Is there really such a thing as clean coal?
Theoretically maybe, in reality no. Not yet, anyway.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
The catchphrase “clean coal” is a brazen marketing ploy of the old school Madison Avenue variety. Think Kool brand cigarettes (that’s right, something literally on fire is cool) and Gatorgum from the makers of Gatorade, which proudly boasted on its wrapper “Helps Quench Thirst” (it didn’t – it was sugary chewing gum). You get the picture – just saying it’s clean doesn’t make it so. The term “clean coal” is especially audacious. It’s one step away from saying “clean dirt.” In fact, it almost sounds like something The Riddler (of Batman fame) might say: what’s dirtier than dirt and still clean? Clean coal!
But that’s the power of branding. We trust in the power of names, often religiously. Besides, we want to believe good news, especially when it’s convenient and handed to us by people or organizations that we depend on and have come to trust, such as governments and utility companies. We may not always like them, but unless we are completely cynical, we still have some belief that they are at least trying to keep their relationships with us in good faith. After all, they depend on us as well. It’s a crucial part of the symbioses that are capitalism and democracy.
So what is clean coal exactly, or rather what is it potentially, since it is currently unworkable?
In short, the idea with clean coal is to capture CO₂ emissions from coal plants and then bury them in the ground before they can pollute the atmosphere. According to an article in Wired from June 12th of this year, the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change supports research into clean coal, as does the United States Department of Energy, headed by Steven Chu. Together, both organizations have allotted $3.4 billion (€2.3 billion) for the development of the technology. That’s a lot of funding for something that many climate and energy experts are skeptical about, has not yet been achieved and may never be.
FutureGen: the world’s first clean coal plant? (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Furthermore, coalmining in itself is a dangerous, disastrous industry in every part of the world it is taking place. And the damage to the environment caused by mining is not limited to CO₂ emissions. Would these other negatives concerning coalmining change even if clean coal turns out to be a viable technology? I don’t see how.
What would be achieved is an extension on an inexpensive fossil fuel and a productive and very profitable industry. There is still a lot of coal to be ripped out of the Earth. Wouldn’t it be great if it could be clean – and safe and had little or no negative environmental impact?
I guess that’s why “clean coal” has ruffled so many feathers. It jumps the shark. It insults us. What’s worse is it probably works – the branding, not the technology, of that I’m as much in the dark as any layman. One of the problems is that plenty of people will believe whatever they’re told so long as it comes from the media or the church or temple (which for thousands of years pretty much was the media) or the government or companies or the guys who hang around the office water cooler, cab drivers, Fox News, the John Birch Society – I think you can see where I’m going with this. And to a certain extent, they should be able to have faith in at least some of these sources of information. Ideally, theoretically, it is in the best interests of governments and corporations not to mislead the public. Again, it’s a crucial component of a healthy democracy or capitalist system. Of course in reality, power, money and corruption make this – like the technology – complicated and difficult, and so they end up shoveling clean coal and we end up eating it.
By Graham Land
Additional resources:
Washington Post editorial on clean coal
Article/Comic from Popular Science on clean coal
Pro clean coal groups:
FutureGen Alliance
American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
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Tags: carbon emissions, clean coal, coal, Pollution, technology
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