As the nation works towards meeting the growing energy demands while maintaining security, energy independence and environmental protection, many industry participants are turning towards cleaner sources of energy. While the future landscape for the energy industry has yet to be determined it appears that a diversified portfolio of cleaner and safer means for the production of electricity is a realistic expectation.

The Drive towards Clean Energy:
The environment has long suffered and society is less willing to allow its harm to continue. As described by Jamie Wimberly, CEO of the Distributed Energy Financial Group LLC and Founder of the Distributed Energy Stock Index (DESI), “For the next three to five years, the major drivers toward the pursuit for cleaner sources of energy as an end unto itself would include, in this order: government policies and regulation, corporate strategies and customer preferences. Fortunately, this is a virtuous circle. New energy technologies which match those needs are generally more efficient and thus cleaner, which will make it even easier for a customer to make a decision to change. But it is going to take awhile.”

Alternative Energy: Over the years, as innovation has led to practical alternatives for energy production, a diverse set of technologies has arisen in the renewable energy arena. Hydrogen-powered products produce no pollution and no global climate changing CO2 emissions. Additionally, hydrogen is practically limitless.

Natural Gas:

Over the years natural gas has become a prominent source of energy in large part due to the fact that it burns much cleaner than other fossil fuels and has lower emissions than traditional coal or oil. “The development of extremely efficient, combined-cycle turbine (CCT) technology has been a breakthrough for natural gas electric generation, which some energy analysts see as an important stepping-stone away from coal. The latest CCTs can convert about 60% of natural gas’ heating value into electric energy, nearly twice what a typical coal boiler can do. Gas burns cleaner than coal, too,” states Hammerschlag.

Petrol Oil and Gas, Inc., a Coal Bed Methane (CBM) producer, utilizes progressive technology to address the environmental concerns associated with CBM dewatering and carbon dioxide issues. Although carbon dioxide production is relatively small, averaging between 1-8% of the produced gases we recently added a processing plant to strip carbon monoxide from our natural gas stream, reducing it below 1%. This process increases the heat content of the sales gas as well as reducing any potential hazards to the interstate pipeline.”

Clean Coal:

In President George Bush’s Energy Policy cleaner sources of domestic energy is a key focus to try and take advantage of local supply in a manner that does not compromise the environment as the nation works towards energy independence. By using these reliable sources to supply more of our energy, we’ll reduce our reliance on energy from foreign countries, and that will help this economy grow so people can work. The United States congress has funded over $1.3 billion in research towards making existing coal plants cleaner and to help in the building of future clean coal plants.

American Electric Power (AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States has 70% of its fuel portfolio in coal; however they are actively pursuing clean coal production to utilize domestic supplies with less environmental impact. AEP’s Melissa McHenry, Corporate Media Relations describes, We (AEP) believe that it is very important to be on the forefront of demonstrating technology and improving technology that will enable us to continue to use domestic reserves of coal, which are very important for the energy security of the country, to generate electricity.”

 

AEP have been conducting environmental retrofits as well as pursuing new Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants. The IGCC process according to McHenry, entails approximately a 20% cost premium over conventional coal-fired plants, but efficiency advantages and a long term view on removing all types of pollutants outweigh the initial cost differential.

Manufacturing:

In China, coal dominates energy production, but is also a key driver of the steel industry. The use of coal across multiple markets is often associated with environmental destruction, but the Chinese Government’s increasing focus on reducing the impact that their economic and population growth has on the environment has led to cleaner manufacturing processes.

Puda Coal Inc., a leading supplier of China’s premium grade coking coal for the steel making industry, uses skimping technology from Germany to produce clean coking coal. Puda’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Zhao Ming explains, “Clean coking coal is a ‘must have’ raw material for coke production, and high quality coke is a ‘must have’ raw material for steel production. It is very environmental friendly. Producing high quality coke will generate a low coke-over gas helping to reduce the harmful effects of air pollution.”

Puda is working to take advantage of the nation’s movement towards more environmentally conscious production helping firms within the steel industry reduce waste and establish a clean steel process through the use of their clean coking coal. Our company is showing very energetic growth and great future potential, states Ming.

Looking Forward:

It appears that the energy industry, across it diverse production avenues, will continue to evolve and adapt. While the long term landscape is yet to be determined, the direction appears to be forward moving in terms of diversification and cleaner sources and generation of energy.

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