Response to Thomas Friedman NYT

• January 10, 2007
• Tom McKinnon
• New York Times

In proclaiming coal as his favorite green fuel (NYT, 1/10/2007), Thomas Friedman is making the assumption that the carbon dioxide emitted can successfully and economically be trapped using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies (aka carbon sequestration). While CCS can be implemented on a niche scale, the technology is far from being proven. Furthermore, the price tag of CCS combined with the untested coal processing technology that goes along with it - so-called IGCC - will result in very expensive electricity. There is absolutely no need to squander time and our finite investment capital resources on new and risky coal technology when we have proven renewable technologies - wind and concentrating solar power - at our fingertips today. The renewable options will be cheaper, faster to implement, and far easier on the planet. Pushing coal may make good political sense for Montana's Gov. Schweitzer, but it is not the correct path for either our pocketbooks or the global climate. Sincerely, J. Thomas McKinnon Professor Department of Chemical Engineering Colorado School of Mines