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Is cleaner coal the best solution?
Energy experts spoke with Viet Nam News about clean coal technologies, energy security and environmental protection on the sidelines of the Cleaner Coal Workshop in Ha Long City.
* Dr Nguyen Chi Quang, senior advisor to chairman of the Viet Nam Coal-Mineral Industry Group (Vinacomin).:
What are the benefits of cleaner coal technologies?
Cleaner coal technologies with the desired outcomes of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration will help mitigate climate change and reduce environmental pollution while increasing the efficiency of coal-fired power plants, contributing to ensuring energy security.
The adoption of cleaner coal technologies will help demonstrate Vietnam’s commitment to international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation as well as the Kyoto Protocol, contributing to facilitating the country’s trade activities for long-term economic development during the global integration process.
Using cleaner coal technologies is costly. How can poor countries afford it?
If we continue to use normal coal technologies, which are cheaper, the consequent trade barriers resulting from not abiding by global regulations and from climate changes due to the use of backward technologies will actually make it more costly.
It is clearly seen that the impacts of natural disasters caused by climate changes are great, particularly in Southeast Asian countries.
Global policies have been set up to help transfer cleaner coal technologies and finance to poor countries, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which was established under the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM is aimed at encouraging industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission in their own countries.
CDM is a market mechanism for the transfer of technology and financing to clean energy projects.
How are cleaner coal technologies used in Vietnam?
Cleaner coal technologies include coal washing, heat-rate improvements and advanced coal combustion technologies such as supercritical designs and integrated gasification combined cycle.
In Vietnam, cleaner coal technologies have been applied on a trial basis in two coal-fired plants of the Viet Nam Coal-Mineral Industry Group (Vinacomin), namely Na Duong and Cao Ngan in northern Thai Nguyen Province, helping to cut down on gas emissions which lead to global warming by 15-25 per cent.
Vinacomin plans to put into operation three more coal-fired power plants using cleaner coal technologies by 2010.
The group mapped out a road map until 2020 to reduce the impacts of coal exploitation – including air pollution, noise pollution and dust pollution – through using cleaner coal technologies and investing in upgrading waste-dumping areas and mines.
* Orestes Anastasia, manager of the ECO-Asia Clean Development and the US Agency for International Development’s Climate Change Programme:
What is the objective of the ECO-Asia programme?
The ECO-Asia programme, which started in 2006, is designed to promote cleaner coal technologies, policies and best practices, especially related to climate change in six Asian countries, including China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Coal use in developing Asia is increasing rapidly. By 2030, the burning of coal to meet energy demand is forecast to increase four-fold in the region, resulting in 13 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere each year.
Therefore, we will work with key agencies in each country, financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, and global organisations such as the World Coal Institute and the International Energy Agency to help these countries get better access to cleaner coal technologies and financial assistance for their energy efficiency projects.
How does the programme run in Vietnam?
In Vietnam, we have worked with the Electricity of Vietnam and Vinacomin to help them better understand cleaner coal technologies and have given them information on financial sources through workshops. We have also taken local engineers on study tours so that they can learn from other countries’ experiences of operating coal-fired plants using cleaner coal technologies.
Since the use of supercritical technology is currently limited to non-anthracite coal, it is recommended that Vietnam should use this technology in plants that burn imported coal that is not anthracite.
What should Vietnam do to boost the adoption of cleaner coal technologies?
Vietnam should go through its own evaluation process to decide which are the most appropriate methods and technologies. Based on the experiences of other countries like China and India, Vietnam should develop its own systematic approach.
Ultrasupercritical coal-fired power units with efficiencies of about 45 per cent are now operating in China. These units address the need to increase power generation capacity in the country, as well as the need to reduce the impacts of local air pollution and global carbon dioxide emissions, which are estimated to have been reduced by more than 500,000 tonnes per year.
It should be recognised that the adoption of cleaner coal technologies requires a capacity-building programme that includes training on plant operation and maintenance, good understanding of materials used and the design features of each plant.
VNN
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