Coal’s only cheap if it’s dirty: energy recycling beats clean coal hands down
Posted by Dick Munson on August 5th, 2010
How many times have we heard that “clean coal” is the answer to our energy worries? It’s as if all you have to do is rinse off the coal before you burn it and — presto! — you get clean, cheap energy.
The truth is, coal’s only cheap if it’s dirty. RED’s Sean Casten has a column on this subject in Grist. Sean writes, “There are no plausible futures where coal with [carbon capture and storage] is economically viable… Proponents will argue that (a) it may be expensive now, but with R&D its price will come down and (b) since coal plays such a significant role in our electric system today, [clean] coal… simply must play a role in the electric system of the future. Neither assertion stands up to economic scrutiny.”
The best way to clean up coal is to use less of it by generating more power from clean and affordable sources like energy recycling.
