from the Clean Air Task Force
Taming Coal: The Imperative for Rapid Demonstration and Scale-Up
Of Advanced Coal Gasification and Carbon Sequestration and the Reform of Coal Mining and Waste Disposal Practices
March 2007
http://www.catf.us/projects/power_sector/advanced_coal/CATF_Taming_Coal_March_2007.pdf~~
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An environmentally responsible coal policy would do the following:
Ban the construction of new coal combustion plants due to their inherently unacceptable air, water, solid waste and climate impacts.
Rapidly commercialize the use of integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) for electric power generation, because it has a much smaller environmental footprint for air emissions and waste than does coal combustion.
Rapidly demonstrate the feasibility of large scale geologic storage of carbon dioxide and then require all new coal power plants to capture and sequester at least 90% of their coal carbon content.
Demonstrate and deploy advancements such as underground coal gasification, that could further shrink IGCC’s environmental footprint by substantially minimizing mining impacts and waste management
Reform coal mining practices worldwide, impose effective federal regulation of coal plant solid waste disposal and reduce coal generation water use and associated impacts to the minimum practical levels.
Increase the energy efficiency of IGCC power generation to the maximum practical levels over time.
Commercializing IGCC is of special importance. Because it is an inherently cleaner process – the gas it produces from coal must be free of most contaminants to power a gas turbine – IGCC reduces deadly sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions to very low levels – approaching those achievable by natural gas combined cycle power plants. Gasification is the only coal power generation technology that can virtually eliminate mercury air emissions and capture most of the coal mercury content in a concentrated form that can potentially be sequestered from environmental release; IGCC is the only way we can continue to use coal to produce power without adding significantly to the global mercury burden. Total solid waste from gasification is typically half the volume generated by conventional coal plants and gasification water use is substantially lower as well.
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