Coal news and updates

Developing “clean coal” technology would help the beleaguered coal sector in both the US and China and prevent further job losses, the US energy secretary has said.

Crashing prices for coal amid China’s economic slowdown and US investors’preference for newer, less polluting energy technology has hit the industry hard in both countries.

Last week US coal group Peabody filed for bankruptcy under the weight of about $6bn in debt. Meantime Beijing’s bid to shutter capacity and cut jobs in the sector last month prompted mass protests in China by coal workers from at least two big state-owned mines.

Clean coal is the holy grail for those who accept the world’s dependence on the energy source but want to curb emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases that scientists say contribute to damaging global warming.

“The idea of having a continued opportunity for coal use in a highly carbon-constrained world is something that’s attractive for carbon reasons. It’s also attractive in addressing the coal country, the dislocations that otherwise would become even greater,” Ernest Moniz said in an interview in Beijing before the Peabody announcement.

China and the US, the world’s two biggest polluters, have reached a series of deals to curb emissions and build domestic political support for lower-carbon industrial policies to help meet commitments made late last year in Paris. Mr Moniz said the two countries’ reliance on coal required the development of coal technologies that emit less carbon.

Clean coal is a contentious subject among environmentalists. Some see it as the only way to reduce emissions while maintaining or increasing the energy supply available to the world’s 7bn people. Others believe it diverts funds from more promising technologies while so far failing to deliver on the promised emissions reductions.

The US is promoting pilot projects in China, including carbon capture and storage. Meanwhile, Chinese construction companies have been involved in planning coal-based projects in the US, including the energy department-backed Texas Clean Energy plant, although many of those projects have stalled.

“For a carbon-constrained world, we feel we must develop the enabling technologies for all sources, including coal. The marketplace will then decide,” Mr Moniz said.

Source: next.ft