Clean coal increases costs up to 80% according to federal report

A new report by the Government Accountability Office is a warning to clean coal advocates and central Illinois electricity customers. They found that stakeholders, including experts inside the coal industry, believe carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology will increase costs between 30%-80%.

The Department of Energy was further criticized for not having a systematic way to measure whether the hundreds of millions they spend on clean coal technology is reaching the intended goals.

GOA confirms the common view within the industry that carbon capture won't be commercially viable for 10-15 years. Scientists say we have to significantly reduce our CO2 emissions within a much shorter time frame. Carbon capture isn't a realistic option for stopping climate change because the technology won't be ready in time.

The report finds that other technologies for reducing pollution from existing coal plants, by making them more efficient, are currently available and less expensive than CCS. This raises an obvious question. Is the industry holding out the promise of distant clean coal technology so that they aren't forced to make improvements to their existing plants?

This is a familiar delay tactic in the fossil fuel industry. George W. Bush promoted hydrogen fuel cell cars while neglecting near-term alternatives that are cheaper and more realistic. It was a false solution that delayed meaningful action. Clean Coal is the new hydrogen fuel cell that merely distracts us from realistic alternatives like solar, wind, and efficiency projects.

Additional problems mentioned include reduced reliability and dramatic increases in water use at CCS plants.





The cost implications are important for central Illinois since a CCS plant is proposed in Taylorville. There are primarily three ways the Taylorville Tenaska plant hopes to make a profit despite the added cost of power generation.

1) Take massive taxpayer subsidies from state, local and federal government.
2) Have the state enforce mandatory contracts at higher rates.
3) Hope a pipeline is built to sell captured CO2 on the market.

If any one of these elements falls through then the plant isn't economically viable on its own. Even if everything goes as planned, consumers will pick up the tab by paying higher electricity rates and through our tax dollars.

We could create more jobs in our region and produce cheaper energy by pursuing better alternatives. The simple truth is that CCS isn't designed to help anyone except the coal mining industry.