Greenhouse gases to shape coal debate

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0701040125jan04,0,3408724.story?coll=chi-business-hed

By Robert Manor
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 4, 2007


Expect an ancient form of energy, coal, to gain new attention in the coming years.

Stories of polar bears dying for lack of ice and receding glaciers around the world are giving new urgency to the study of man-made greenhouse gases--billions of tons of which are attributable to coal, the nation's largest source of electricity.

Many scientists believe such gases are responsible for global warming. And king among them is the normally innocuous gas, carbon dioxide, that results from combustion of fossil fuels, including coal.

About half of the nation's electricity comes from coal-fired plants using technology that has changed little in generations, with nearly all the remainder coming from dams, nuclear plants and natural gas.

Coal has historically been a cheap and reliable source of power. The United States has a supply of at least 250 years, and the coming year will see state authorities examining dozens of proposed new coal plants across the country.

But coal is also a remarkably dirty way to make electricity.

Coal burned for electrical generation in the United States gave off 2.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2004, the latest year for which the federal Energy Information Administration has figures. That is out of a world total of 10.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide, known chemically as CO2, billowing into the atmosphere. In terms of volume, carbon dioxide is the pre-eminent greenhouse gas.

Despite a growing global agreement that something must be done about carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants, the United States has no national program or plan.

But industry experts are betting that will change.

"There is an overwhelming consensus that this is a real problem," said John Rowe, chief executive of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. "You will not get an adequate response without a mandatory program."

Rowe said his utility sold its coal-fired plants seven years ago, in part, because he sees some kind of constraint on carbon dioxide emissions coming. Exelon is now the nation's largest operator of nuclear plants, which emit no CO2.

Ways to limit carbon dioxide emissions have gotten little attention under the Bush administration. But with the Republicans' loss of Congress, some political leaders are planning to raise the issue in 2007.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the new chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, is promising to make greenhouse gases a priority.

"Nowhere is there a greater threat to future generations than the disastrous effects of global warming," Boxer said recently in a statement.