Ryan Chartrand
Although coal gasification is not a new technology, there has been a renewed interest recently in its wide-scale implementation in the United States. The prospect of an energy industry heavily supported by gasified coal seems attractive to some because of the potential for completely domestic energy production. While this is an intriguing possibility, there are also environmental and social considerations associated with gasified coal.
In the process of coal gasification, solid coal is subjected to high temperatures and pressures and broken down into smaller compounds. Gasification yields mostly carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane. These gasses occur in different quantities depending on the process used to gasify the coal.
Capitalizing on the continually reinforced reality of oil’s questionable availability, the American coal industry has bombarded the public with ads and information about the promise of new “clean coal” technologies. It seems that Americans, cognizant of energy woes down the road, have been somewhat receptive to the idea.
The construction of over 150 new coal-fired power plants across America has been proposed. The race is on to build a new infrastructure to power America’s future. Although coal has some advantages over oil, and its continued use may be unavoidable for a certain amount of time, an energy industry largely reliant on coal power is not the answer to America’s problems.
Although technologies exist to make new coal plants cleaner than older ones, their use is not guaranteed or even possible in many cases. The coal gasification processes produces a great deal of methane and it is largely based on this fact that it has been heralded as a “clean” technology. Methane can be used to power cars and municipal power systems. It is, indeed, a cleaner burning fuel than gasoline, but it is still a fossil fuel. Its combustion releases carbon dioxide, a major culprit of global warming, into the atmosphere.
There has been a great deal of discussion about pumping the carbon dioxide from coal gasification back into the ground. Many of the proposed power plants are planned for areas in which geological formations are not even adequate to hold carbon dioxide, let alone hold it indefinitely. In addition, public policies that provide only small incentives for plants to meet pollution regulations make the possibility of a clean coal future very unlikely.
The extraction of raw coal from the earth poses problems just as big as coal combustion. Aside from being an extremely dangerous practice, coal mining has numerous negative environmental impacts. Mountain-top removal is a common mining practice in Kentucky and West Virginia that involves the demolition of a mountain top to expose coal deposits deep in the earth. Earth and plant material from the top of the destroyed mountain is usually moved to a nearby valley or used to displace streams that would interfere with the mining process. Although by law many coal mining sites must be restored to their natural contours and appearance after their resources have been exhausted, special waivers are frequently granted for mountain top removal operations. Current legislators have repeatedly defended the displacement of plant material from mountain tops to block waterways despite federal judicial rulings that such practices are in violation of the Clean Water Act. Coal mining inevitably releases a host of toxic metals into nearby water systems. High occurrences of sulfurous material in coal deposits also lead to a phenomena known as “acid mine drainage.” Efforts have been made to clean mining operations up, but the acidification of some lakes and streams has been unavoidable, spelling disaster for local fish and wildlife.
Although freedom from international energy dependence is enticing, coal is not the answer. It is not necessarily a step backward, but it is a step to the side. Coal-burning should not be thought of as a clean technology. It is an unfortunate element of the American energy industry today and its continued use should be avoided wherever possible.
Matt Hutton is a fourth year environmental engineer and Green Spot columnist.