Clean coal technologies for power generation

Abstract

In the course of a little less than a year from the end of 2005 to late 2006, there was a significant change in the perception of the future for coal-fired power generation in Britain, Europe and worldwide. There has been widespread recognition that coal will continue to be used in increasing, not diminishing, quantities for power generation. In parallel, it has become increasingly urgent to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide because of its impact as a greenhouse gas on climate change and it is now widely recognised, for example in the Stern Review, that coal-fired generation needs to be cleaned up by the use of clean-coal technology and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), rather than substituted. This paper elaborates further on these changes and describes the available clean coal technologies (including CO2 capture) and their economics. Scenarios for investment in coal-fired generation in the UK are described and some of the actions needed by government and supporting bodies are defined.