5A - Thursday, February 15, 2007
Upin smoke
America's increasing reliance on coal generated electricity runs
contrary to environmental goals of decreasing carbon emissions.
While politicians form committees and debate the science of global
warming, expect energy companies to continue to profit.
GARY GRACA VEWPm..T
America's love affair with coal
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
By SAM BUTLER
Renewing energy at the 'U
The tide is shifting in the global warming
debate - and not only because sea levels are
rising. With the creation of the new House
Select Committee on Energy Independence
and Global Warming, President Bush's first
mention of "global climate change" in his
State of the Union address and a possibly
landmark case, Massachusetts v. EPA, pend-
ing in the Supreme Court, every branch of the
government is finally paying attention.
Among the millions of proposed solutions,
clean coal technology has received a dispro-
portionate amount of federal funding and is
being heralded as a dream solution that dual-
ly limits greenhouse gas emissions and spurs
domestic economies. But can these lumps of
black gold end America's destruction of the
planet? Probably not.
With more than 25 percent of the world's
coal reserves, America is often touted as
the "Saudi Arabia of coal," making the push
toward coal predictable. But while many
industries - such as the auto industry -
have recognized the groundswell ofsupport
for emissions reductions and moved toward
more efficient production, the coal industry
has been the exception. There are no com-
mercial clean-coal plants under construc-
tion, and of the 100 plans for new plants in
2007, none are clean coal. Only with astro-
nomical tax incentives and federal funding
will production of a functional clean-coal
plant begin in 2009.
There's reason to believe the coal industry
isn't serious about carbon dioxide emissions
and only federal handholding can drag it
along. In fact, many believe production time-
lines on new coal plants are being stepped up
in hopes thatcalready completed plants will be
exempt from carbon emission standards. For
example, the Texas-based TXU Corporation
recently began construction on 11 new coal
plants, the largest project of its kind in his-
tory. With 50 percent of America's electricity
already coming from coal and with that num-
ber expected to increase to 57 percent this
year, all the global warming press is trans-
lates into surprisingly little action.
However, for all the faults of the coal
industry, there is some hope for clean coal
as an intermittent alternative that can pro-
tect dependent state economies. In states like
Ask the professor
President Bush recently acknowledged the need
for action on "global climate change," pledging $2 bil-
lion toward developing clean-coal technology over
the next 10 years. But what would clean coal do to
mitigate the effects of global warming? We sat down
Prof. Tom O'Donnell, who teaches an Energy and the
Environment class, to find out.
What exactly is clean coal and how is itdifferentfrom regu-
lar coal?
It's the same coal. There's no difference. The idea
is that new technology will be developed to clean up
coal, to make it as clean to burn as natural gas and to
make it rival alternative energy. That's a pipe dream.
I'm not saying it's theoretically impossible, but even
over a period of perhaps 20 years of research, you're
not going to get to that point.
How efficient do you think the clean-coal solution would
be in terms of taxpayer dollars, environmental effects and
lessening our dependence onforeign oil?
The first thing to be clear about is that generating elec-
tricity in general has nothing to do with oil. overwhelm-
ingly, electricity is generated by coal, natural gas, nuclear
and by some renewables such as hydropower. Anything
to do with generating electricity has nothing to do with
oil security; that's just hype one gets from the media or
politicians connecting the question of "clean coal" with
energy security or national security.
Do you think clean coal is accurately being represented in
the media? Why do you think politicians are latching on to
this particular idea right now?
A significant part of electricity is produced by natural
gas. Natural gas doesn't require the same investment in
pollution control as a coal plant does, but natural gas was
very cheap for a long time. The price of natural gas in the
early 2000s went very high. Rather than natural gas or
alternative energy, they want to use this very cheap coal,
but coal is extremely dirty, so what do you do? You start a
campaign callingit "clean coal."
What role do you see the U.S. taking on in terms of clean
coal and alternative energy? What role would you like to
Montana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania,
where coal is an integral part of the economy,
clean-coal technology can be used to bring
in revenue to wean them from coal - there-
by avoiding a scenario similar to Michigan's
dependence on the auto industry.
Perfecting clean-coal technology can also
offer developing countries withlarge reserves
of coal an inexpensive, efficient method for
reducing emissions. With coal emissions
accounting for more than 40 percent of global
emissions, American innovation can bring
awareness and change to a global problem
that might otherwise be overlooked.
The important thing to remember about
clean coal is thatitisn'tthe end-all solution to
our global warming problem. As Dan Becker
of the Sierra Club put it: "There is no such
thing as 'clean coal' and there never will be.
It's an oxymoron." What clean coal repre-
sents is a transition process that can bridge
the gap between fossil fuels and emerging
renewable energy.
Gary Graca can be reached
at gmgraca@umich.edu
ALTERNATIVE
ENERGY
PROFILES
Wind Power: Compa-
nies across the country are
investing in wind power,
which is currently gener-
ated in Texas, Pennsylva-
nia and California. Texas
already has a 2,000-mega-
watt infrastructure that
supplies almost 15 percent
of the state's energy.
Nuclear Power: Despite
ROB MIGRIN/Daily the danger of meltdowns,
nuclear plants continue to
operate because of their
e world that has high energy potential.
es to participate America's 104 nuclear
ate global warm- plants produce 781,986 bil-
ay to go and it's a lion kilowatt-hours of ener-
change. gy annually, and President
Bush will likely propose
nd global warm- building more. Locally, the
fferent factors or Palisades Nuclear Plant in
about the actual South Haven, Mich. gen-
erates $6.3 million for Van
facing up to the Buren County.
back and forth, Ethanol: It may not
n is the climate be used for electricity,
oth. They try to but improving automo-
a major part of bile emissions is just as
part of the solu- important a pursuit. E-85
is finally off the ground
in the America, and auto
ould take in pro- companies are trying to
perfect E-85 compat-
cated on North ible cars. Several hundred
nix Energy Ini- ethanol stations exist in
ether scientists America, and demand is
together with expected to increase when
ant direction if people see that ethanol
e effective and costs 30 percent less than
gasoline.
CHEL WAGNER - KEVIN BUNKLEY
Known for its maize and blue,
the University also prides
itself on being green. Stu-
dent activists, however, are putting
the administration's commitment
to the test. The Michigan Student
Assembly Environmental Issues
Commission is campaigning to
dramatically increase the Univer-
sity's renewable energy purchases.
MSA recently passed a resolution
recommending that one-third of
the University's
energy come
from renewable
sources as soon
as possible, with
the intention of
increasing that
to half by 2011
and 100 percent-
by 2015. The goal AMANDA
may seem lofty,
but as the Bush BURNS
administration -
politely ignores the facts of global
warming, universities around the
country need to bind together and
step up their commitment to sus-
tainable energy.
The University spends more than
$50 million annually on electricity.
Less than a third of its purchased
energy comes from the University's
Central Power Plant. The remain-
der is purchased from the general
power grid, which is connected
to coal powered plants across the
state. Converting even a fraction of
the University's massive amount
of purchased energy to renewable
sources would make a difference
for both the environment and pos-
sibly the state's economy. Because
of a lack of in-state renewable
sources, the University would ini-
tially purchase credits from other
parts of the country. The hope is
that the credits will eventually be
available locally.
The state is lagging in alterna-
tive-energy production, but not for
lack of potential. Michigan is rated
14th in the country for wind power
capability, yet only three turbines
are currentlyoperational. Why?The
lack of demand is one possibility.
Wind power often comes at a
slightly higher cost, and the sput-
tering local economy has every-
one focused on short-term costs.
A pledge by the University to pur-
chase renewable energy credits
will do more than send a message;
it will guarantee demand, which is
the first step to increasing supply.
Starting with Gov. Jennifer Gran-
holm and moving on down the line,
everyone agrees that Michigan's
economy needs to be revamped.
In the long term, wind power is a
much better investment than nar-
rowly distributed ethanol.
Although the resolution passed
by MSA may seem overly ambitious,
it is part of a national trend on col-
lege campuses. New York Univer-
sity purchases 100 percent of its
energy from renewable sources.
Also, public universities in Califor-
nia and Pennsylvania have formed
consortiums that allow the schools
to gradually increase their percent-
age of renewable energy with little
increase in cost. Michigan has a
strongnetwork of state universities
that could emulate a consortium
model, but one school must take
the lead.
Administrators have been con-
sidering purchasing renewable
energy credits since late 2004, but
concerns about the increased cost
and constant increase in energy
needs have stalled a decision. Stu-
dents on the MSA Environmental
Issues Committee will face tough
competition for funding, but hope-
fully broad student support will
lead the University to make the
commitment, create the demand
and invest in a clean and sustain-
able future.
Amanda Burns can be reached
at sammylyn@umich.edu
Prof. Tom O'Donnell
see us take?
The U.S. is the one major country in th
actively denied global warming and refus
in the major international efforts to mitig;
ing and climate change. There's a long wa
fundamental political question that has to
Often, the terms global climate change at
ing are used interchangeably. Are they dij
is one justa political way to mitigate fears
intensity ofglobal warming?
Apparently people who want to avoid
realities play games with these words1
kind of like clean coal, but my perceptio
is changing, it's getting warmer, so it's b
obscure the fact that the U.S. is actually
the problem and certainly hasn't beenf
tion internationally on these questions.
What role do you think the University she
moting alternative energy?
There's actually a new initiative lo'
Campus, the Michigan Memorial Phoe
tiative. The idea is to not only bring tog
and engineers but also to bring them
social scientists. This is a very import
research into alternative energy is to b
actually become policy.
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