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An interdisciplinary MIT faculty group examined the role of coal in a world where constraints on carbon dioxide emissions are adopted to mitigate global climate change. This report, the future of coal in a carbon-constrained world, evaluates the technologies and costs associated with the generation of electricity from coal along with those associated with the capture and sequestration of the carbon dioxide produced coal-based power generation. Growing electricity demand in the U.S. and in the world will require increases in all generation options (renewables, coal, and nuclear) in addition to increased efficiency and conservation in its use. Coal will continue to play a significant role in power generation and as such carbon dioxide management from it will become increasingly important. This study, addressed to government, industry and academic leaders, discusses the interrelated technical, economic, environmental and political challenges facing increased coal-based power generation while managing carbon dioxide emissions from this sector. Two main reasons coal will be an important part of our future are its relative low cost for electrical generation and its wide distribution. Coal can provide usable energy at a cost of between $1 and $2 per MMBtu compared to $6 to $12 per MMBtu for oil and natural gas. Moreover, coal resources are distributed in regions of the world other than the Persian Gulf, the unstable region that contains the most oil and gas(MIT, 2007). The technological advances helped coal-burning utilities sharply reduce air pollutants even as they have substantially increased their use of coal. From 1980 to 2003, the amount of coal used to generate electricity in the United States increased by 75 percent; however, during the same time period, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions declined by 40 percent. At the same time, existing pollution controls reduced mercury emissions by 40 percent below levels that would have been emitted had there been no pollution controls on power plants(National Energy Tech Lab, 2008).

Notes 1. IEA Key World Energy Statistics (2006) 2. EIA 2005 annual statistics (www.eia.doe.gov) 3. Derived from the MIT Coal Study MIT Report

We conclude that CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) is the critical enabling technology that would reduce CO2 emissions significantly while also allowing coal to meet the world’s pressing energy needs. MIT

1. Give policymakers and the public confidence that this carbon mitigation control option is practical for broad application, 2. Shorten the deployment time and reduce the cost for carbon capture and sequestration should a carbon emission control policy be adopted, and 3. Maintain opportunities for the use of coal in a carbon constrained world in an environmentally acceptable manner.

DOE: http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/index.html Peak Coal: http://www.energybulletin.net/node/28287 MIT Future of Coal **web.mit.edu**/**coal**/ The_**Future**_**of**_**Coal**_ Summary_Report.pdf Status of Future energy: www.**simmonsco-intl.com**/files/ DOE-Office of **Coal** and Power-B&W.pdf Richard Heinberg on Museletter 179: Burning the Furniture (video) (length 12 min): [|stream] Dr Bartlett: Dr. Albert Bartlett: Arithmetic, Population and Energy (length 58): [|stream] How Cuba survived Peak Oil: http://globalpublicmedia.com/the_power_of_community_how_cuba_survived_peak_oil Charlie Hall Peak Moment: Energy Investment, Energy Return (length 0:27:14): [|download] [|stream] Planet energy: http://www.planete-energies.com/content/coal/future.html