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{{Merge|Clean coal|Talk:Clean coal technology#Merger proposal|date=April 2009}} #REDIRECT ] {{R from merge}}

{{See|Carbon capture and storage}}

'''Clean coal technology''' is an ] used to describe technologies being developed that aim to reduce the environmental impact of ] energy generation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c01.html |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |title= Coal vs. Wind |accessdate=2008-12-30}}</ref> These include chemically washing ] and impurities from the coal, ] (see also ]), treating the ] gases with ] to remove ], ] and storage technologies to capture the carbon dioxide from the flue gas and dewatering lower rank coals (brown coals) to improve the calorific quality, and thus the efficiency of the conversion into electricity.

Clean coal technology usually addresses atmospheric problems resulting from burning coal. Historically, the primary focus was on sulfur dioxide and particulates, since it is the most important gas in the causation of ]. More recent focus has been on carbon dioxide (due to its impact on ]) as well as other pollutants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/coal/ |publisher=Massachussets Institute of Technology |title=The Future of Coal |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref> Concerns exist regarding the economic viability of these technologies and the timeframe of delivery,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/30/fossilfuels-carbonemissions |publisher=The Guardian |title=Time to bury the ‘clean coal’ myth |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref> potentially high hidden economic costs in terms of social and environmental damage,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/cost-of-coal.pdf |publisher=Greenpeace |title=The True Cost of Coal |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref> and the costs and viability of disposing of removed carbon and other toxic matter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/ccs/ |publisher=University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences |title=Carbon Capture and Storage |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/02/carbon-capture-storage.html |publisher=Discovery Channel |title=Carbon Capture Plans get Reality Check |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref>

Coal, which is primarily used for the generation of electricity,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/special/feature.html| publisher= Energy Information Administration | title=U.S. Coal Supply and Demand | accessdate=2009-01-18}}</ref> is the second largest domestic contributor to carbon dioxide emissions in the USA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis_mon/emis_mon_co2.html |title=Estimates of Monthly CO2 Emissions and Associated <sup>13</sup>C/<sup>12</sup> Values from Fossil-Fuel Consumption in the U.S.A. | accessdate=2009-01-01}}</ref> The public has become more concerned about global warming which has led to new legislation. The coal industry has responded by running advertising touting clean coal in an effort to counter negative perceptions, as well as by putting more than $50 billion towards the development and deployment of clean coal technologies, including carbon capture and storage.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americaspower.org/News/Press-Room/Press-Releases/ACCCE-Details-More-than-80-CO2-Capture-and-Storage-Projects | publisher= America's Power | title=ACCCE Details More than 80 CO2 Capture and Storage Projects | accessdate=2009-01-12}}</ref> The expenditure has been unsuccessful to date in that there is not a single commercial scale coal fired power station in the US that captures and stores more than token amounts of CO2.<ref>http://www.thisisreality.org "This Is Reality" citing US EPA Retrieved=2009-01-22</ref>

Changing meanings of the term ‘clean coal’ and questions about motives have provoked skepticism from environmentalists. The term 'clean coal' is often stated in ]s by its critics due to claims that it is a ]<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_26/b4090055452749.htm |publisher=Newsweek |title=The Dirty Truth About Clean Coal |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref> and a ] term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prwatch.org/node/8060 |publisher=Center For Media and Democracy |title=Clean Coal for Christmas |accessdate=2008-12-29}}</ref> In November 2008, NBC anchor Brian Williams described clean coal as an ] as part of the network’s report on the issue.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-dorner/brian-williams-clean-coal_b_144764.html |publisher=Huffington Post |title=NBC Confirms That "Clean Coal" is an Oxymoron |accessdate=2008-12-23}}</ref> However, the U.S. government employs the term in its research, as demonstrated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Coal Technology Program. The DOE defines clean coal as "a new generation of energy processes that sharply reduce air emissions and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/ |title=Fossil Energy: DOE's Clean Coal Technology Program|publisher=U.S. Department of Energy | accessdate=2009-01-12}}</ref>

==Clean Coal and the environment==
{{See|Environmental effects of coal|mountaintop removal mining|Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill}}

According to the ] ], the burning of coal, a ], is a major contributor to ] and ]. (See the UN ]). As 25.5% of the world's electrical generation in 2004 was from coal-fired generation (see ]), reaching the carbon dioxide reduction targets of the ] will require modifications to how coal is utilized.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Climate/clim-2.cfm?&CFID=1255395&CFTOKEN=96369856|title= CRS Issue Brief for Congress - IB89005: Global Climate Change |publisher= National Council for Science and the Environment |date=August 13, 2001 |accessdate=2008-09-13}}</ref>

The latest in clean coal technologies, ], is a means to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants and permanently bury them underground. Currently, there are more than 80 carbon capture and sequestration projects underway in the United States.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.americaspower.org/News/Press-Room/Press-Releases/ACCCE-Details-More-than-80-CO2-Capture-and-Storage-Projects | title=ACCCE Details More than 80 CO2 Capture and Storage Projects | publisher=America's Power | accessdate=2008-12-01}}</ref> Sequestration technology has yet to be tested on a large scale and may not be safe or successful. Sequestered CO<sub>2</sub> may eventually "leak" up through the ground, may lead to unexpected geological instability or may cause contamination of aquifers used for drinking water supplies.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.awwa.org/publications/MainStreamArticle.cfm?itemnumber=39815 |title=AWWA warns Congress about CO<sub>2</sub> injection concerns |publisher=American Water Works Association |date=July 29, 2008|accessdate=2008-08-27}}</ref> There are also concerns that plans to pump some of the sequestered CO<sub>2</sub> into certain oil and gas reserves, to help make the fuels easier to pump out of the ground, will lead to increased concentrations of CO<sub>2</sub> in potential fuel supplies. This would have to be removed or released during the refining process.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohvec.org/links/news/archive/2005/fair_use/10_16.html |title=‘Clean coal’ push concerns environmental activists |publisher=Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition |date=October 16, 2005 |accessdate=2008-08-09}}</ref>

Supporters of clean coal use the Great Plains Synfuels plant to support the technical feasibility of carbon dioxide sequestration. Carbon dioxide from the coal gasification is shipped to Canada where it is injected into the ground to aid in oil recovery. Supporters acknowledge that economics can be problematic for carbon sequestration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1300126 |publisher=SSRN | title=Carbonomics: How to Fix the Climate and Charge it to OPEC |accessdate=2009-01-01}}</ref>

==See also==
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== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
*] (2009) '''' - Climate change, Mar 5th 2009, From The Economist print edition, section
*] (2009) '''' - Carbon capture and storage, Mar 5th 2009, From The Economist print edition

== External links ==
===Journals===
*{{cite journal|date=July 29, 2008|title=Dark Energy - The Clean Coal Controversy|journal=PBS Documentary (Montana)|url=http://www.montanapbs.org/DarkEnergy/ }}
*{{cite journal|date=April 10th, 2009|title=Can the Earth be Coal-Friendly?|journal=PBS Documentary (Wyoming)|url= http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/515/index.html }}
*{{cite journal|title=Clean coal technology: How it works|journal=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.stm}}
*{{cite journal|date=October 20th, 2008|title= Clean coal for cars has a dirty side Getting liquid fuels from coal would not reduce carbon emissions, and would likely increase them |journal=Science News Web edition |url=http://sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37829/title/Clean_coal_for_cars_has_a_dirty_side}}
*{{cite journal|title=The Energy Challenge |journal=New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/business/27grid.html/}}
*{{cite journal|title=Clean Coal Plant to Go Online |journal=Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1219/p02s01-usgn.html/}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stoft|first=Steven E.|date=November 17, 2008|title=Carbonomics: How to Fix the Climate and Charge it to OPEC|journal=Social Science Research Institute|url=http://ssrn.com/abstract=1300126}}
===Websites===
====Government and university sites====
*{{cite web|url=http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/|title=Clean Coal Technology & The Clean Coal Power Initiative|publisher=US Department of Energy|accessdate=2009-03-29}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.netl.doe.gov/cctc/|title=Clean Coal Technology Compendium |publisher=National Energy Technology Laboratory|accessdate=2009-03-29}}
*{{cite web|url=http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/|title= Clean Coal Technology and The Clean Coal Power Initiative |publisher=US ] |accessdate=2009-03-29}}
;Universities
*{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/coal/|title=The Future of Coal An Interdisciplinary MIT Study|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|accessdate=2009-03-29}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.uc3.utah.edu |title= Utah Clean Coal Program|publisher=Univerity of Utah|accessdate=2009-03-29}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.icse.utah.edu |title=Institute for Clean & Secure Energy|publisher=Univerity of Utah|accessdate=2009-03-29}}

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