Option for the Coal Industry in Dealing with the Carbon Dioxide Global Greenhouse Effect Including Estimates for Reduced CO2 Emissions Technologies.

摘要

A new technical option for the coal industry in dealing with the carbon dioxide greenhouse effect has been devised. The option concerns a ''hydrogen economy'' based on coal. We have developed a very efficient process called HYDROCARB, which effectively splits coal into carbon and hydrogen. This process produces a clean, pure carbon fuel from coal for application in both mobile and stationary heat engines. We are suggesting that coal refineries be built based on this technology. A co-product of the process is a hydrogen-rich gas. If one is concerned about the greenhouse effect, then either all or part of the carbon can be withheld and either mainly or only the hydrogen is used as fuel. If one desires to attain the ultimate, and eliminate all CO2 emissions from coal, then all of the carbon can be stored and only the hydrogen used. The option is still open for utilizing the clean carbon, which would be placed in monitored retrievable storage, not unlike the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR). Should the greenhouse effect be found to be a myth in the future, the carbon would be taken out of storage and utilized as a clean fuel, the impurities having been previously removed. This concept can be valuable to the coal industry in response to the arguments of the anti-coal critics. Total capital cost estimates have been made to replace all conventional coal burning power plants in the US with technologies that eliminate emissions of CO2 . These include removal, recovery and disposal of CO2, nuclear, solar, photovoltaics, biomass, and HYDROCARB. 12 refs., 1 fig. 4 tabs. (ERA citation 14:020503)