Keith Addison wrote:

KA> President Bush says the U.S. will pursue its own policy of voluntary
KA> carbon reductions and conduct research into technologies like "carbon 
KA> sequestration" -- burying CO2 rather than emitting it.


The Bushies argue that there isn't a global warming problem, and that
America is doing more to address it than any other country.

Sequestration is a no-brainer. There is no certainty that the CO2
would remain under water or wherever else it was put. Pumping CO2 into
the deep ocean or underground caverns or whatever would require a
considerable energy input, which means more fossil fuels would need to be
burned per unit of electricity provided, which means electricity would
become much more expensive. Some might argue that this wouldn't
necessarily be a bad thing, but it would also accelerate fossil fuel
depletion.



I have a lot of respect for Al Gore but I saw a video of a talk he
gave, in which he described sequestration as "the killer app", which
was a great disappointment. There are much better ways to reduce
emisssions.


Regards
David














KA>  To do that, 
KA> the U.S. Department of Energy hopes to develop new technologies by 
KA> 2012 that would economically capture the greenhouse gas before it 
KA> leaves the power plant.

KA> One approach -- called Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) 
KA> technology -- aims to siphon off CO2 before it's sent up the stack. 
KA> The largest U.S. power company, American Electric Power in Columbus, 
KA> Ohio, plans to build at least one commercial IGCC plant by 2010. 
KA> Another coal-burning power company, Cinergy, in Cincinnati, this 
KA> month said it also would build an IGCC plant.

KA> But funding for a key billion-dollar federal IGCC experimental 
KA> program called FutureGen is lagging. And unless the U.S. sets a limit 
KA> on CO2 emissions that creates a market for carbon-reducing 
KA> technology, there is little financial incentive to invest in such 
KA> technology, experts say. As a result, the technology appears unlikely 
KA> to be deployed in time to make much difference in the coming surge of 
KA> power-plant construction.

KA> Without such technology, the impact on climate by the new coal plants 
KA> would be significant, though not entirely unanticipated. They would 
KA> boost CO2 emissions from fossil fuels by about 14 percent by 2012, 
KA> Schmidt estimates. That's within the 1 to 2 percent annual range for 
KA> CO2 growth expected in "high-growth" scenarios put forward by climate 
KA> scientists. But it does not fall into the "maximum" scenario they use 
KA> to evaluate the worst-case impact of greenhouse gases.

KA> The power of six

KA> "The point is that a relatively small number of countries holds the 
KA> fate of the planet in their hands in terms of climate change," says 
KA> David Hawkins, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's 
KA> climate center. "If the five or six countries building all these 
KA> power plants were to come together to develop a strategy for carbon 
KA> capture applied to coal, it would be a huge step toward cutting 
KA> global warming."

KA> Energy security is one factor driving the shift. With its 250-year 
KA> supply of coal, the U.S. is often called the "Saudi Arabia of coal." 
KA> China, with similarly huge reserves, is even planning to convert coal 
KA> into synthetic fuel for cars -- even though such processes typically 
KA> produce large amounts of greenhouse gases.

KA> Coal's low price has been a powerful incentive, too. Chinese 
KA> authorities are pushing for cleaner power. But gas pipelines in China 
KA> aren't fully utilized because of that fuel's higher cost, experts 
KA> say. And in the U.S., utility companies are shifting focus from 
KA> natural gas to coal instead.

KA> "There has been an abrupt about-face," says Robert McIlvaine, who 
KA> heads his own Northfield, Ill., information company that tracks the 
KA> construction of coal power plants globally. "Utilities that would not 
KA> consider a coal-fired plant a year or two ago are now moving forward 
KA> with coal-fired projects."

KA> With natural gas prices expected to continue rising, 58 other nations 
KA> have 340 new coal-fired plants in various stages of development. They 
KA> are expected to go online in a decade or so. Malaysia, Japan, 
KA> Indonesia, Thailand, and Turkey are all planning significant new 
KA> coal- fired power additions. Germany also plans to build eight coal 
KA> plants with 6,000 megawatts capacity.

KA> But China is the key. "The Chinese will surpass the coal-fired 
KA> generating capacity and the CO2 emissions of the U.S. in the next 
KA> couple of years," Mr. McIlvaine says.

KA> Hit by blackouts and power restrictions for 18 months, China has been 
KA> scrambling to relieve that pressure. Scores of unauthorized power 
KA> projects about which little is known have sprouted nationwide -- 
KA> along with hundreds of official projects, McIlvaine says. Because of 
KA> this, even careful estimates could be low, both he and Bergesen say.

KA> "Environmental optimists were assuming the world was going to switch 
KA> to gas, but when you're short of gas you use your own coal," says 
KA> Philip Andrews-Speed, a China energy expert at the University of 
KA> Dundee, in Scotland. "What you're seeing with China and the others is 
KA> the cheapness and security of coal just overwhelming the desire to be 
KA> clean."

KA> Copyright 2007 The Christian Science Monitor

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