CLEAN COAL COMING--IN THE YEAR 2045

A lot of political leaders talk about this technology like it is right around the corner. Many experts on climate change agree there is only a decade to act. Is initiating a process which will only come to fruition in 2045 going to meet that timetable?

Senators push carbon capture
Noelle Straub, April 17, 2007 (Casper Star Tribune)

WHO
Tom Shope, Energy Department acting assistant secretary for fossil energy, Mark Myers, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, David Hawkins, director of climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council, George Guthrie, program director for fossil energy and the environment at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Kipp Coddington, a partner at Alston and Bird, testifying before Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Ranking Republican Pete Domenici, R-N.M., Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.

WHAT
According to testimony, the long hoped-for/dreamed-of panacea for global warming, carbon capture and sequestration, is unlikely to soon be available.

WHEN
Testimony put the technology’s widespread availability at 2045.
Shope: sequestration field tests this year; available 2012; wide-scale commercial use 2020; common 2045.
Meyers: sequestration experiments need a year to develop methodology and 2-3 years to assess.

WHERE
Trial projects have been initiated nationally and internationally.


WHY
Coal is expected by those in power to be a significant source of electricity generation for the foreseeable future. Tester sponsored a bill to begin sequestration tests and form a data base for results. Many questions remain about themuch-heralded, much hyped “clean-coal” technology, especially the sequestration aspect. The safety and viability of sequestration is not established.

QUOTES
- Mark Myers, director of the U.S. Geological Survey: Tester’s bill is an "excellent step" toward a better understanding of storage capacity…
- Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo: "We already know how to do some of these things, and we could be doing it as opposed to this years and years of research…"
- David Hawkins, director of climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council: "If you assume the world does nothing about climate change, you can expect the power sector to respond in 40 years…"