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'''Clean coal technology''' is an oxymoron. Defined by some as 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>, it implies that it is possible to make coal a fuel source that is free of (or very low in)carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutant emissions to a point where it can be considered almost harmless. Some of the techniques that would be used to accomplish this 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 (]s) to improve the ], and thus the efficiency of the conversion into ].

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= Massachusetts 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 news |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 | location=London | date=2008-10-30}}</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 CO<sub>2</sub> 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 CO<sub>2</sub> 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 CO<sub>2</sub>.<ref>http://www.thisisreality.org "This Is Reality" citing US EPA Retrieved=2009-01-22</ref>

The world's first "clean coal" power plant went on-line in September 2008 in ], ]. The plant is state-owned and has been built by the Swedish firm ].<ref name="discovermagazine"/> The plant is state owned because of the high costs of this technology, since private investors are only willing to invest in other sources such as nuclear, solar and wind.<ref>The Economist ''The illusion of clean coal''</ref> The facility captures CO<sub>2</sub> and acid rain producing sulfides, separates them, and compresses the CO<sub>2</sub> into a liquid state. Plans are to inject the CO<sub>2</sub> into depleted natural gas fields or other geological formations. This technology is considered not to be a final solution for CO<sub>2</sub> reduction in the atmosphere, but provides an achievable solution in the near term while more desirable alternative solutions to power generation can be made economically practical.<ref name="discovermagazine">http://discovermagazine.com/2009/feb/25-can-clean-coal-actually-work/?searchterm=clean%20coal "Can Clean Coal Actually Work?" article in Feb. 2009 issue, page 18, Retrieved 2009-05-11</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>

Some in the coal industry and the U.S. Department of Energy refer to ] (CCS) as the latest in "clean coal" technologies. The "clean coal" terminology is generally not endorsed by professionals in CCS, and is actively opposed by environmental organizations that favor CCS. CCS is a means to capture carbon dioxide from any source, compress it to a dense liquid-like state, and inject and permanently store it 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 CO<sub>2</sub> Capture and Storage Projects | publisher=America's Power | accessdate=2008-12-01}}</ref> All components of CCS technology have been used for decades in conjunction with enhanced oil recovery and other applications; commercial-scale CCS is currently being tested in the U.S. and other countries. Proposed CCS sites are subjected to extensive investigation and monitoring to avoid potential hazards, which could include leakage of sequestered CO<sub>2</sub> to the atmosphere, induced geological instability, or 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><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/|format={{dead link|date=January 2010}} }}
*{{cite journal|date=April 10, 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 | date=2005-11-28 | accessdate=2010-01-02}}
*{{cite journal|date=October 20, 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=] |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=University of Utah|accessdate=2009-03-29}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.icse.utah.edu |title=Institute for Clean & Secure Energy|publisher=University of Utah|accessdate=2009-03-29}}

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