{"id":4106,"date":"2009-01-30T14:51:30","date_gmt":"2009-01-30T20:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=4106"},"modified":"2009-01-30T14:51:30","modified_gmt":"2009-01-30T20:51:30","slug":"solar-powered-coal-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-coal-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Powered Coal Plant?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/go635254.s3.amazonaws.com\/sustainablog\/files\/2009\/01\/coal-mountain-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4107\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/files\/2009\/01\/coal-mountain-copy.jpg\" alt=\"Mountain of coal for use in power plants\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a>[social_buttons]Is coal going clean?<\/h3>\n<h3>Not exactly. But new efforts are seeking to give this notoriously dirty fuel source a sustainable and renewable boost.<\/h3>\n<p>The <a title=\"EPRI Website\" href=\"http:\/\/epri.com\/portal\/server.pt?\" target=\"_self\">Electric Power Research Institute<\/a> has launched two projects that will infuse solar energy into already existing coal fired electrical generation plants.\u00a0 Solar power and coal have traditionally been the poster children of right and wrong, clean and dirty, sustainable and finite in terms of energy production. But now these two resources at spectrum\u2019s ends are being brought together.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"category-links\">\n<li>&raquo; See also: <a href=\"http:\/\/solarlosangeles.1bog.org\/\">Solar Community Bargaining in Los Angeles<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&raquo; <a href=\"\/feed\/\">Get Sustainablog by RSS<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/feedburner.google.com\/fb\/a\/mailverify?uri=sustainablog\/org\">sign up by email<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The two power plants that have adopted this solar infusion process are Tri-State\u2019s 245 megawatt Escalante generating station in Prewitt, New Mexico, and Progress Energy\u2019s 742 megawatt plant in Roxboro, North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Coal is burned to produce steam, whose pressure then turns a generator\u2019s turbines to produce electric power. Now add solar. The two pilot installations <a title=\"Solar Thermal Clean Technica\" href=\"http:\/\/cleantechnica.com\/2008\/03\/27\/solar-thermal-electricity-can-it-replace-coal-gas-and-oil\/\" target=\"_self\">collect and concentrate the sun\u2019s rays to boil water <\/a>into steam, which is then fed into the coal-generated steam stream to augment its power.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4110\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/files\/2009\/01\/solar-thermal-collector-copy2.jpg\" alt=\"Mirrors collect and concentrate solar rays to harness heat energy\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The idea has promise. The added rays of sunshine would conceivably allow a plant to produce the same amount of power while burning and emitting less coal and carbon respectively. Like our beloved <a title=\"New Hybrid Cars Gas 2.0\" href=\"http:\/\/gas2.org\/2008\/09\/24\/toyota-looks-to-embrace-natural-gas-hybrid-cars\/\" target=\"_self\">hybrid cars<\/a>, this effort seeks to take a dirty source of energy we all use and give it a cleaner and more sustainable kick in the pants.<\/p>\n<p>If we accept the idea that like our cars, coal fired plants won\u2019t disappear anytime soon, the idea of using renewables to help these fossil-fueled dinosaurs lumber reluctantly into the future is an appealing premise.<\/p>\n<p>This philosophy is being tried across the dirty-energy spectrum, as in the case of trans-oceanic vessels (oil tankers included) fitted with what are essentially\u00a0parasails. These glorified kites <a title=\"Using gas and sails\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/12\/10\/magazine\/10section3a.t-10.html\" target=\"_blank\">catch wind resources <\/a>moving in concert with the vessel, and save fuel by helping to pull the ship on its way.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage-->How\u2019s 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 <a title=\"Superbowl uses renewable energy\" href=\"http:\/\/cleantechnica.com\/2009\/01\/27\/nfl-buys-renewable-energy-for-super-bowl-xliii\/\" target=\"_self\">renewable energy<\/a>. It\u2019s enough to give an environmentalist a warm and sustainable feeling inside.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0<a title=\"Renewable Portfolio Standards Clean Technica\" href=\"http:\/\/cleantechnica.com\/2008\/12\/10\/a-federal-investment-bank-for-renewable-energy\/\" target=\"_self\">renewable portfolio standards (RPS), <\/a>states mandate that a certain percentage of their electrical power will be generated from renewables by established deadlines.<\/p>\n<h3>Clean Coal &#8212; a Contradiction in Terms?<\/h3>\n<p>Like so many so-called \u201cgreen\u201d innovations and ideas these days, projects like this can seem (and often are) a <a title=\"Greenwashing Sustainablog\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/2008\/07\/15\/greenwashing-is-lack-of-self-esteem\/\" target=\"_self\">greenwash<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n<p>Strict environmentalists may look askance at the idea of \u201ccleaner\u201d coal fired generation, and <a title=\"Thisisreality.com\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thisisreality.org\/#\/?p=canary\" target=\"_blank\">interest groups <\/a>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\u2019t seek or succeed in making the burning of coal cleaner. It\u2019s goal &#8211; and it\u2019s a feasible one &#8211; is to replace a small and hopefully growing percentage of that coal with solar power.<\/p>\n<p>Eons ago, the ancient sun\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>Difficult to believe that the principle of generating electricity directly from the sun\u2019s rays predates the civil war and was put into practice a half century ago. It\u2019s as though we\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0resolve 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.<\/p>\n<p>The solar assist technology being pioneered in these coal plants seeks to do just that, although to a limited extent.\u00a0 Using young and clean solar energy (in all its forms), to replace its dirty ancestors is a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coal Mountain Photo<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/mkorchia\/2423387296\/\">http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/mkorchia\/2423387296\/<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Solar Collector\u00a0Photo<\/strong> Geri Kodey NREL\/DOE <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/data\/pix\/searchpix.cgi?getrec=1274819&amp;display_type=verbose&amp;search_reverse=1\">http:\/\/www.nrel.gov\/data\/pix\/searchpix.cgi?getrec=1274819&amp;display_type=verbose&amp;search_reverse=1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[social_buttons]Is coal going clean? Not exactly. But new efforts are seeking to give this notoriously dirty fuel source a sustainable and renewable boost. The Electric Power Research Institute has launched&nbsp;[ &hellip; ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":4107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[85,52,1676,8512],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Solar Powered Coal Plant?  &#8226; Sustainablog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-coal-plant\/\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-coal-plant\/2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Solar Powered Coal Plant?  &#8226; Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[social_buttons]Is coal going clean? 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