World Energy Outlook 2007

Focus on Prospects for Clean Coal Technology for
Power Generation
Clean coal technologies 13 in power generation could play an important role in
minimising the environmental impact of coal use by reducing emissions of
dust, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and CO 2
, in part through improved
thermal efficiency. Emerging CCS technologies hold out the prospect of
generating power from coal with very low CO 2
emissions. The share of coal in
global emissions is set to rise significantly over the projection period in the
Reference Scenario (Table 5.7). The potential impact of accelerating the
deployment of clean coal technology is greatest in China and India, where most
of the rise in global demand for coal will come from and where there is more
scope to move to the most advanced technologies currently available. Indeed,
we calculate that were both China and India to reach the OECD level of
efficiency for new coal power plants by the year 2012, the cumulative saving in
emissions through to 2030 would be of the order of 6.8 Gt in the Reference
Scenario. In 2030, the emission saving is 650 Mt CO 2
– equal to about 2% of
global emissions. Environmental concerns have come more to the fore in
China and India in recent years, but they remain subordinate to the demands
of economic development and poverty alleviation. There remains considerable
scope in both countries and elsewhere to adopt more advanced coal
technologies and, thereby, to reduce significantly the environmental damage
caused by coal-based generation.
Table 5.7: Share of Coal in CO 2
Emissions in the Reference Scenario (%)
1990 2000 2005 2015 2030
China 85 80 82 82 78
India 69 65 67 68 69
OECD 37 34 34 34 33
World 40 38 41 44 45
CO 2
Capture and Storage
CO 2
capture and storage (CCS) is one of the most promising options for
mitigating emissions from coal-fired power plants and other industrial
facilities. It plays a major role in stabilising CO 2
concentrations in the
450 Stabilisation Case described above. CCS is a three-step process involving
the capture of CO 2
emitted by large-scale stationary sources and the
13. There is no definitively adopted definition of the term “clean coal technology”. Some prefer
“cleaner coal” because it is impossible to mine and use coal without environmental consequences.
216 World Energy Outlook 2007 - GLOBAL ENERGY PROSPECTS: IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINA & INDIA