US could halt carbon emissions from coal by 2020, say experts

Energy Efficiency News - The US could completely halt CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2020, according to a group of expert scientists, engineers, and architects. Writing in the June print edition of the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science & Technology, a team from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and 2030 Inc./Architecture 2030 say that elimination of carbon emissions is possible using technologies that exist already or will be commercially available within in decade.

Pushker Kharecha and colleagues say that the only way to preserve the current environment is to “rapidly phase out coal emissions and prohibit emissions from unconventional fossil fuels such as oil shale and tar sands”. To phase out CO2 emissions from coal, the authors say an end to subsidies for fossil fuels is needed, along with a rising price on carbon emissions. Simultaneously, a programme to improve the energy efficiency of homes, buildings and appliances is needed, as well as the electricity transmission network itself.

Coal-fired power stations will need to be replaced with biomass, geothermal, wind, solar and third/fourth generation nuclear power plants, while remaining coal plants will have to be fitted with carbon capture and storage technology. For further information: P. A. Kharecha, C. F. Kutscher, J. E. Hansen and E. Mazria. Options for Near-Term Phaseout of CO2 Emissions from Coal Use in the United States. Environmental Science & Technology (2010), DOI: 10.1021/es903884a