British Columbia - clean coal or no coal

New power plants must have zero CO₂ emissions

A new provincial policy in British Columbia, Canada, requires new coal-fired power plants in the province to emit no carbon dioxide. This is a very progressive regulation that will hopefully challenge other governments to consider similar measures. According to Richard Neufeld, British Columbia’s energy minister, the policy calls for ‘the best available technology’. Critics however say that the policy is asking for more than current technology can deliver.

It is hoped that the new policy will stimulate the building of Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plants. Coal gasification makes carbon capture easier than with traditional coal pulverisation. It also has the additional advantage that it results in lower NO_x and SO₂ emissions. IGCC power plants are 10 to 15 per cent more expensive to build than pulverized coal plants, but the IGCC technology is ready for commercial use. One fifth of new coal plants proposed since 2000 use IGCC.

Far more doubts exist however regarding the carbon sequestration technology. Prototype sites are being installed in Europe and the U.S. and hopefully they will perform well. Thus far, there are few concrete results. So it is indeed not entirely accurate to call this an ‘available technology’.

Before the new regulation went into effect last month, two new coal-fired power plants were being proposed in British Columbia. One of these is currently investigating the feasibility of CCS while the second will most probably switch to 100 per cent biomass.