and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, just to name a few. Add to those one that is being used ever more frequently these days: clean coal. In America’s industrial history, coal has been both dirty and deadly, but it has been anything but clean. The use of coal—in the old way—is still the biggest contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases—the suspected culprit of global warming. Additionally, there are other harmful byproducts of coal including: fly ash, acid rain, mercury, uranium and other harmful metals. And with the recent fly ash spill in eastern Tennessee, the idea of clean coal seems laughable. So what exactly is “clean coal?” The answers are varied—depending on the time period you’re talking about and who you are talking to. The first example of a “cleaner” version of coal came early in the 20th century, when coal was used to power transportation (trains and boats). There were early experiments with “smokeless”
I am an environmental scientist and I think that the term “Clean Coal” is mis-leading. If you were to remove all the components of coal that make up the chemistry of coal, iron, sulfur, and other impurities that make up coal, you would cease to have what is called coal. It would be reduced to a lower grade of coal which would be even more polluting. They state that carbon sequestering would be implemented to control emissions of carbon dioxide by burying it underground. This would be great if they could guarantee that the areas where they intend to store the gases would indeed be confined for long periods of time. The earth is full of cracks, openings, and other places where the gases can escape. Salt mines, old wells, Etc. have not been proven gas tight even though they once held gases and liquids before. The process of mining or drilling may have altered their gas or liquid holding capabilities. Also, there are a phenomena called subsidence, geologic rebound in which the land swells
