Message: The Case for Coal - DOE -2004 - How appropriate to-day!
| The Case for Coal | |||
| August/September 2004 | |||
| DOE’s research and development efforts are focused on facing new energy challenges to meet current demands for an even cleaner environment while providing electricity as an abundant and affordable every day commodity. |
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| By Michael Eastman | |||
The Department of Energy’s original Clean Coal Technology Program (CCTP), planned and managed by the Office of Fossil Energy and implemented by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), began in 1985 as a pollution-control/technology-develop... effort aimed at mitigating acid rain. Almost 20 years later, benefits being realized across the United States from this effort are taking the form of cleaner air, affordable electric power and the comfort of relying on a secure energy resource. CCTP facilitated commercialization of a number of technologies, including advanced sulfur dioxide scrubbers, low-nitrogen oxides (NOx) burners, selective catalytic reduction technology for NOx removal, fluidized-bed combustion, and integrated gasification combined cycle power production. Several CCTP projects are still active and are continuing to create benefits for the environment and economy. CCTP technologies made significant contributions toward the sharp decline in pollutant emissions from U.S. power plants: sulfur, nitrogen and particulate matter emissions —the primary pollutants that were targeted—have all declined even though coal use in the U. S. doubled between 1970 and 2003, increasing from 520 million to 1.1 billion tons, with 94 percent being used to generate electricity. During the same time period, air emissions across the board have been slashed: particulates have been reduced by 97 percent, sulfur dioxide has gone down by about two-thirds and nitrogen oxides have been cut by about one-third. Average retail prices considering all forms of energy used for electricity (in real dollars) have remained relatively stable over the period. DOE’s fossil energy program derives its success from effective public/private partnerships that have engaged essentially all aspects of the power sector. These partnerships provided the expertise and funding needed to effectively meet national goals and culminated with the private sector contributing nearly $2 for every $1 financed by the taxpayer in the CCTP. The total investment approached $4 billion, bankrolled by technology manufacturers, utilities, corporations, research institutes and numerous other organizations that collaborated with the government to bring the clean coal program to life. Today, DOE’s research and development (R&D) efforts are focused on facing new energy challenges to meet current demands for an even cleaner environment while providing electricity as an abundant and affordable every day commodity. Achieving this goal requires planning and vision to develop technologies that effectively address mercury control, capture and storage of carbon dioxide, the demand for clean fuels and advanced near-zero emissions energy systems. Coal’s Role in Sustaining the U.S. Economy The strength and security of the U.S. economy, as measured by real gross domestic product since 1970, is tightly linked to the availability, reliability and cost of electric power. Coal is an important resource for electric power production because it serves as the foundation of the nation’s power supply. It is by far the most abundant domestic energy resource, with reserves that exceed the energy potential of the world’s entire oil reserves. Coal reserves within America’s borders represent about a 250-year supply of secure, low-cost energy at current use rates. The importance of coal to our nation has been recognized in the National Energy Policy and several recent national initiatives (Clear Skies, Climate Change, FutureGen, Hydrogen, Carbon Sequestration, and Clean Coal Power). All of DOE’s fossil energy RD&D is directed at achieving the goals embodied in these initiatives. DOE, in collaboration with industry, has established a clear path forward with the development of a consensus Clean Coal Technology Roadmap. The Roadmap, developed cooperatively by DOE/NETL and the coal and power industries, is an integrated plan that addresses needs of the entire power plant fleet in the near term as well as development of the technology needed for future energy plants that will: • Use coal to produce electricity and, when economically attractive, transportation fuels and other valuable products • Have near-zero emissions, including CO2 • Be highly efficient • Have costs comparable to today’s technology The Roadmap also effectively supports emerging national priorities, such as energy security. Coal-fired power plant performance criteria addressed include air emissions, by-product utilization, water use and discharge, plant thermal efficiency and reliability/availability, capital and production costs, and CO2 management. Performance targets for new technology for use by our existing fleet, as well as long-range (2020) targets for future coal-based energy plants, are also specified. Projections for Coal Plant Construction DOE looks ahead, each year, to forecast energy prices and demands for electricity. As costs for natural gas continue to rise, the country will need to rely even more heavily on coal. Although very few coal plants have been built during the past five years when gas prices were low, to retain affordable electricity and our economic competitiveness, the need for many more new coal plants has arrived. Since it may take up to 15 years to ready a technology for commercial deployment, DOE has initiated full-scale demonstrations of innovative and promising new technologies. These demonstrations speed up technology development, thereby assisting the private sector in moving innovations into the marketplace so that benefits may be realized more quickly. Full-scale demonstrations, which represent the last step in the technology development process supported by DOE, flow from DOE’s core R&D programs and are a necessary step between the core R&D efforts and widespread commercialization. The newest CCT demonstration programs at DOE include the Power Plant Improvement Initiative (PPII) and the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI). PPII and CCPI, programs already underway, build on the success of DOE’s original program by targeting today’s most pressing environmental and energy system challenges. PPII, the follow-on to CCTP and predecessor to CCPI, is designed to establish commercial-scale demonstrations of coal technologies to ensure energy supply reliability in the near term. Most projects focus on technologies enabling coal-fired power plants to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations at the lowest possible cost. Benefits from PPII technologies arise through development of better emission controls, by-product utilization, and improved plant reliability and performance. CCPI is a multi-year program to be conducted over successive solicitations (rounds) through 2010 to foster even more efficient, advanced CCTs for use in new and existing electric power generating facilities. Each demonstration must substantially “raise the technology bar” over existing technologies in terms of efficiency and environmental performance to ensure that significant technological advances are achieved, and pursue targets and timeframes consistent with the Clean Coal Technology Roadmap. CCPI will encompass a portfolio of technologies that will provide flexibility and increase options so that coal can continue to be relied on for producing electric power in the U.S. When finally realized, CCPI demonstrations are expected to include, among others, systems comprising advanced turbines, membrane separation systems, fuel cells, gasification technologies, and hydrogen production. Program benefits will occur because of increased generating efficiency, which allows more affordable electricity to be produced, through attainment of a cleaner environment because of lower pollutant emissions, and by achieving greater energy security through sustainable use of domestic resources. Most recently, a $1-billion, 10-year public/private partnership project known as FutureGen has emerged to provide a full-scale test of the coal power plant of the future. The best available cutting-edge technologies will be used in this 275-MW plant to produce clean power and hydrogen as a fuel, while at the same time capturing essentially all of the CO2 produced. FutureGen will create the worlds first near-zero emissions coal-based electricity and hydrogen plant. The Path Forward Major energy challenges are clearly visible on the horizon. These challenges include ensuring our national security, which is strongly linked to energy security; generating cleaner electricity to meet upcoming environmental regulations; and developing reliable supply technologies to avoid future mishaps such as the massive power blackout experienced in the Northeast in the summer of 2003. The California energy crisis and the Northeast blackout punctuate how dependent our economy and national security are on a reliable supply of clean yet affordable electricity. Coal can, even in a world where carbon emissions are constrained, play a key role in the future of America. We can meet these challenges if the technologies needed to accomplish the desired performance objectives are developed in time. The Clean Coal Technology Roadmap charts the way forward and DOE’s programs provide an important vehicle to take us there. However, best ideas are needed and partnerships that provide the most leverage to reach the goal of a secure energy future must continue to be forged. Based on past performance, DOE is optimistic about the outcome of this dynamic effort. The U.S. is a country of innovative people who have, in the past, grown accustomed to having their cake and eating it too; in this case, we can rely on coal to be the backbone of our energy supply for electricity to sustain a strong economy and achieve a clean environment as well. Michael Eastman is Senior Technology and Management Advisor for Clean Coal Technology at the U.S. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. | |||
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