Trump's Plan For Clean Coal Could Put The Brakes On Natural Gas

President-elect Donald Trump's vitality plan features a promise to develop clear coal. Clear coal is a expertise that has struggled for years and is unlikely to be aggressive with low-cost pure gasoline.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

When Donald Trump did discuss coal through the marketing campaign, he usually referred to it as clear coal.

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DONALD TRUMP: We will go clear coal. And that expertise is working. I hear it really works, so.

SHAPIRO: To be taught extra about what he means when he says clear coal, we have NPR's science correspondent Chris Joyce right here within the studio. Hello, Chris.

CHRIS JOYCE, BYLINE: Howdy, Ari.

SHAPIRO: What's clear coal, precisely?

JOYCE: That relies on the way you outline clear, truly. There are a few processes. What persons are in search of is a technique to get the carbon dioxide out of it. That's the predominant greenhouse gasoline that warms the planet. You'll be able to pressurize coal and add chemical compounds, warmth it with out oxygen so it does not technically burn. And also you get a gasoline that you should utilize to make electrical energy. And also you get the carbon dioxide stripped away and you'll hold it.

There's one other technique to do it after it is burnt, that - seize the CO2 earlier than provides up the stack. These are the 2 predominant methods. You recognize, this in a way is type of just like the holy grail for folks.

SHAPIRO: Holy grail means that it is nonetheless out of attain. We simply heard Donald Trump say the expertise is working. Which is true?

JOYCE: Nicely, it is working in demonstration. Nevertheless it's not essentially working in a industrial sense. There have been a few initiatives, the FutureGen undertaking within the Bush administration. It failed. It concerned trade but it surely was very costly. There's one now in Mississippi referred to as Kemper. It, once more, is means over price range. There's some small demonstration initiatives. There's some initiatives in Europe. Individuals are . However they only can not seem to get it to work commercially.

SHAPIRO: What's the issue been? Why is not it working?

JOYCE: Nicely, it is costly. I imply, it's a must to use much more coal to be able to make the vitality to strip the CO2 out. So in impact, you realize, you are utilizing extra coal to make cleaner coal. So that does not work very nicely.

However the different factor is, what do you do with the carbon dioxide? I imply, that is referred to as carbon seize and sequestration. You seize it and now we have to place it someplace. You have to put it underground, actually. The place do you try this? It's a must to discover a place that is geologically protected, the place the CO2 will not come up. If it comes up, then the entire effort's ineffective. When you discover a geologically-safe place, it will not be the place your coal plant is. So you bought to move it. What number of pipelines do now we have to construct? All of that is cash, cash, cash, cash in an trade that is making an attempt to compete in a troublesome world.

SHAPIRO: Is there industrial curiosity in pursuing this, quote, unquote, "clear coal"?

JOYCE: Nicely, what I hear from utility folks is that they go to banks and so they go to financiers and so they're instructed, look, why hassle? That is very costly. Pure gasoline, as we simply heard within the earlier story, is simply low-cost proper now. So there's not loads of curiosity in making an attempt to make coal aggressive when it'll price that rather more.

SHAPIRO: So do you suppose clear coal will get off the bottom throughout a Trump administration?

JOYCE: Nicely, we have been at it for a very long time. George Bush tried it beneath his administration, did not get off the bottom. Obama tried it as nicely beneath his administration, did not get off the bottom. So that is the report up to now.

SHAPIRO: NPR's Chris Joyce, thanks.

JOYCE: You are welcome.

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