New ways to gasify and clean coal emerge

Reuters: New ways to gasify and clean coal emerge

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) – New ways to gasify coal are emerging that could help reduce the cost of managing the fuel's greenhouse gas emissions, officials at small companies said.

A race to develop cleaner ways to burn coal is emerging as the United States hopes to use its vast reserves of the fuel to cut imports of expensive natural gas and oil. But coal emits more carbon dioxide, the main gas scientists link to global warming, than any other fossil fuel.

Big U.S. utilities are beginning to consider using heat and pressure to turn coal into a natural gas-like fuel at power plants because it can reduce pollutants like acid rain and smog components. Technology can be added to the process to siphon off CO2 and bury it underground so that it does not reach the atmosphere.

Adding such technologies to power plants can be expensive. A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology report said carbon capture and sequestration at the plants could boost power bills by 20 percent.