Coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and historically the primary cause of acid rain. But it is also plentiful, domestically produced, and currently cheap. We rely on it to generate more than half of the electric power in the US. However, despite these shortcomings the sad but increasingly unavoidable fact is that as a power source, coal is probably here to stay for some time. There is simply too much global demand for electrical power to fill the gap with renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear options, even assuming massive scale ups in all of these technologies. Respected environmental organizations such as the NRDC support the role of CCS as a transitional technology to help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. One thing that CCS for coal won’t be, is inexpensive . In all likelihood it will drive up the cost of coal fired power considerably; the good news being that renewable energy sources will be price competitive.
The full post can be found at http://www.e2c2inc.com
Eric Carlson
eric@e2c2inc.com
For more on sustainability see also:
Screening: the Age of Stupid
Countdown to Copenhagen:
-
We are happy to pass along announcements from RSA Fellows which are in keeping with the RSA’s mission. RSA is not responsible for the content of Fellows’ websites or organization of Fellows’ events.
{ 2 trackbacks }