The Dirty 'Clean Coal' Is Moving From The USA To Asia

'Clean coal' is a series of technologies the industry came up with in the 1990s in an attempt to promote this kind of energy at a time when climate protection was gaining importance in public opinion. A great idea with just one problem: it isn't clean. Environmental groups believe it is nothing but the old, dirty coal we all know, only with a bit of green marketing.

Plus, 'clean coal' isn't really doing well when it comes to business, as Nithin Coca highlights in his text:

In June of 2017, Mississippi’s Kemper County Energy Facility, which was meant to be the first large-scale clean coal plant in the United States, announced that it was switching to natural gas. The project was five years behind schedule and US$4 billion over budget, and Mississippi taxpayers would have to cover more than US$2 billion.

The American experience might not have been successful, but the World Coal Association wants to keep trying—this time in Asia, a huge and fast-growing market.

The continent is in need of energy—but of what kind? The coal industry is trying to establish itself as quickly as possible, before clean, renewable and cheaper – yes, also cheaper – options take the lead.

Their hope is in countries like Indonesia, where energy demand keeps increasing, dozens of coal infrastructure systems are being built and pollution control isn't tight.

Seems clever.

However, the move is closer to a sort of desperate swansong from the coal industry. OK, rich, climate-friendly Germany might still have plenty of dirty coalmines, but even China is shutting down its plants and promoting instead wind power. And in the end, in the battle for achieving global sustainable energy, the highly-populated Asian continent is the main character.