Coal and Coal Combustion Products: Prospects for Future and Environmental Issues

Abstract

At the background of the overview of prospects for coal-based electricity production, the present and projected status and trends of coal combustion products (CCP) management was discussed. According to the latest projections, coal-based electricity share will remain the largest in world’s energy balance and is set to double in the first three decades of 21st century. The majority of this growth is forecasted for developing Asian economies, but also for some developed countries not bound by the Kyoto Protocol (USA, Australia). Coal combustion products (CCP) are one of the most abundant high-volume waste materials worldwide that are partially being reused in a number of commercially and environmentally proven applications—both traditional and advancing, some are in the stage of extensive studies. Despite of numerous beneficial properties, their reuse rates are still far from being satisfactory; also statistics on CCP generation is fragmentary. There is also different approach to CCP in terms of its legal definition: ACAA (American Coal Ash Association) considers CCP as a “product” and a mineral commodity equivalent to natural materials; also some other countries—large coal producers and CCP generators adopted this approach (e.g. India). European legislation treats CCP as a waste, though it does not mean that the material is a waste in all circumstances, but only where the definition of waste is met. In view of anticipated CCP generation and growth in the future, a crucial task is to identify and remove obstacles and barriers in the way of increasing CCP utilization, along with developing new application fields. Based on the analysis of regulatory instruments and enforcement procedures compared to the utilization effects, it has been stated that the pro-environmental and pro-recovery CCP recycling policy must be based on the term “waste” and the “polluter pays” principle. The rationale of this statement is that the legal definition in no case should absolve the producer or the holder from the responsibility for the generated waste until it is trans-formed into an environmentally safe product. The exemplified practice confirms that the efficient regulatory and enforcement mechanisms should comprise a well-balanced system of precepts, prohibitions and charges for CCP disposal (fees, penalties) that would encourage power plants as waste generators to support financially the environmentally safe utilization of CCP by the waste reuse industry on a cost-benefit basis, in order to reduce charges for the disposal and to assure competitiveness of these products in the market.