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Clean Coal?
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old clean coal
‘Clean coal’ used to mean low sulfur coal and/or scrubbing processes that removed Nitrous and Sulphur Oxides from emissions post-combustion. These processes became important when dealing with acid rain. Coal combustion remains a major cause of carbon dioxide emissions.

coal consumption

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new clean coal
Gasification is the key enabling technology for providing coal electricity with CO2 capture and storage (CCS) with the use of commercially-ready integrated gas/steam turbine combined cycle (IGCC) systems. The CO2 co-product can then be transported via truck or pipeline and sequestered in appropriate geological media.

how it works
Gasification technology is used to produce synthesis gas (syngas) from coal (and other carbonaceous feedstocks including industrial wastes, biomass, oil residue & coke). The syngas can be used for the generation of electricity in conventional integrated gas/steam turbine combined cycle (IGCC) systems, and for the concurrent production of hydrogen, liquid fuels (methanol, diesel, dimethyl ether, and gasoline) and hydrogen-rich commodity chemicals (methanol, ammonia and their derivatives such as olefins and acetic acid from methanol, and fertilizers from ammonia).

potential

  • 80 – 90 percent of CO2 from gas effluents from gasified coal can be captured
  • To stabilize atmospheric CO2 at safe levels up to 2200 GtCO2 would have to be stored over the next century
  • Roughly 14 GtCO2 are emitted annually by large sources
  • Geological storage in depleted oil & gas reserves, deep saline aquifers and unminable coal is adequate to accommodate the amounts necessary
  • Converting 196 coal combustion plants to IGCC plants with CCS, using partially coal and partially switchgrass, and producing electricity and synthetic diesel, could potentially abate 1 Billion Tonnes of CO2 annually

resources
Library of Parliament ‘Clean Coal?’
Coal Polygeneration Technologies Lab
Dakota Gasification Company
China Clean Energy Program
China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development
Cooperative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development
BP Low Carbon Power
BP Clean Energy for China
BP – Princeton Carbon Mitigation Initiative
BP – Stabilizing GHG Emissions