so-called clean coal
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Coal industry downplays prospects for CCS as it seeks more handouts in Senate climate bill
The coal industry got a lot of goodies in the House-passed energy and climate bill, but it’s pressing for even more in the Senate version. At a Senate hearing on the future of coal hosted earlier this week by Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), representatives from utilities and coal companies told lawmakers […]
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What the heck is CCS and can it really help fight climate change? An expert explains
Artist’s rendering of a power plant with CCS technology.Image: Prosjektlab/BellonaIt is conventional wisdom among People Who Matter that burning coal is going to continue, even accelerate, no matter what kind of legislation is passed or international agreements are forged. That’s why carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) — technology that buries power-plant carbon dioxide emissions underground […]
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How fast can the U.S. electric sector reform?
Is the electric sector capable of rapid, large scale reform? Many policies implicitly assume the answer to that question is No, especially when it comes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission control. The result is a policy conversation that hinges on the assumption that it is hard to change. How much must we spend to accelerate […]
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Must-read new story on the Tennessee coal ash disaster and the myth of “clean coal”
Stop what you’re doing and proceed immediately to the current issue of GQ magazine, which contains a blockbuster piece of investigative journalism: “Black Tide,” by Sean Flynn. Here’s the slug: Just days before Christmas last year, an environmental disaster one hundred times the size of the Exxon Valdez (yes, you read that right) unfolded on […]
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Defending coal in climate legislation
We saw how years of accumulated habit, chummy political relationships, and a regulatory model that all-but mandates big central power plants have left coal utilities betting their futures almost entirely on “clean coal.” They’ve told their legislators that it’s the only way to go low-carbon in the South and Midwest. Their legislators, who have long […]
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Climate Central takes on Georgia, coal, and carbon
This week brought a new piece of journalism from the crack staff of scientists and reporters at Climate Central. It’s called “Georgia: Coal and Carbon.” Watch: As always with CC, the piece is accompanied by an annotated transcript that documents virtually every word with links to scientific sources. Fine work, as usual. I have only […]
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Southern Company, coal plants, and the latest gizmo
Who is behind the push for “clean coal”? Seems like it ought to be simple, but it’s not. Take a look at this list of members of the “clean coal” front group ACCCE. There are effectively three lobbies: producers, utilities, and legislators. Producers’ interest in “clean coal” is obvious: they want to sell more coal. […]
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Carbon geography
If you want to understand what’s been going on behind closed doors as members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee hash out a compromise on the Waxman-Markey bill, I highly recommend reading this post by enviro-blogger Devilstower at Daily Kos. Devilstower references a new (as-yet-unpublished) paper I mentioned the other day: “Carbon Geography: The […]
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What happens when you mandate clean coal
A plan to build a “clean coal” plant in Washington state is officially dead: Energy Northwest officials said they could not produce a required plan for capturing carbon emissions from the proposed plant in the foreseeable future. A 2007 Washington law sets strict limits on carbon emissions from coal plants and requires that utilities show […]
