Proponents of the U.S. coal industry, including President Donald Trump, have touted “clean coal” technologies as an important part of America’s energy future. Environmental groups argue that there’s no such thing as clean coal—that the environmental and health impacts of mining and burning coal make it hopelessly dirty.
The hope for clean coal rests on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which is currently in its nascent stages and costs significantly more than conventional coal-fire plants. The successes and failures of early CCS projects—along with the relative price of other energy sources, and the court of public opinion—will all help determine the prospects for clean coal in America’s energy future.
CCS Technology
The energy industry has long had filtering processes to remove air pollutants from the exhaust of coal-fired power plants. Now the focus is on improving that filtering while also capturing and storing carbon. This technology is new and costly.
Many early projects have failed. Millions of dollars in budget overruns are the norm. Only two commercial plants using CCS are currently operating in the world, one of which opened in Texas this January.
