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Coal |
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Written On: April 2006 |
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Written By: by Serena Howarth and Charles Henry Thomas |
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With all of the concern about greenhouse gases and global climate change these days, why would anyone even think about coal as a future energy source?
It's not politically fashionable.
As comedian Rodney Dangerfield would say: "It can’t get no respect."
So why consider coal as an energy source? Frankly, we have no choice.
Outside the Pacific Northwest, coal-fired power plants provide half our country’s electricity. If we have no option, then the next obvious question is: If coal burning is so harmful to the environment, are we dooming ourselves to extinction?
The answer is no.
In the United States, we have come a long way with cleanup technology from the old days when smokestacks belched black smoke. Some of the new processes emit fewer ozone depleting pollutants than natural gas combustion.
For example, in Washington, TransAlta's Centralia plant has substantially upgraded its pollution abatement technology. The plant is one of the cleanest coal-fired plants in the world and produces 1,404 megawatts of electricity annually — enough to supply a city about the size of Seattle.
Recently, TransAlta installed two gas desulphurization units, at a cost to the company of $200 million. These units filter out more than 94 percent of the plant’s sulfur dioxide, which is a primary ingredient in acid rain. In turn, its scrubbers create synthetic grade gypsum, a main ingredient in environmentally friendly "green wallboard."
Green Wallboard Comes From Coal-Fired Plants
While TransAlta’s primary coal source is its mine adjacent to the plant, it also imports low-sulfur coal from Montana and Wyoming. According to the U.S. Office of Energy Information, America has more than 274 billion tons recoverable coal — roughly a 250-year supply.
That coal has the energy content equivalent to one trillion barrels of oil — a figure roughly comparable to all the world's known oil reserves. If that’s not enough, to the north in Canada's Alberta Province, there are another 2.6 trillion tons of coal, almost 10 times the amount of recoverable coal in the United States.
Realizing our vast coal reserves, Congress made accelerated development of "clean-coal technology," a core component of the comprehensive federal energy bill passed a year ago. That legislation, which also emphasizes development of alternative energy, directed that some of the electricity generated from the clean-coal plants go to develop new hydrogen-based fuels. Since producing hydrogen has a high electrical demand, a coal-hydrogen marriage makes a good deal of sense.
While some would like to eliminate fossil fuels and coal, the reality is more than 40 percent of the world’s electricity comes from coal. Along with the United States, Germany uses coal to produce half its electricity, while China relies on coal for 79 percent of its power and India is at 68 percent. Just as important as power production, coal is used in many industrial processes such as steel production.
So, at a time when we are emphasizing alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass almost to the exclusion of coal, it is important to remember we cannot live without coal.
The United States is one of the most energy-dependent countries in the world, and the great bulk of our energy comes from foreign oil. Given the volatile political climate in the oil producing countries around the world, it makes sense to wean ourselves from foreign suppliers.
Coal is an Important Resource
With crude oil consistently topping $60 a barrel, coal becomes an important substitute. For example, Penn State University researchers find that by 2010, U.S. coal production and its use to generate electricity will result in $411 billion in increased gross domestic output, $133 billion in increased annual household income for American working families and 3.6 million additional jobs in the United States.
In the future, we will need adequate energy supplies from all sources. Giant steps have been made in the last five years in the field of renewable energy and that progress should continue at an accelerated pace But the big unanswered question is can these sources provide enough power for our homes, stores, factories and hospitals?
The near-term answer is not yet.
In the meantime, the United States is left with two options. First, we can continue on as we always have, ignoring the inherent disadvantages to foreign oil, and paying increasingly high prices to maintain the status quo.
Or, perhaps more to our own advantage, we can work with our traditional energy sources — namely, natural gas, hydropower and coal.
U.S. Can Market Pollution Technology
With many of our competitors dependent upon fossil fuels for power and heat, our country has a tremendous competitive advantage in selling pollution control technology and expertise. Since adequate electricity supplies are a constraining growth factor in countries like China and India, these nations are investing in coal-fired power plants. By developing clean-coal technology in America and exporting it, we not only create jobs at home, but we improve global environment and our trade balance.
For example, India has more than 20 cities with populations of at least one million, and some of them — including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata — are among the world's most polluted. Urban air quality in India ranks among the world's worst. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, of the 3 million premature deaths in the world that occur each year due to outdoor and indoor air pollution, the highest numbers occur in India.
In a recent press conference, Zhou Shengxian, China’s EPA director, warned that China must sharply improve its environmental protection or it could face disaster after two decades of breakneck growth that poisoned its air, water and soil. He admitted that China's cities are the world's smoggiest, and pointed out that more than half of China’s 21,000 chemical companies are near the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, which supply drinking water for tens of millions of people. An accident, he warned, could have "disastrous consequences."
Again, America can step in and help countries improve their environment and people's health by continuing to invest in technologies like clean coal. But it will take the political will to do so.
Finally, the economic and national security benefits to becoming self-reliant for our energy needs, both in Washington and the rest of the United States, are readily apparent. What remains to be seen is how politically correct coal will be as a future energy source in America. There is no question it will be used in the other nations we compete against.
Coal is not dirty and it is not an outmoded source of energy. It just needs the same attention and respect that renewable energy sources have today.
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