Cleaning Up Coal
Wednesday, February 21, 2007SUZANNE PRATT: Half of all electricity generated in the U.S. now comes from coal. Experts say there's enough coal in the U.S. to fuel power production for centuries. As Stephanie Dhue reports, that's fueling interest in making coal a clean energy source.
STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: This power plant is like half the electricity generators in operation today. It burns coal, sending mercury, sulfur and carbon emissions through smokestacks. This is an artist's rendition of the power plant of the future. Called Futuregen, the billion dollar research and development project promises to build a virtually emission-free power plant. Michael Mudd heads the Futuregen alliance, a group of power and coal producers that has partnered with the Federal government.
MICHAEL MUDD, CEO, FUTUREGEN: The primary goal is to develop a zero- emission power plant that can economically, because you can do it now, but the economics would probably not be attractive -- so, to economically have a way to eliminate virtually all emissions from power plants, from coal- fired power plants.
DHUE: Futuregen plans to build a prototype power plant that it claims will be a model for the industry. It will use what's known as IGCC or integrated gasification combined cycle technology. The process heats coal into gas, making carbon emissions easier to capture and then pump into the ground. In some cases, the carbon could be used to pump oil or used to generate hydrogen fuel. David Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council says, while the technology is promising, taxpayers' investments in clean coal have come up short.
DAVID HAWKINS, DIRECTOR, CLIMATE CENTER, NATURAL RESOURCE DEFENSE COUNCIL: This has been more of a success in terms of the industry getting subsidized than it has been a success in terms of actually advancing the state of the art. The real advances in pollution control have come from the adoption of laws requiring these power plants to clean up.
DHUE: The Federal government's clean coal technology program was the precursor of Futuregen. The program helped build IGCC demonstration projects, like this one in Tampa, that came online in the mid-'90s. But there are no commercial IGCC plants in operation now. Duke Energy plans to build an IGCC plant in Indiana with the potential to one day capture carbons. CEO James Rogers says commercially viable carbon capture will take time.
JAMES ROGERS, CEO, DUKE ENERGY: I know everybody in this world of McMuffins -- instant this, instant that -- things don't happen that fast and we need to look at our commitment to using coal in a clean way is something that is going to take several decades to get done and we need to stay focused on it.
DHUE: But few environmental groups support clean coal, preferring renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal. Still, if you're going to build a coal-fired plant, the Natural Resources Defense Council says it should be done in the most environmentally friendly way.
HAWKINS: The technology is there to do it. The economics are entirely feasible if we have the policy support in the form of a mandatory global warming law.
DHUE: Meanwhile, power producers are planning the next generation of plants. What they decide to build will have consequences for the next 60 years, a power plant's expected life span. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
