I gave this short presentation on March 5, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC at the request of four US Senators who wanted to highlight the research that is needed to maintain coal as a competitive option for power generation while reducing its CO2 emissions.

1. Technologies for coal power in a
carbon constrained world
Dr. Jeffrey N. Phillips
Senior Program Manager, Advanced Generation
Clean Coal Symposium
March 5, 2014

2. Coal Power is “Old Technology”
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3. But Old Technology …
Henry Ford’s car of
the 1910s
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4. …Can Improve
Elon Musk’s car of the
2010s
Henry Ford’s car of the
1910s
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5. Emissions from North American Coal
Power Plants (Dates represent year plant began operating)
SO2
NOx
CO2
1400
35
1200
30
1000
25
800
20
600
15
400
10
5
200
0
0
1921
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1960
2012
5
Boundary
Dam
Kemper
IGCC
CO2 kg/MWhr
SO2 or NOx, kg/MWhr
40

6. Advanced Coal Power
Coal
MW
Power
Generation
CO2 Capture
CO2
Storage
Where Are The Opportunities For Improvement?
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7. Advanced Coal Power
Coal
MW
Power
Generation
CO2 Capture
• Make this more efficient, less
costly
Storage
• Consider completely new
power generation cycles
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CO2
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8. Advanced Low Rank Coal Power
Brown Coal
MW
Power
Generation
CO2 Capture
• Make this more efficient, less
costly
• Current technologies use 2.5-3
times theoretical minimum energy
to capture & compress CO2
© 2014 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
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CO2
Storage

9. Advanced Low Rank Coal Power
Brown Coal
MW
Power
Generation
CO2 Capture
• Make this less costly to find
• Prove that it is permanent &
safe
© 2014 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
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CO2
Storage

10. Conclusion
• “Old coal” can be, and has been, improved
• Significant reductions in CO2 emissions will increase costs
of coal power if current technology is used
• In order to make coal power competitive while lowering
CO2 emissions, improvements are needed:
– In power generation systems
– In CO2 capture systems
– In finding safe and permanent options for CO2 storage
You cannot improve by standing still, it takes work
© 2014 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
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