DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on:  July 3, 2001

Clean Coal - Cleaner Air


New Energy Department Report Cites "Track Record" of Environmental Benefits from Clean Coal Technologies

Washington DC - The Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program has redefined the way power companies and other coal users meet American's demands for cleaner air, producing a "track record of environmental progress" summarized in a new report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy.
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 Environmental Benefits of Clean Coal Technology
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 DOWNLOAD report [1.2MB PDF] from:
- Clean Coal Technology Compendium Web Site
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The report, Environmental Benefits of Clean Coal Technologies, highlights the significant advances in pollution control systems that were developed and tested in the joint government-industry program.

Begun in 1985 as a national effort to reduce air pollutants that cause acid rain, the $5.3 billion Clean Coal Technology Program ultimately resulted in 38 first-of-a-kind demonstration projects, many of which continue to operate today.

Among the achievements cited in the 34-page report are:

  • New controls for nitrogen oxides (NOx) - The Clean Coal Technology Program enabled power generators to respond cost-effectively to the first wave of NOx control requirements and positioned industry for further reductions in the 21st century. Today, three-fourths of all U.S. coal-fired capacity are equipped with low-NOx burners that cost a fraction of the cost of NOx pollution controls available in the 1980s.

  • An expanded portfolio of technologies for sulfur dioxide (SO2) controls - The Clean Coal Technology Program contributed to meeting the initial SO2 reduction requirements of the1990 Clean Air Act Amendments by installing advanced technologies, including new types of more effective and reliable flue gas scrubbers, at plants specifically targeted by the new law.

  • The technological foundation for new power plants - Successful demonstrations of fluidized bed combustion and integrated gasification combined cycle have provided new electric power generating options for the 21st century that are inherently clean and produce negligible emissions of SO2, NOx, and small solid particles.

President Bush has made further advancements in clean coal technologies a key element of his National Energy Policy. With coal accounting for more than 52 percent of America's electric power, new technologies that reduce the release of pollutants from coal-fueled power plants can help keep reliable electricity available for consumers while continuing to improve the quality of the nation's air.

For example, according to the report, if no pollution control devices were installed, today's coal-fired power plants would emit more than 20 million tons per year of sulfur pollutants. The pollution controls in place today, some of which were pioneered in the Clean Coal Technology Program, have reduced sulfur emissions to 12 million tons per year. But if every U.S. coal-fired power plant installed technologies demonstrated in the Clean Coal Technology Program, sulfur emissions could be reduced by more than 80 percent, down to as little as 2 million tons per year.

Clean coal technologies offer similar opportunities to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions which can cause smog and ozone problems. Today, nitrogen oxide emissions from coal plants total about 6.8 million tons per year. Many clean coal technologies demonstrated in the Energy Department's program have the capability to easily cut these emission levels by more than half, which would reduce national levels to around 3.2 million tons per year.

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For more information, contact:
Michael Jacobs, DOE office of Fossil Energy, (202) 586-6503, e-mail: michael.jacobs@hq.doe.gov