Coal can’t get much love. Cheap natural gas and a bevy of EPA regulations are conspiring to force old coal plants to close and pushing U.S. production down to less than one billion short tons, near a two-decade low. While low-cost production in Wyoming and Illinois has been able to hold steady, the legacy mines of Appalachia face devastating losses in production and jobs. Meanwhile, projects that were supposed to demonstrate a future for coal in a carbon-constrained world are struggling or dead. The Obama administration pulled the plug on the FutureGen clean coal project this month. Another similar project in California likely faces a similar fate. And the Kemper plant in Mississippi, which was so important that then Energy Secretary Steven Chu personally lobbied state regulators to approve it, is now both behind schedule and forecast to cost $6 billion — three times its initial cost. Loan guarantees of $8 billion for next generation coal projects were never even handed out, as no eligible borrowers were identified.
Against this backdrop, the Obama administration called for $2 billion in tax credits for carbon capture projects in its budget this month. That plan also includes a separate credit that could be $50 per ton of sequestered carbon. The National Coal Council has also laid out a plan to boost carbon capture technologies, saying the Department of Energy needs to reorder its various CCS projects to get to 5-10 gigawatts by 2025.
Avoiding the well-worn arguments over EPA regulations and climate change, are there federal policy changes that could boost coal? Will the proposed CCS tax credit be successful in a way that the loan guarantee was not? Are there other policy options we should pursue?
The world will need technologies to capture and sequester or recycle carbon dioxide emissions — but not to keep coal fired electricity rolling. The raw economics of coal electrons are… Read more »
For coal policy, there are two issues that should be considered separately, but are often conflated. One is mining practices, the other is emissions. Coal mining has large and serious… Read more »
At depths of 1000-3000 meters, the specific gravity of supercritical CO2 is 0.7 — it’s buoyant. And what happens to the salty brine that the CO2 displaces? And what about… Read more »
You’re mostly right about the density of pure CO2. The actual density, of course, depends on temperature and pressure. At three kilometers, pressure could be anywhere from 300 to about… Read more »
If key people in Congress really wanted to prove they are interested in something other than scoring points in partisan wars, here are certainly some middle-of-the-road things that could be… Read more »
Forget about Calera, if you’re looking for serious mitigation of CO2 emissions. To begin with, their technology is fairly marginal in reducing the calcined limestone content in cement. But even… Read more »
AS the comedian once said,”It’s not what you don’t know that kills you. It’s what you know that just ain’t so.” Incentives in DC tend to discourage people from admitting… Read more »
It’s been several years since I looked into Calera’s technology and concluded that it was only a step or two removed from being an outright scam. That was after an… Read more »
Coal, with some contaminants of course, is basically pure carbon, and one has to ask whether we have maximized the use of coal as a feedstock for materials that require… Read more »
Neither coal nor any product reasonably derivable from coal could serve as an alternative to biochar. Two reasons. The beneficial properties of biochar as a soil amendment, as I understand… Read more »
It is impossible to have a conversation about the future of coal without drawing attention to the Obama Administration’s New Source Performance Standards, which are quashing investment in advanced technologies… Read more »
It is impossible to have a conversation about the future of coal without the companies that the American Coalition for Clean Coal represents being willing to have a real conversation… Read more »
Good comment! I agree.
As long as ARPA-E insists on its cost-share requirement for funding clean coal R&D, startups that might help achieve clean coal power will remain locked out, and the dead hand… Read more »
“Clean coal” is a damn near impossible space for a startup to play in. Never mind ARPA-E and whatever its policies may be. The problem is the required industrial scale.… Read more »
As a venture capitalist with an investment in carbon capture, I must disagree that venture funding can’t produce effective carbon capture systems. As I mention below, Inventys Thermal Technologies has… Read more »
Dan, thanks for the comment. No, Inventys wasn’t on my list. I didn’t know about it. I’ll put a watch on it. But when you write: While venture capital can… Read more »
The problem is not that private companies can’t deploy CCS at scale, the problem is there is no reason to do so. Coal companies are allowed to pollute the atmosphere… Read more »
For the record, Wind and solar combined generated 6.8% of US electricity in 2014.
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_1_1
I am afraid that the opportunity for coal is past. Projects intended to demonstrate CCS have failed to show an economic or an environmental benefit. In fact they have only… Read more »
In 1986 we undertook a thorough analysis of U.S. energy options and concluded that while we did not particularly like coal we would be burning it for a long time…..there… Read more »
Charlie, If you look a little harder you can find plenty of evidence that we have all the natural gas we can use in the foreseeable future. And it will… Read more »
I really appreciate this discussion for several reasons. First, the discussion of the subsidy value that makes carbon sequestration for coal work – say $50/tonne – is an excellent indicator… Read more »
Coal is the low hanging fruit of clean air, clean water and climate change. Doing away with toxic coal ash plant residue, mercury in our air and fish, asthma causing… Read more »
The premise of the question posed is that it is desirable to keep the coal industry running. As others have pointed out above, the damage caused by coal is extensive… Read more »
In response to some of the critiques of my original post: I do not believe we should deny coal electrons the right to compete — if they meet the environmental… Read more »
This discussion of the future of coal might benefit from a broader perspective. Burning fossil fuels in power plants contributes about 32% of our GHG releases,transportation adds another 28%.Even if… Read more »
Comparing greenhouse gas emissions to energy reliability is apples and oranges. CO2 lasts in the atmosphere for hundreds to thousands of years and continued business-as-usual emissions will make large portions… Read more »
Herschell, I applaud you for being the one to best see the forest and the trees, as well as expose the false claims and comparisons. Those like Carl Pope and… Read more »
The whole premise of the issue as presented before the forum misses the point. CCS isn’t about coal, it’s about climate. We need CCS on coal power. And gas power.… Read more »
As the culprit who wrote about solar and wind as cost competitive …. Here is one cite. In Hawaii with the highest electricity prices in the nation, solar with onsite… Read more »
This has been a really robust discussion so far, and I appreciate the diverse perspectives. The difficulty in getting CCS projects off the ground is perhaps even more apparent today,… Read more »
I think Stuart Ross nailed it with his comment: “CCS isn’t about coal, it’s about climate. We need CCS on coal power. And gas power. And industrial emissions. And likely… Read more »
With much of the world continuing to rely on fossil fuels for energy, CCS technology is urgently needed to reduce emissions and address the threat of climate change. CCS can… Read more »
CO2 for EOR is a boon to oil production, but it’s trivial for climate change. A single coal plant could provide enough CO2 for the whole Permian Basin, which is… Read more »
As I mentioned, there are alternatives to chemical-based carbon capture. Low Pressure Thermal Swing does not use appreciable water and has low parasitic loads (the quoted $15/ton capture cost includes… Read more »
In response to Jane Twitmyer:: Your example of solar and wind as being cost competitive in Hawaii actually undercuts the overall renewable energy cost competitive argument. Hawaii’s imported energy, oil… Read more »
A few thoughts … !. Cost competitiveness on the mainland …. A recently released report from the NC Clean Energy Technology Center, titled Going Solar in America, “Right now, buying… Read more »
Carbon sequestration is an approach that replaces the global warming problem caused by CO2 dumping in the atmosphere with the highly uncertain long-term risks of burying the vast amounts (billions… Read more »
As I have mentioned on other threads, the best way to reduce carbon emissions, encourage CCS, and promote clean energy is with a Fee and Dividend (F&D) policy. With F&D,… Read more »
You’re right, that’s what we need. I support the idea, but don’t know how we can get it through Congress, against the lobbying muscle of fossil fuel interests. On wrinkle… Read more »
I agree that with any carbon fee policy, credits must be issued for certified removal of CO2 from the biosphere. With a rising price on CO2, say from $10/ton rising… Read more »
Further responses to Jane Twitmyer. You have argued that solar energy is cost competitive in many locations in mainland US and to support your statement you have linked it to… Read more »
Herschel – I have come across many instances of Clean Technica omitting key caveats, assumptions and even conclusions of the studies they “report” on. They are unreliable and obviously biased… Read more »
Dawn, Solar is actually at grid parity in 14 cities. LCOE is a comparison of retail costs on day 1. As you point out for many to find cash value… Read more »
Jane – my point was that financing and other incentives play a big part in whether rooftop solar is at grid parity. The claims on numerous website blogs that solar… Read more »
And my point is that “grid parity” is not particularly relevant for on-site renewable generation. I also know how complicated comparisons are. Berkeley Lab’s report details all that. Coal remains… Read more »
Jane, I must join Herschel and Dawn in trying to keep this discussion in the realm of facts instead of fantasy. When you toss out numbers like 60% transmission loss… Read more »
Reliability – “For intermittent PV solar to deliver the same 99.97% availability at full capacity that the US grid currently delivers without maintaining a lifeline connection to that grid requires… Read more »
Of course, if you call out the subsidies and regulations that favor solar, you need to also call out the subsidies provided to coal. In some areas the health costs… Read more »
Hershel, “Overall Value” is not the same thing as cost competiveness. The NC Reports did a lot of averaging to come up with their reports but in the end they… Read more »
Reply to Dan Miller: All sources of energy are subsidized to some degree. The arguments you make against coal could also be made, even more emphatically, against oil. Not only… Read more »
I agree that all forms of energy are subsidized to some degree and that oil’s external costs are very high. I thought you were criticizing solar’s cost comparison to coal… Read more »
To Jane Twitmyer: Sorry Jane, but you did not answer the questions put to you. A simple YES/No reply would suffice for question 1. Dawn Santoianni’s comments about the integrity… Read more »
My unanswered question ….When are we going to actually level the playing field? Without subsidies residential rooftop solar only beats diesel on Lazard’s leveled cost sheet. However utility scale solar… Read more »
Abundant supply of natural gas with competitive prices is facilitating a shift from coal to natural gas for electricity generation as a bridging solution to low-carbon energy. However, the natural… Read more »
To Jane Twitmyer RE; Transmission challenges in high renewable energy scenarios. I believe you have misunderstood the issue I raised about challenges due to transmission in high renewable electric energy… Read more »
We have never done anything to internalize the currently-externalized costs of coal, apart from creating the EPA and passing laws for cleaner air. The total costs of using coal as… Read more »
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