Clean Coal | Clean Coal Roadmap

Canada's Clean Coal Technology Roadmap

Rationale
Energy policy makers worldwide view coal as an important and strategic energy resource, one that is essential to maintaining world energy security at an economically competitive price. Over the coming years worldwide coal demand will increase and a Canadian and international commitment is required to advance clean coal technologies (CCT) to mitigate its potential impact. Canada can contribute to critical energy infrastructure through technology development and knowledge generation for domestic use, and for transfer to countries like China and India. Coal's environmental impacts are the primary challenge to overcome for this industry to continue its vital role in providing an essential service. These environmental concerns, and energy security around natural gas supply, are the key drivers behind Canada’s need to develop CCT, and therefore are the primary reasons for undertaking this Clean Coal Technology Roadmap initiative. The vision in this Roadmap is of a Canadian industry that is a leader in adapting and integrating technology and knowledge for the effective utilization of coal and other low value carbon fuels as an energy source for the production of electricity, hydrogen, heat, and chemical feedstock with zero or minimal environmental impacts on land, air, and water. An industry that has embraced this vision is one that has transformed in image and performance to become:

  • A national leader, proactive in the research and development (R&D) of CCT
  • A champion of achieving top environmental performance standards using the best available commercial technology in its operations
  • A good local citizen, viewed as environmentally responsible and committed to the health and welfare of communities in Canada and globally
  • A part of the solution to develop sustainable energy sources by building a fleet of clean coal plants that provide power to the nation  
  • Able to adapt and integrate leading technology into Canadian R&D and demonstrations

This Roadmap is a snapshot of key information for policy and decision-makers to understand regarding the strategic advantage of Canada's large endowment of coal, the challenges and expectations that clean coal will face, the various CCT options available, and projections of what clean coal might look like by 2035. The Roadmap concludes with a set of primary objectives that must be achieved, and the strategic steps necessary to achieve these objectives. Industry and government commitment is essential for this vision of clean coal to become a reality in Canada.
 

Mission

The Roadmap provides an outlook to the future and identifies technology pathways needed to allow coal to be used as a competitive environmentally clean energy resource for the production of electricity. The TRM is focused on identifying technologies and energy system pathways for power plant retrofits and mid term new construction; as well as technologies for the 2020 time frame where longer term development, infrastructure planning and implementation is required.