In this 3-minute clip from the film, Dr. Vaclav Smil from the University of Manitoba has calculated that using "carbon capture and sequestration" (CCS) technology to curb coal’s greenhouse gas emissions would require an infrastructure twice as large as the entire existing petrochemical infrastructure. Julio Friedmann argues that 1) we can do that, and 2) we must, if we’re going to avert the worst global warming. Others argue that burying CO2 emissions deep underground is going to be very tough to enforce internationally and will require something like UN weapons inspectors, and that this technology will become an excuse to increase the mining and burning of coal, instead of weaning us off of coal.
Video extras
Clean Coal Technology: How It Works
By the BBC | November 28, 2005
The BBC's article on how clean coal technology works includes several helpful diagrams and schematics that show options of carbon capture and storage, coal washing, gasification, and pollutant removal.
Is “we’re going to burn the coal anyway” an argument for carbon sequestration?
By David Roberts | Grist.org | November 13, 2009
A frequent argument one hears in favor of a heavy focus on carbon sequestration goes like this: fossil fuels are fantastic energy carriers, dense, portable, and cheap. People will burn them up no matter what. So we might as well figure out a way to make them low-carbon by sequestering their emissions. It's a way to buy time as we figure out other clean energy options. It's a seductive argument. It sounds easier to convince people to clean up what they're already doing than to persuade them to do something entirely different. But I don't think it holds up under scrutiny.
Coal is Not the Answer
THIS LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO AN ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION. This Sierra Club site uses a simple model: match simple facts, pared-down statistics, and accessible citations to debunk myths about clean coal. The site also has video and allows for user-ranked comments on each of the elements of the site to encourage conversation and interaction.
False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage Won’t Save the Climate
By Emily Rochon | Greenpeace International | May 5, 2008
THIS LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO AN ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION. This 2008 Greenpeace report argues that carbon capture and storage technology is unproven and cannot be developed in time to adequately address climate change.
Burning Our Future
Greenpeace Report | November 30, 2005
THIS LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO AN ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION. With a regional focus on Asia, this Greenpeace report argues that the only viable solution for Asia's energy future is developing renewable energy technology. It argues that clean coal technology, at best, "will not be available for any new plants in the coming 15 to 20 years and is an expensive and difficult process that might not work in the end."
