Clean coal technology to improve environmental qualtiy and energy efficiency

Coal is the world’s most abundant and widely distributed fossil fuel source. It is a major source of commercial energy in the present scenario. Coal currently supplies over one third of the world’s electricity and 23% of global primary energy needs. Conventional power generation system, though one of the cheapest means of production of electricity in the world, have energy efficiency only 30-35%. However, it has enormous environmental impact which includes emission of large amount of gases like CO2, SO2, NOx, and Hg, particulate matter which primarily includes fly ash. This is responsible for global warming and air and water pollution. To reduce this environmental impact due to emissions from thermal power plant and to meet the quality requirements of the coal consumers, it is imperative to adopt clean coal technologies. “Clean coal” is a term used in the promotion of the use of coal as an energy source by emphasizing methods being developed to reduce its environmental impact. This paper addresses advanced power generation systems like integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) system and underground coal gasification (UCG) which claim to have energy efficiency in the rage of 45-50%. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology for capturing emitted CO2 and storing it in geological formation appears to be one of the efficient means to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. This technology has also been enumerated in this paper. An account for global and Indian initiatives for clean coal technology is given. Clean coal mining operation along with coal preparation technology practiced in India is also discussed in brief.