Talk Dirty (Emissions) to Me

September's Eco Article tackles the topic of "clean coal." Note the quotes around that phrase... They indicate my dubious outlook on the issue.

Not to knock environmental innovation. Well, just check out my article and let me know what you think.

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Dirty Talk About Clean Coal
Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator
September 2009

It’s not often that we Northern Kentucky natives find ourselves on the forefront of an engineering movement. We’re usually not among the first to adopt a fad and if the Rabbit Hash General Store is any indication, we tend to prefer the traditional to the technological.

Now, at the risk of startling readers across Boone County, I must relate that we are on the cutting edge of environmental research. On Tuesday, September 1, Duke Energy hosted a carbon forum and offered to discuss their endeavor to experiment with cleaning up coal powered electricity. They’re planning of having a working model of the latest in greenhouse gas diminishment: Clean coal.

Sounds catchy, no? It’s certainly more mellifluous than “carbon capture, liquefaction, and sequestration,” which is how most would define clean coal. Duke has drilled a well near their East Bend Power Plant and will pump liquefied carbon dioxide into sandstone formations that are around 3,000 feet underground. There, the CO2 will hang out in salt water pockets instead of slipping into the atmosphere where it would contribute to global warming. Not since Daniel Boone watched buffalo at Big Bone Lick has such a pioneering effort been marshaled in our county.

Policy makers ranging from our current president to John McCain have touted clean coal as an antidote to our energy woes because it utilizes fuel that is abundant and local. It’s estimated that the U.S. has 200 years worth of coal reserves with about 85 billion tons of that resting here in our home state. (How we mine that coal is a topic for another day.) Because of this affordability and accessibility, coal fueled power plants are supplying about half of the electricity we in the U.S. use and in turn, they are among the top greenhouse gas spewers. Duke Energy itself, our nation’s third biggest electricity producer, emits 100 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

So clean coal sounds like a perfect dream, right? Well, maybe. If we see carbon sequestration as the ultimate goal then we will have to capture and contain all of the CO2 emissions currently being released. To borrow an image from 60 Minutes, building the infrastructure for such a global carbon sequestration system would be the equivalent of constructing a recreation of the entire oil delivery infrastructure that now exists because all of the oil and coal that is coming out of the ground generates carbon dioxide that would need to go back into the ground. And to have a real impact on climate change, it would have to occur within the next few decades. Oh, and it would cost in the trillions of dollars.

But perhaps for now, just plunging into the wild frontier of carbon mitigation is enough. I just hope that it can help before we go the way of those buffalo that Mr. Boone watched trample through Kentucky all those years ago.

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You can find the episode of 60 Minutes that I reference here.

After I submitted this article to the Recorder, I saw that Sen. John Schickel wrote an article for the paper outlining how important coal is for economic growth in our region. Quite a dialogue topic, no? His article is no longer available online so I copied the text below.

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Coal essential to economic growth
Sen. John Schickel
August 26, 2009

Here in Northern Kentucky, we don't spend much time thinking about coal - but we should constantly be thankful for the role it plays in our economy. I have learned about the coal industry from Jack Wells and Steve Weber, who own the Emerald International Coal Co., headquartered right here in Florence.

I met Jack and Steve at Shakey's Pub & Grub and had several good conversations about their industry over a "cold one."

While the bulk of the coal industry is concentrated in the eastern and western regions of our commonwealth, Emerald Coal is just one of the many coal-related businesses located in Northern Kentucky and the Bluegrass. In fact, Emerald is the largest shipper of coal down the Mississippi River!

Even if you don't work in the energy sector, though, coal plays a tremendous role in our everyday lives. More than 90 percent of all the electricity in Kentucky is produced through coal, giving us some of the cheapest rates in the nation. In fact, our home energy bills are about half that of people living in New York and New England.

Affordable energy is great for consumers, but it also creates jobs. Power costs are one of the biggest expenses for businesses small and large. When a manufacturer decides where to locate their new facility, you better believe energy bills rank right up there with an educated workforce and low taxes. Consider that industrial energy in Kentucky is 16 percent cheaper than in Indiana, and 31 percent cheaper than in Ohio, and you'll see why Northern Kentucky's economy has continued to grow.

And coal has had a major influence in that growth.

Last month, along with my colleagues on the Natural Resources and Environment Committee, I had a chance to visit two mining facilities in Western Kentucky. Coaltek, one of those businesses, is involved in clean coal technology as well as coal-to-gas and coal-to-liquid processes. With the research they are doing, we're discovering new ways to harness our state's natural resources.

Just as coal has led to cheaper electric rates, we may be able to reduce the costs of gasoline for your car, gas to heat your home, even make existing coal-fired plants more energy-efficient - all while becoming better stewards of our natural environment and making the United States more energy independent.

Our visit to Coaltek really showed us some great ideas for the future of the energy economy, not just in the Kentucky but across the nation. At a time when many jobs are being shipped overseas, we have the ability to develop jobs that would be based here at home without the threat of being outsourced.

There's an incredible future in clean coal technology, coal-to-liquid, coal-to-gas, and carbon sequestration, but only if we encourage that research and development. Instead of federal legislation focused on taxing these natural resource-based energy sources, Congress should follow Kentucky's lead and push newer ways to process coal in order to keep energy affordable and economic development sustainable. As a nation, the U.S. gets nearly half its energy from coal. We'd be foolish not to invest in its future.

Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, represents the 11th Senate District which includes Boone and Gallatin Counties and part of Kenton County. He welcomes your concerns or comments toll-free at 800-372-7181.

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