Listen to the podcast.

Future Uses of Coal

There’s no question that coal-fired power plants are a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and must be addressed in any plan to reduce global warming. But a new study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says we should not expect to stop using coal as a major source of electricity.

Instead, the study found, we should focus our efforts on making carbon capture and storage technology more economically feasible, so that we can turn coal into a cleaner source for the world’s energy needs.

Coal is both an abundant and inexpensive source of power, the study concluded, and the world’s growing demand for electricity will necessitate growth in all sources of power – renewable as well as fossil fuels. However, because of the growing problems associated with climate change and pressures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it is now critical to clean up coal-burning power plants and vastly reduce their contribution to global warming.

New technologies now allow for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions, though studies continue to look into whether doing so will cause any unwanted consequences. The MIT report concluded the U.S. government should provide assistance to power companies that pursue carbon capture projects and should not allow new coal plants to be built unless they address this issue.

Many involved in the climate debate agree that the solution to this problem will be multi-faceted, including greater use of renewable resources (such as wind and solar energy) and greater efforts to clean up more traditional sources of energy, such as coal.

To see a copy of the MIT study, visit http://web.mit.edu/coal/.

To learn more about what you can do to help reduce global warming, visit www.fightglobalwarming.com.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org