CURC/EPRI roadmap provides path forward for coal

July 30, 2015 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Coal-based generation is a key component of a diverse electricity generation portfolio for the United States and provides significant economic and energy security benefits, but faces some challenging environmental requirements. Coal has addressed similar challenges in the past through public/private sector partnerships to develop and deploy affordable technologies that dramatically reduce emissions.

Credit: Greg Goebel/Wikimedia Commons

Jointly developed by the Coal Utilization Research Council (CURC) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the CURC-EPRI Advanced Coal Technology Roadmap focuses on the technologies needed to improve the environmental performance of coal use and to support continued delivery of low-cost electricity, energy and other valuable coal-derived products.

"The reality of the world today is that coal provides 30 percent of the world's primary energy needs and will soon surpass oil as the world's dominant fuel source," said Deck Slone, senior vice president of Strategy and Public Policy at Arch Coal, Inc. and CURC co-chair. "The new CURC-EPRI Roadmap is an invaluable tool for policymakers, illustrating how the global need for reliable and affordable energy can be harmonized with aspirations for a cleaner and more climate-compatible future. Advanced coal technologies are an essential mitigation tool for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, and the CURC-EPRI Roadmap lays out a clear and achievable path for the development of such technologies."

The 2015 Roadmap was developed in response to several new market conditions that required a re-examination of the technology development needs for both new and existing coal plants. For example, fluctuating changes in the market for coal use in the U.S. today; the impact of recently proposed regulations to limit emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil-fueled power plants; the availability and growth of low-cost, domestic supplies of natural gas being used in both new and existing power generation; increasing levels of renewable electricity generation; and an electricity power market that is experiencing and projecting low or no load growth over the next decade.

"I'm pleased that the updated Roadmap establishes a pathway to accelerated development of transformational technologies so that we will have candidate coal replacement options available when we must consider fleet retirements," said Mark McCullough, executive vice president of Generation, American Electric Power and CURC co-chair. "The next 10 to 15 years will be crucial as we plan for our country's future energy needs, and it's essential that we have the next generation of low-carbon coal options available to be part of our future energy portfolio."

The updated roadmap provides a detailed map to deliver first-of-a-kind, low-carbon coal technology options by 2025-2035, and details the research, development, and deployment (RD&D) for technologies that will enhance the value of both existing and future coal plants in the U.S. generation fleet. Major RD&D priorities include improving existing plant performance, as well as developing carbon capture and storage technologies; highly efficient advanced ultrasupercritical coal plants; coal gasification technologies; and transformational technologies that can achieve step changes in efficiency, reduced levels of emissions, and cost.

"A diverse portfolio of generation options is a key component of the evolving, low-carbon modern power system," said Michael W. Howard, President and Chief Executive Officer of EPRI. "Research, development and deployment of technologies that enhance the value and environmental viability of existing and future coal plants is an important part of EPRI's work in supporting that diverse portfolio."

The updated roadmap addresses those RD&D needs to 2035, helping to provide the industry, stakeholders, and public guidance on the path forward.

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