Coal

A Wakeup Call for Coal

U.S. imports make up the fastest-growing segment of the industry. Are we prepared?

The renewed interest in coal as a fuel source for power generation will increase coal demand by up to 4 percent a year for the next 20 years. With so much coal produced domestically in this country, why are utilities choosing to import coal from producers located hundreds or thousands of miles from their plants?

The Ontario Coal Conundrum

Tough plant-retirement decisions being made in Canada to reduce its carbon footprint contrasts with America’s embrace of coal-based generation.

There is a certain irony in Ontario’s decision to phase out its coal-fired generation at a time when the demand for new coal-fired plants is growing in the rest of North America. Global Energy’s analysis of demand for coal for power generation suggests that growth in demand for coal is likely to continue and even challenge coal producers to step up their productive capacity and deliverability to meet that demand.

The Key to California's Coal Future

Don’t overlook high-quality, project-based emissions reductions.

By Mike Burnett and Bjorn Fischer

Mike Burnett is executive director of the Climate Trust. Bjorn Fischer is business development manager at the Climate Trust. Contact Fischer at bfischer@climatetrust.org. The Climate Trust is a non-profit committed to providing high quality, project-based reductions and advancing the policies that support them. Its offices are located in Portland, Ore.

Battle Royal: Pulverized - Coal vs IGCC

The battle for the future of coal-fired power is heating up. Recent developments give IGCC a fighting chance.

Does the future belong to pulverized coal or integrated gasification combined-cycle technologies? The answer will determine how the industry manages load growth and regulatory risks, while protecting shareholders and ratepayers.

Financing Clean Coal

No single type of financial incentive closes the cost gap between clean coal and modern conventional coal technologies.

How can the cost gap between IGCC plants and pulverized coal plants be closed?

Mercury: Much Ado About Nothing?

How the Clean Air Mercury Rule will affect coal prices.

The Clean Air Mercury Rule impacts new and existing coal-fired electric generating plants through a market-based cap-and-trade program similar to the EPA’s highly successful Acid Rain Program. The first phase of the program in 2010 reduces mercury emissions to 38 tons. The second phase goes into action in 2018 with a final mercury emissions cap of 15 tons. The key question is: what extent will the new rule reduce coal’s dominance in the electric generation market?

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A New World Order

Pressure for national legislation builds as the Northeastern U.S. goes it alone and carbon trading takes off in the European Union.

Domestic and international pressures are building rapidly on the United States to enact some form of legislation to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, as a spate of recent developments turns up the heat on the Bush administration. Internal pressure is building on several fronts

Coal Gasification Gets Real

The technology works, but public policy will dictate its future.

The future of integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) power plants depends on public support, but environmental and market factors are helping IGCC look like a winning technology for the future.

Roundtable: The Future Of Generation

Meeting tomorrow’s power needs will pose tough choices.

A group of executives and analysts tell Fortnightly that the outlook for generation is positive, because it has to be. But making generation work well—affordably, cleanly, and reliably—won’t be easy.