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“I want clean coal, and we’re going to have clean coal and we’re going to have plenty of it. We’re going to have great, clean coal. We’re going to have an amazing mining business.” — Donald Trump

The first thing that may come to mind when reading this recent quote from Donald Trump is that it is a passage from a Dr. Seuss book on energy. Once you realize that it is actually how Mr. Trump plans to revitalize the coal industry, you may wonder “Just what is clean coal?” You have surely heard the phrase, but you may not be familiar with the details. You may also wonder about its economic viability. Today we will cover both aspects.

What Is Clean Coal?

So what is meant by the phrase “clean coal”? To produce power from coal, the coal is crushed, mixed with air, and then burned in a boiler. The boiler produces steam, which is used to drive a turbine. The turbine is connected to a generator, where magnets spin within wire coils to produce electricity.

There are many ways to spin a turbine. It can be done with water, as it is at the Hoover Dam (which I visited last month). It can be done with wind, as in a wind turbine. Or it can be done with fossil fuels. When fossil fuels are burned to produce power, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

Source: Forbes