Scott Klara, Director of the Strategic Center for Coal of the US Department of Energy before the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development United States Senate.  Testomony on the DOE's research effots into Clean Coal, carbon capture and storate (CCS) with a particular focus on carbon dioxide (CO2) re-use technologies.

Hearing Date:  May 6, 2009

Increased coal use for power generation must be balanced by improved technology to eliminate
the adverse impacts that some emissions can have on human health, the environment, and the global
climate. While pollutant emissions per unit of coal burned for power generation have decreased
significantly over the past 30 years in the United States and other many other developed countries,
few developing have environmental regulations comparable to those of the developed countries. Coaldependent
countries like China and India will undoubtedly use their abundant, domestic coal resources
to fuel their economic growth, which will have serious environmental impacts unless stricter
regulations are put in place and enforced, and modern control technologies are adopted. The U.S.
Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy is conducting a comprehensive environmental
program to (1) develop advanced control technologies, and (2) provide high-quality scientific data and
analyses for use in policy and regulatory determinations. The pollutants of primary concern are
nitrogen and sulfur oxides, mercury, fine particulate matter, and coal combustion by-products. In
addition, the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2),
have increased significantly since pre-industrial times. DOE is also exploring a number of options,
including development of more efficient power generation technologies and sequestration technologies,
to reduce, or possibly eliminate, CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants. While this information and
technologies have been developed in response to needs or projected needs for U.S. coal-fired power
plants, developing countries

Prepared By:  US Department of Energy

Authors:  Scott M. Smouse, James M. Ekmann & Charles E. Schmidt

Mine rehabilitation that includes the reduction in carbonaceous material going into overburden and pit reclamation material should be looked as a serious environmental activity and one that has major local and regional environmental consequences. Un-recovered and wasted coal, carbonaceous pit wastes, coal washery rejects and carbonaceous shale have energy values that in most cases can be utilised given the right technology and economic incentives. The carbonaceous material contained in overburden can have significant environmental consequences that include, the leaching of sulphuric and sulphurous acid from the overburden, the emission of toxic VOCs that include aromatic compounds from spontaneous combustion in the wastes, the physical destabilisation of rehabilitated land through spontaneous combustion coupled with the loss of vegetation and mineral/rock decomposition, and the emission of CO2 from slowly oxidising coal and organics without the creation of useful energy.

Author:  Dr. Mike Clarke FIEAust., CPEng., MAusIMM, PREQ
(Formerly) Senior Lecturer,
Environmental Engineering,
Griffith University, Queensland.

Original Publish Date:  March/April 2003

URL:  www.metts.com.au

There is a consensus that the way forward is with the more rapid adoption of best practices at new and
existing plants, and with the large-scale demonstration and deployment of CCS. The former is often
economic with little need for new policy incentives and can deliver benefits in the short-term,
especially in the larger, developing countries where fuel purchasing strategies, plant renovation and
modernisation, and choice of technology for new build all play a role. In contrast, the latter is
expensive with benefits accruing only in the medium to long term and will require policy incentives,
but is essential to have any hope of reversing the trend of rising CO2 emissions.

Prepared By: International Energy Agency

Author: Brian Ricketts

Published Date: June 2006, addendums November 2006

URL:  www.iea.org/

 The Government’s ambition should be to maintain at least the current coal-fired generation capacity in the UK (29 GW) whilst at the same time moving the whole coal fleet to clean coal technology and, ultimately, zero emissions.

 This ambition can be achieved by a combination of new build and retrofits (11 GW in total over the next ten years), including a number of plants with Carbon Capture and Storage and a number of capture-ready plants. Once all of these plants have CCS fitted and operating, the CO2 savings will be 25 to 43 mt CO2/year, dependent on which plants they displace
 

Author: Paper prepared by Clean Coal Task Group

Original Publishing Date:  7 June 2006

URL:  www.tuc.org.uk/

Coal will come under increasing pressure to reduce SOx, NOx, CO2 and particulate discharge.
Clean coal technologies enhance both the efficiency and the environmental acceptability over the
whole coal chain, from coal extraction and preparation through to end-use. Coal is the most carbon
intensive of the fossil fuels. But this in fact highlights the opportunities we have to make the greatest
improvements over current practice. It reinforces the importance of addressing the efficiency of coal
combustion.

Reduced CO2 emissions per unit of energy can be achieved from the application of technology.
This remains possible at all levels of coal utilisation worldwide. Many developing countries are able
to make the greatest gains. In addition, capture and storage of CO2 is becoming a significant focus for
research - and the new front-line in the development of long-term solutions for coal to the
requirements to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere.

Author:  Charlotte Griffiths

URL:  www.egcfe.ewg.apec.org

ABSTRACT
Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology has proven itself during the last decade to be a viable
concept for the clean combustion of coal and other solid fuels. Having met the most stringent
environmental regulations in the world, CFB technology hence has established itself as the preferred
choice for many new projects in the energy production industry. In addition to its capability to achieve
low gaseous emissions without additional flue gas cleaning equipment, CFB technology has gained an
advantage over the conventional coal burning technologies due to its fuel flexibility. With CFB
technology, all types of coal can be utilized with minimal environmental impact, including the lowgrade
coals often available locally (and therefore economically) in many APEC economies.
Additionally, CFB’s can simultaneously burn biomass, thereby reducing operating costs and further
reduce emissions and giving an overall improvement to the net CO2 production.

Author:  Arto Hotta

URL:  www.egcfe.ewg.apec.org

The LCA study shows that the performance of coal in steel making (from a Greenhouse perspective) can match gas-based routes. For electricity, the opportunity is to improve the efficiency of coal utilisation, and to use integration (with other processes and renewables) to reduce both Greenhouse emissions and other environmental impacts. The study has also provided data and identified improvement opportunities to assist the industry to position coal as an important contributor to the future reductant and energy mix. Social and economic impacts must also be evaluated, as part of sustainability considerations.

Author:  LJ Wibberly

URL:  http://www.sustainabletechnology.com.au