UAE | General
Power plants eye technology for green coal fuel
An energy alternative to gas and oil could see some power plants running on coal in the next two to three years in the country.
- By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 August 5, 2007
Dubai: An energy alternative to gas and oil could see some power plants running on coal in the next two to three years in the country.
Rather than burning coal directly, gasification breaks it down to produce clean synthetic gas, which has even less carbon dioxide than natural gas, according to Wasim Choudhury, chief executive of Sino Eastern, which is taking on the independent project.
According to Waleed Ali Salman, project manager of the Emirates National Grid, using coal as an energy source is making the most of an opportunity while exploring alternatives to oil and gas.
Power generation using gasification of coal can cut carbon dioxide emission by up to 40 per cent compared to a conventional coal-burning plant.
"Coal is old but gasification is new. The technology needs to be used in the proper way to keep side effects and emissions under control. We have to look at this as an opportunity while alternatives to oil and gas are worked out," said Salman.
In three years' time
Up to three coal power stations compliant with the Kyoto Protocol could be dotted around the emirates in three years.
"Introducing more technologies makes the market more competitive. The limited resources in oil and gas means there will be a definite increase in the cost of oil and gas and we have to find alternative energy sources, either in coal or renewable energy sources," said Salman. He added Arabian countries are already using the technology but it should be well regulated.
"Coal, considered 'dirty', has been used to make clean fuel for a long time but the technology may not have taken off as much as it could have because we had cheap oil and gas," Choudhury said.
A power station based upon Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) using coal can offer more energy options, said Choudhury.t
Unfiltered coal burning is leading cause of smog
Burning coal without filtering out harmful chemicals is the leading cause of smog, acid rain, global warming and air pollutants.
In an average year, a typical coal plant generates as much carbon dioxide as cutting down 161 million trees and 10,000 tons of sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain. It produces 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide, which is equal to emissions released by half a million late-model cars, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists in the United States.
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