Chairman of the board of Peabody Energy Gregory H. Boyce testified recently in front of a United States House of Representatives committee on Global Warming that massive use of coal in energy production needs to be part of our long term greenhouse gas reduction planning. This coal was suggested to be burned in Carbon capture storage plants. Consider that coal use for the production of electricity has tripled since 1970 and that the demand for the low cost electricity coal can produce is expected to quintuple over the next 20 years.
The national Coal Council follows Mr. Boyce’s logic with the announcement that the United States gross domestic product could rise by 2.7 trillion if coal were placed literally on the front burner.

In Order to affect such coal carbon energy conservation five steps are required:

1. We would need to build super critical coal fired electrical plants that have emissions 15% lower than our current plants and 40% lower than the oldest coal fired plants being replaced.

2. Develop CO2 storage facilities on the order of the Slieper project in the Atlantic North Sea.

3. Create further Carbon Capture Storage experiments.

4. Develop coal to gas technologies with inherent CCS. CO2 as a byproduct of coal to gas conversion is easily captured for storage.

5. Retrofit all of the world’s Coal Fired Energy Plants with CCS technologies.

There is a very famous quote from World War II used by one General McAuliffe when surrounded by enemy forces and told to surrender. His reply perfectly suits our thoughts regarding Peabody Energy’s CEO’s suggestions for saving the world by burning more coal and stashing the resultant CO2 under every cold body of water on Earth…. Nuts!

Suggestions like these are why Bill Gates insists we look forward to new, as yet nonexistent technologies. Revamping obsolete and proven to pollute energy production methods is Nuts, that, being a familiar euphemism for insane.