A German plant could advance clean coal

SPREMBERG, Germany, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Researchers in Germany have launched the first emissions-free coal plant project.

Coal-burning plants provide the majority of the world's electricity, but climate-change concerns will limit the role of coal in the future unless projects like the one in Spremberg are successful, the Chicago Tribune reported.

With the U.S.-led FutureGen project on hold for lack of finances, the 30-megawatt pilot plant in Germany is now the front-runner on clean coal.

The plant, being developed by Swedish company Vattenfall, burns coal with oxygen. Emissions are condensed, liquefied and pumped into long-term underground storage in old gas fields and salt aquifers.

If the trials are successful, the nearly emissions-free plant could be built in places like China, where coal is the most widely used source of energy because it is so cheap.

Electricity from clean coal plants initially would be more expensive than traditional coal power, but with the coming of cap-and-trade, it becomes more economically viable.