Clean Power Generation from Coal

Abstract

Coal has consistently accounted for about 40% of the world's total electricity generating capacity since the early 1970s, despite the steady growth of the total generation capacity. A number of technologies are available or under development to make the process of converting coal into a transmittable form of energy a less polluting process. These technical options can be broadly divided into the following three categories, based on which stage of the conversion process the pollutant reduction takes place: preconversion technology, In situ control technology, postconversion technologies. As emission standards become more stringent, new and cleaner ways of converting coal to usable forms of energy are being developed and implemented. Postconversion clean‐up is necessary for all types of coal‐fired plants to reduce their environmental impact. Coal produces more carbon dioxide than any other fossil fuel, and as such, the concern over global warming is a major issue with coal‐fired power plants.