Jun 22 2007
Because coal will continue to provide a substantial portion of U.S. energy for at least the next several decades, a major increase in federal support for research and development is needed to ensure that this natural resource is extracted efficiently, safely, and in an environmentally responsible manner, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. Policymakers also need a more accurate assessment of the extent and location of the nation's coal reserves, the report adds. It recommends an increase of about $144 million annually in new federal funding across a variety of areas.
Congress asked the Research Council to undertake a broad examination of U.S. needs for coal-related R&D -- focusing on resource assessment, mining, and processing -- and to recommend funding levels required to meet these needs. The committee was also asked to consider how best to organize federal coal research. It recommended that, rather than creating a single, integrated multi-agency R&D program, specific research needs should be addressed by partnerships among federal agencies and relevant outside groups.
Over half the nation's electricity is currently generated by burning coal, but future levels of coal use will be largely determined by the timing and stringency of regulations to control carbon emissions, the report says. Coal use over the next 10 to 15 years -- until about 2020 -- could climb as high as 25 percent above 2004 levels, or drop as much as 15 percent below them, depending on environmental policies and economic conditions. By 2030, the uncertainty increases even more, the report says; coal use could range from about 70 percent above current levels to 50 percent below them. "Given the degree of uncertainty about future coal use, R&D policies need to accommodate a range of possible scenarios," said Corale Brierley, chair of the committee that wrote the report and president of Brierley Consultancy LLC, Highlands Ranch, Colo.
The report adds that the coal mines of the future will face a variety of new and more difficult challenges, as more easily reached coal seams are depleted and the industry turns to less accessible reserves.