Coal Is Not Getting Cleaner

Emissions from the world’s 2,100 coal-fired power plants are responsible for roughly a third of the CO₂ generated by human activity.

In the U.S., roughly 600 coal-fired power plants produce about 30% of the 7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases emitted by all U.S. human activities, surpassing the amount produced by cars and all other industries combined.

Unfortunately, if past trends continue, the share of electricity generated by coal in the U.S. is expected to climb from about half today, to 55% by 2030.

In 2006, China surpassed the U.S. as the worlds biggest CO₂ emitter, mostly due to the fact that 80% of its electricity comes from coal.

Building new generating facilities that are set up for reduced emissions would be cheaper than trying to fix existing plants. However, a recent report done by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts a premium on early action to curb carbon emissions. In fact, some well-informed U.S. climate scientists have strongly argued that we must wean ourselves from coal use as soon as possible, and build no new coal plants.

Source: Making Coal Cleaner, Science Magazine: News Focus, Vol 317, 13 July 2007 pg. 184 and GWEN.

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