Green marks for black stuff

A method of generating energy from coal without actually burning it could form the basis of power stations whose carbon emissions can be easily captured and stored.

Combining two types of chemical process — one well-established, the other new — the technique, currently being developed at Cambridge University, could have huge potential in the energy-hungry, rapidly-industrialising Chinese and Indian markets.

Once seen as yesterday’s fuel, coal is making a comeback. Vast untapped reserves — and a high growth in demand for power — in India and China mean that coal-fired stations are likely to be the fastest-growing power generation sector in the coming decades.

But coal can still be a threat to the environment. Its energy content is far lower than natural gas, meaning that for every unit of heat produced, it gives off a larger amount of carbon dioxide.

But because of the potential size of the market, ‘clean coal’ technologies, are attracting much attention. At Cambridge, chemical engineer John Dennis is working on a method which releases the energy content of the coal, but should produce only steam and virtually pure carbon dioxide as by-products.