Clean Coal Could be the Solution to Global Warming and others

Clean Coal Could be the Solution to Global Warming

 4.15.13 Sarah Battaglia, Energy Consultant, Energy Curtailment Specialists, Inc.


The damaging effects that result from burning coal may soon be nonexistent. It took scientists from Ohio State University 15 years and $5 million, but the clean coal technique has finally been developed. They have discovered a way to obtain the energy from coal without actually burning it, eliminating nearly all of the pollution.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), "Coal emits sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and heavy metals (such as mercury and arsenic) and acid gases (such as hydrogen chloride), which have been linked to acid rain, smog, and health issues. Coal also emits carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas." Even with so many harmful side-effects, the U.S. continues get a large amount of its energy from coal, roughly 20 percent. Well enough is enough. It is time to embrace the clean coal technique.
Eliminating 99 percent of the pollution from coal, the Coal-Direct Chemical Looping (CDCL) technique will have a significant impact on the rate of global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that in 2010, coal-burning power plants were responsible for about one-third of the country's carbon dioxide, equivalent to 2.3 billion metric tons. If energy can be obtained from coal without burning it, this number should drop considerably.

Liang-Shih Fan, a chemical engineer and director of Ohio State's Clean Coal Research Laboratory, explains the process, "We found a way to release the heat without burning. We carefully control the chemical reaction so that the coal never burns--it is consumed chemically, and the carbon dioxide is entirely contained inside the reactor." The metal from the iron-oxide is recyclable and the only waste products are coal ash and water. If everything goes according to plan, Fan is confident that his discovery can be used to power energy plants within the next 10 years.

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Comment by Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Excellent article. All said and done Renewables cannot replace Conventional power like Coal,Petroleum etc. Hence all measures to obtain clean energy generation through coal is the answer to avert Global Warming. 

Anumakonda Jagadeesh commented on 4.23.13

The Coming Crisis in Electricity Generation

 

4.15.13 Davis Swan, President, Debarel Systems Ltd.

For more than 100 years electricity generation and distribution systems have evolved to become one of the most reliable services imaginable - one which has been the foundation of the industrial expansion and prosperity of the developed world. Our society is totally dependent upon this and even relatively short and localized interruptions in the power supply (for example during the Sandy superstorm) cause major disruptions to everyday life.

The reliability of the system depends upon a rather delicate balance of supply and demand that varies throughout the day and throughout the year.

Huge thermal base-load steam turbine generation plants that can reliably provide the same power output 7x24x365 are the foundation of the system in most parts of the world. Historically these have been fueled by coal which generates "dirty" (in some cases toxic) ash and a lot of CO2. More recently single cycle and combined cycle natural gas plants have played an increasingly important role. These plants are cleaner and much more efficient than coal plants in that they transform more of the energy generated by combustion into electricity. The disadvantage of these plants is that natural gas has historically been much more expensive than coal.

In regions where there are large rivers that drop hundreds of meters in a relatively short distance it is possible to build hydro facilities. These were the earliest source of large scale electrical generation and are still used extensively. Unfortunately, most of the best hydro locations in the world have already been developed.

Starting in the 1950's nuclear plants were added to the mix and generate a significant percentage of electricity in many countries (the highest being 75% of electrical output in France).

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Comment by Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Excellent article. Will planners connected with Energy Generation read this? 

Anumakonda Jagadeesh commented on 4.23.13