Clean Coal? Myth or Reality

 

The term “clean coal” has been used to confuse and mislead people into thinking mining coal for energy can be done without any danger to the environment. Clean coal is just a term used to make the coal industry better for the environment than it is. Although mining coal has become cleaner than what it was in the past it still produces large amounts of pollution for the environment and, there are better resources to use that are cleaner than coal. The term washing coal is used the same way as clean coal.

The process of mining clean coal is when coal plants collect the carbon dioxide emitted from the smokestacks and bury it underground in a way of limiting global warming. (Plumer) This process would not only help reduce pollution from the coal industry but for all industrial industries. While it sounds like we have found a solution to coal’s global warming problem the technology still new, so it is very expensive and complex. Only one plant in the United States is open and operable. Another plant had plans to be open but was forced to shut down after going four billion dollars over budget. No other plant is planned to be constructed at the time of this article. Recently the term clean coal has not referred to coal gathered from the process of collecting carbon dioxide but from coal plants that emit less carbon dioxide into the air. Upgrading current coal plants to high efficiency plants or building new plants would be too expensive, this is the reason there are no plans to upgrade or build these types of plants.

Another process that is often used to mislead people is washing coal. Washing the mined coal reduces the number of pollutants generated when the coal is burned. As we learned in the last assignment, washing coal leads to contaminating water sources with other dangerous chemicals. This can lead to an increase in illness and premature death in the surrounding communities if regulations are not strictly followed and monitored.

With all the resources for energy coal is by far the dirtiest. Even with the process of cleaning coal, plants still emit more pollutants than another way to produce energy. Clean coal plants do not remove all carbon dioxide but only produce less pollutants than older plants. The Clean Air Task Force estimated seven thousand five hundred people have died from pollutants produced by plants. The number of deaths is declining but that is because of stricter regulations and the retirement of older plants. Though these coals products are considered clean they are damaging streams and waterways, not just the air.

Other resources that are cleaner than coal is wind, solar, nuclear, and natural gas. Two of those resources are renewable sources of energy, meaning they can be reproduced easily. According to World Energy Outlook 2020 solar power is now the cheapest electricity in history. The technology is cheaper than coal and natural gas in most countries. (Masterson) Due to the Inflation Reduction Act newly constructed solar and wind plants are cheaper to build and operate than already existing coal plants. Unlike coal plants solar and wind power plants produce no global warming emissions or air pollutants.

Even though we hear the words clean coal thrown around the truth is there is no such thing as clean coal. Whether it is the amount of carbon dioxide plants produce or the number of chemical pollutants that get leaked into the water ways from washing the coal there is no way to get around how dirty it is. The other forms of energy are cheaper and better for the environment. It is a wonder why we are still so reliant on energy from coal.

 

Source

Gearino, Dan. “New Wind and Solar Are Cheaper Than the Costs to Operate All But One Coal-Fired Power Plant in the United States” 23 January 2023, Inside Climate News, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30012023/wind-solar-coal-power-plant-costs/

Masterson, Victoria. “Renewables were the world’s cheapest source of energy in 2020, new report shows.” World Economic Forum,05 July 2021 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/renewables-cheapest-energy-source/

Plumer, B. (2017, August 23). What ‘clean coal’ is—and isn’tLinks to an external site.. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/23/climate/what-clean-coal-is-and-isnt.html