Coal for a sustainable future

Speakers: Prof. Dr. Kurt Häge, Chairman ZEP Technology Platform and Nigel Yaxley, President EURACOAL

About 30% of the EU’s electricity is produced from lignite and hard coal. Both fuels remain essential to security of supply of energy in Europe as they will be still available in the decades to come. This cannot be envisaged without taking into account the environment dimension. CO2 emissions from coal-fired power stations are about two fold compared with gas-fired stations of the same electricity output. This will have to be reduced. The Technology Platform Zero Emission (fossil fuelled) Power Plant – ZEP – has already developed a Strategic Research Agenda and a Strategic Deployment Document to improve energy conversion technology, including efficiency, and to build several integrated, large-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration projects Europe-wide.

The speakers outlined the current activities of the Technology Platform and show how coal will be able to fit in with EU’s energy policy priorities, in particular under the competitiveness aspects.

This dinner-debate was chaired by Dr Rolf Linkohr, Honorary President of the European Energy Forum and Special Adviser to EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.