How’s that for a symbol of our changing times and attitudes? An archaic and dwindling fuel source whose heyday has come and gone, pulled limping toward the horizon by the next generation of renewable energy. It’s enough to give an environmentalist a warm and sustainable feeling inside.
In addition to adding a little sustainability into the coal fired mix, the process would also help states meet new electrical generation standards. More than half of US states have adopted requirements to add cleaner energy. Under renewable portfolio standards (RPS), states mandate that a certain percentage of their electrical power will be generated from renewables by established deadlines.
Clean Coal — a Contradiction in Terms?
Like so many so-called “green” innovations and ideas these days, projects like this can seem (and often are) a greenwash. They take a dirty and unsustainable practice and seek to dress it up in the green-hued fashion of the day, yet underneath lies the same unsightly product. Greenwashing may be good business in the short term, but ultimately is unethical and unsustainable in the long.
Strict environmentalists may look askance at the idea of “cleaner” coal fired generation, and interest groups have formed with the sole purpose of debunking the idea of clean coal. In strict terms, they are right. Yet the solar technology used in these pilot programs doesn’t seek or succeed in making the burning of coal cleaner. It’s goal – and it’s a feasible one – is to replace a small and hopefully growing percentage of that coal with solar power.
Eons ago, the ancient sun’s rays were captured in vegetation long since vanished from the earth. These layers of organic matter then decayed over time and under pressure to give us the fossil fuels of today. These dirty fuels are essentially stored solar energy, a bittersweet gift that has afforded us prosperity, but now which threatens our future.
Difficult to believe that the principle of generating electricity directly from the sun’s rays predates the civil war and was put into practice a half century ago. It’s as though we’ve had the cure for cancer gathering dust on the shelf, but were too busy or lazy to be bothered with taking it out of the box. Yet climate change is now seen as an affliction serious enough to warrant the widespread adoption of solar and other renewables.
While the addition of solar energy to existing coal plants may be seen by eco-purists as a smile on a dog, it is at least a step in the right direction. What is needed is the resolve to supplant the ancient and dirty fuels handed down to us from the sun, by replacing them with the solar energy available to us immediately in the present.
The solar assist technology being pioneered in these coal plants seeks to do just that, although to a limited extent. Using young and clean solar energy (in all its forms), to replace its dirty ancestors is a step in the right direction.
Coal Mountain Photo http://flickr.com/photos/mkorchia/2423387296/
Solar Collector Photo Geri Kodey NREL/DOE http://www.nrel.gov/data/pix/searchpix.cgi?getrec=1274819&display_type=verbose&search_reverse=1
More from sustainablog:
- Washington Rejects Coal Plant’s “Plan to Make a Plan”
- Australia Builds the Largest Solar Plant (for now)
- FutureGen Coal Plant Starts Over
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I think we will be seeing a lot more variations on the hybrid power plant theme. As it stands, we still have sizeable coal reserves left – the only thing holding it back is it’s ‘dirty’ reputation. The newer generation of ‘scrubbers’ that remove a lot of the pollution from the exhaust smoke are a massive improvement on the older versions. The problem is nobody really wants to hear about such boring technology. Slap a solar thermal ‘boiler’ to your plant and you’ll get good press. With solar energy reducing the amount of coal needed and the latest scrubbers working quietly in the background, this type of plant could form a significant part of our future energy supply.
Mike
Yeah, Mike. Seems like the stuff that’s not considered “sexy” – things like conservation and efficiency measures – are the cheapest and most effective to reduce a footprint. Hopefully more people with catch on to this “boring” stuff happening in the background. -Sean
Mike’s comment was short-sighted. The only thing holding coal back is it’s dirty reputation? The only? What about that massive contamination spill? What about the fact it has the highest concentration of CO2 of all the combustable energy sources? What about the fact that clearing entire tops of mountains leaves entire landscapes unusable? See http://www.ran.org for more dramatic details. I think Mike’s comment was an understatement that seems like it might be coming fm a coal PR firm. A plant.