January 29th, 2009
"Clean coal," dream or possibility?
There is a lot of coal in North America. So, can we we burn it up without: 1) destroying the land after we’re done mining, 2) creating marvelous future disasters like the recent Tennessee coal ash deluge, 3) trashing the atmosphere with the waste gases from burning the coal?
It’s a worthy debate. It touches on the basic issues of exploitation versus environment. Do we use it up, throw it away and let the future take care of itself? Do we steward our resources, even lower our glorious standard of living just to keep the planet healthier? I won’t begin to predict what’ll happen in the next ten years. But the answers, or refusal to seek answers, we reach on future coal burning will be one of the political landmarks as time passes.
You’ve seen the TV ads, now see the comparison of opposing positions. We need clean coal. Clean coal is a myth. After recently talking with an algae entrepreneur I suspect he’d be sure they could scrub out the nitrous compounds and the CO2 with appropriately scaled algae bioreactors.
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A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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