POWER August 2011 - 88

Commentary
Coal: A Key Part of Our
Clean Energy Future
By Steve Miller
W
ith the U.S. economy still struggling,
few things are as important
as having an abundant,
reliable supply of energy to help drive
our recovery. Many American families are
hurting and our businesses are being challenged
to create new jobs. That's why federal,
state, and local public policies must
balance the need for broader economic
prosperity, greater energy security, and a
cleaner environment. Coal and clean coal
technology can play vital roles and must
be at the center of this public debate.
Coal Is Essential and Affordable
Today, nearly half of our nation's electricity
is generated by coal. As our nation's
largest source of domestically produced
fuel, coal is essential to rebuilding our nation's
economy and protecting U.S. jobs,
while keeping electricity reliable and affordable
for our families and businesses.
America-and, indeed, the world-continues
to " electrify " the way we live, and that
electrification contributes significantly to
a higher standard of living.
Coal is not only the dominant source
of American electricity now; it also will
remain so for decades to come. Just this
April, the U.S. Department of Energy's
Energy Information Administration (EIA)
released its 2011 Annual Energy Outlook
report, which underscored the long-term
contribution that coal-fueled electricity
will make to our economy and the quality
of life for millions of Americans. The EIA
projected that, absent overly stringent
new federal regulations, total megawatts
generated from coal will increase by 25%
from 2009 to 2035 and coal will generate
43% of America's electricity by 2035.
Electricity from coal is affordable, and that
is a crucial fact for millions of U.S. families
and businesses. The one-half of American
families earning $50,000 per year or less,
on average, pay about 22% of their after-tax
income for energy costs (home heating and
cooling, and transportation). That percentage
has risen steadily over the past decade.
88
An American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
(ACCCE) report notes that the one-in-10
families in our nation earning $10,000 or
less annually pay, on average, about 70% of
after-tax income for energy.
Coal Is a Strategic Asset for America
The U.S.'s abundant, domestic supply of coal
is a strategic asset for national and energy
security in an unstable world. America's recoverable
coal reserves exceed those of any
other country and represent one-quarter of
the world's total coal supply. The U.S. has
272 billion tons of coal reserves and currently
uses about 1.1 billion tons per year.
At this consumption rate, America's coal reserves
would last nearly 250 years.
The energy in U.S. recoverable coal reserves
alone is roughly equal to that of
the world's known oil reserves. The power
held in our nation's coal reserves is critical
to limiting, to the greatest degree possible,
the need to rely on other countries
for our energy supply.
Clean Coal Technology's Role
One reason coal will remain the fuel of
choice for generating electricity is that we
are able to use it in an increasingly cleaner
manner. By 2015, America's coal-based
electricity providers will have invested
between $115 billion and $125 billion in
clean coal technologies to reduce air emissions;
moreover, that total does not include
the additional costs of complying with new
regulations the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) will promulgate during the
next two years. These investments have
paid great dividends to the environment.
The EPA's latest analysis shows that since
1970 emissions traditionally controlled under
the Clean Air Act have been slashed by
more than 80% per unit of electricity produced
at coal-fueled power plants.
In many instances, advanced technologies
have been developed and then commercially
deployed more rapidly than otherwise
thought possible because of private-public
sector partnerships. These partnerships (ofwww.powermag.com
ten
referred to collectively as the " Clean Coal
Technology " program) have been an important
driver for innovations that have allowed
electricity providers to meet more rigorous
environmental standards while holding down
costs for the consumer. A study sponsored
by the ACCCE found that, by 2020, American
taxpayers will see a return of $13 for every
dollar that the federal government has invested
in these technologies.
We are also seeing advanced coal generation
technologies emerge and broaden,
such as the ultra-supercritical pulverized
coal plant that American Electric Power is
building in Arkansas, along with the integrated
gasification combined cycle plants
that Duke Energy is constructing in Indiana
and Southern Company is siting in Mississippi.
These advanced generation technologies,
combined with new supercritical
coal plants with very low emissions, such
as the Prairie State coal-fired plant in Illinois,
are important steps in building the
bridge to our clean energy future.
Finally, carbon capture and storage (CCS)
technologies will play a vital role in addressing
concerns about climate change. Last year,
President Obama's Interagency Task Force on
Carbon Capture and Storage concluded that
" there are no insurmountable technological,
legal, institutional, regulatory or other barriers
that prevent carbon capture and storage
from playing a role in reducing greenhouse
gas emissions. " However, more robust partnerships
between the private sector and government,
as well as legislation clarifying the
legal and liability framework, are essential to
accelerating the pace for broad commercial
deployment of CCS technologies.
Coal's importance to our nation's clean
energy future is clear. With continued, prudent
investments in clean coal technology
and vigorous government and private sector
partnerships, coal will help our nation to
claw out of the Great Recession and continue
to be America's fuel for decades to come. ■
-Steve Miller (smiller@cleancoalusa
.org) is president and CEO of the American
Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
POWER | August 2011
http://www.powermag.com
POWER August 2011

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