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up to 1,000 km to store in onshore/offshore geological formations and coal beds thatcannot be mined. It is estimated that there is a worldwide storage capacity of around2,000 billion tonnes of CO 2. Cost may be less by 30 per cent if we take into accountclimate control strategy. CCS is presently in R&D stage, with demo projects planned.In 2009, the Australian government launched the Global CCS Institute to accelerateglobal deployment of CCS.(g) Coal mine methane (CMM)CMM is a large undeveloped resource and its use will reduce GHG emissions. China,Russia, Poland and the United States account for 77 per cent of CMM emissions.According to a 2006 report by the United States Environmental Protection Agency,methane emissions from coal mining will reach 449 million tonnes CO 2eby 2020.Currently only a fraction of CMM is recovered for heat or power production. Powerproduction from CMM has been tried in Australia, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdomand the United States. China, Poland and Ukraine are recent players with 50 projectsrunning worldwide. Motivation for CMM is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)defined in the Kyoto Protocol.(h) Underground coal gasification (UCG)The UCG process consists of drilling two production wells, one into the unmined coalseam for injecting the oxidants and the other to bring the gas to the surface. The coalseam, lighted through the first well, burns at temperatures above 1,200°C. Thecombustion generates CO 2, CO and hydrogen, besides minor quantities of methaneand hydrogen sulphide. As the coal depletes on burning, the oxidants are injectedunto the first well to control the burning process. UCG allows access to more of globalcoal resources. In places where mining is uneconomical, the mines could be used toproduce syngas gas through controlled gasification. This may result in an increase ofreserves by 600 billion tonnes worldwide. The United Kingdom, Russia, China, SouthAfrica and New Zealand are the countries attempting this idea.V CONCLUSIONCoal will continue to have a key role in the global energy mix, particularly in light ofChina and India using coal to power their energy requirements for economic growth.Coal provides energy security to these and other emerging economies. It is important,however, that the world attempts to reduce coal’s negative impact while retaining itsbenefits. Clean coal technologies to reduce emissions associated with coal miningand power generation are being developed and deployed around the world. Carbonemissions per kWh generated range from 230 g/kWh for sub-critical plants to lessthan 200 g/kWh for the best available supercritical plant with 45 per cent efficiency.Nevertheless, investments are needed in carbon capture and sequestration as well asother low-carbon technologies in the very near future.As mentioned previously, in India, a proposal to create a National Energy Fund as perthe Integrated Energy Policy is in place. While large public sector enterprises likeBHEL and NTPC are pursuing CCTs, R&D efforts in advanced FFTs are not structuredand no mission-oriented projects have been initiated. There is enormous potential inIndia to develop and deploy advanced technologies to improve not only the efficiency of52