Energy resources are indeed around us. Over the years, the innovation and development of technology to meet the demand of energy supply never stops and it continue to grow until now. Coal gasification is one of the processes in petroleum processing in fluidized bed industry that produce coal-fired power. In general, coal is abundant and inexpensive. If the current rates of usage and production will stay the same, estimates of reserves indicate that enough coal remains to last more than 200 years. On the other hand, there are various problems associated with the use of coal. The two main concern of coal production is its effect on the environment and its economic viewpoint. While the coal itself is inexpensive, the processes involved in converting it into energy are costly. Considering the high construction and economic costs of gasification, a lot of people and companies opposed to revive an old technology during this modern era. According to an article, The dumb dream of turning coal to gas just don’t die, “A 2017 report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a think-tank showed that the Duke facility and a former coal-to-gas facility in Kemper, Mississippi (which has since been converted to burn natural gas instead of coal) were “economic disasters for consumers and investors alike,” and concluded that coal gasification is an especially poor bet, especially as the costs of renewables decline.” However, since there are countries where coal is abundant, gasification of coal are still widely used. Indonesia for instance, is the world largest coal exporter and they can’t give up the used of coal. In connection, the industry argues that gasification technology has changed dramatically since the early 2000s, claiming it’s cleaner, more efficient, and can include carbon capture and sequestration, commonly referred to as CCS, to limit its climate impact. “Carbon capture utilization and storage has become a key element to make coal competitive with other fossil fuels and renewable energy in terms of environmental impact, the technology has had some recent notable success,” said Ian Reid, with the IEA Clean Coal Centre, an industry-supported organization. Nevertheless, the technology remains both unproven and costly. Another problem is its adverse effects in the environment. Some of the negative effects of coal gasification include: CO2 emission; SO2 – related acidification of ecosystems; Acid rain; Mercury emissions (concentration at higher levels of food chain); Degradation of Vegetation; Loss of wildlife habitats; Damage due to mine collapses; Loss of topsoil leads to infertile wastelands; River water alkalinity and; Degradation of aquatic habitats. If we still wish to utilized coal, the process should be modified and consider an innovative approach. New coal power units should achieve best available efficiency and, if not initially installed, should be CCS-ready to have the potential to reduce the impact of coal use. Even there are arguments that CCS is unproven, it can be a basis for a much more eco friendly and low cost production.
Nice article 😁