7th BALKANMINE CONGRESS – Proceedings, Prijedor 2017

DOI: 10.7251/BMC170702195I

COAL’S MODERN CHALLENGE. ECO-DEVELOPMENT OR

ECOLOGY

Nicolae ILIAȘ1, Sorin Mihai RADU1, Iosif ANDRAŞ1, Iulian OFFENBERG2

1
University of Petroșani. Email: iliasnic@yahoo.com, sorin_mihai_radu@yahoo.com, iosif.andras@gmail.com
2
S. CONVERSMIN Bucharest. Email: o2fnbrg@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:

Coal is an affordable, abundant, safe to store and reliable resource, relatively straightforward to
convert to electrical power. Coal makes an important contribution to the economic and social
development and it can also meet the growing energy needs of many developing countries. But coal
remains essential in achieving a balanced and secure energy grid for many developed countries too.
Therefore, coal will play an important role in energy sistems as part of the future energy mix, because
it offers accessible distribution, attractive costs and reliable availability.
In the same time, new concerns about climate change add the most important challenge to the long-
term use of coal in a sustainable development context. The environmental impact of the coal
industry includes air and water pollution and waste management. It is well known that direct coal
burning produce greenhouse gases and solid waste products, including fly ash, flue-gas and sludge that
contain various toxins and/or heavy metals. But, even the most modern and advanced conventional
coal-fired power plants emit over 15 times more CO2 per unit of electricity than renewable energy
systems, and more than twice the amount of efficient gas-fired power stations.
In this regard, Governments must accept that coal will necessarily play a major role in world energy
supply for many decades, and to put in place policies that will accelerate innovation, investment in and
rapid deployment of cleaner coal technologies. This position contrasts with the more commonly
adopted policy of encouraging a shift away from coal to less reliable energy sources (wind, water or
solar).
In addition to direct coal burning, coal can be used as a feedstock for the production of liquid and
gaseous fuels. In the last years, bio-fuels produced from raw materials of organic nature such as coal,
wood and biomass and biological, industrial and minerals waste, represent a viable alternative to
petroleum products. Because of new technologies, in the future, bio-fuels can replace gradually the
volumes of crude oil from depleted deposits. In the same time, a large quantity of existing waste is
adequate to produce synthetic oil, but is not enough to produce a sufficient amount, so the difference
can be covered with solid energy raw materials, currently responsible for the appearance greenhouse
gas emissions.
Therefore, authors consider that transfer of clean coal technologies from developed to developing
countries represents the modern challenge of coal and related industries and, in the same time, the
answer to main question: eco-development (sustainable development) or ecology (mines closure)?

Key words: coal, challenge, eco-development, ecology

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1. REDUCING EMISSIONS

In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world‟s foremost
collection of climate scientists, representing all major continents, concludes that we are
quickly using up our "Carbon Budget", the amount of carbon the world can emit while still
having a likely chance of limiting global temperature rise to 2ºC (burning all known fossil-
fuel reserves now would produce about 3,800 gigatonnes of CO2). According to the IPCC,
keeping the global temperature increase from pre-industrial levels below this threshold – the
recognized tipping point beyond which climate change is likely to get seriously out of control
– requires that the world emit only about 1 trillion tonnes of carbon (1,000 GtC). IPCC
consider that more than half of this amount was already emitted by 2011; the remaining
budget will run out in next 30 years (three decades).
Immediatly, many governments and financial institutions recognize this problem, and to the
Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015, 195 countries adopted the first-ever
universal, legally binding global climate deal. The agreement sets out a global action plan to
put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well
below 2°C.
In the same time, The World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the United States
Export-Import Bank have introduced policies that restrict financing of new coal-fired power
plants unless they can capture and store their CO2 emissions, and five Nordic countries have
joined the US Treasury in ending public financing of new coal-fired power plants overseas,
and others may soon follow suit.
The European Union decide to continue to support climate action to reduce emissions and
build resilience to climate change impacts in developing countries, and eveloped countries
intend to continue their existing collective goal to mobilise USD 100 billion per year by 2020
and extend this until 2025.1
China, concerned about the serious health costs linked to burning coal, is prohibiting new coal
capacity in three coastal provinces under its newly adopted action plan on air pollution and
have also introduced policies to reduce the proportion of coal in the country‟s overall energy
mix. [7]
The number of coal-fired power plants under development worldwide saw a dramatic drop in
2016, mainly due to shifting policies, from up to 1,200 proposed coal-fired power projects
around the world, with a total installed capacity of more than 1,400 GW in 2013, 1,090 GW
in 2016 to 570 GW in 2017. 2 In the European Union and the U.S. a record-breaking 64
gigawatts of coal plant retirements was estimated in the past two years (the equivalent of
nearly 120 large coal-fired units) and, in the same time, 48 percent decline in overall pre-
construction activity, a 62 percent drop in new construction starts, and an 85 percent decline
in new Chinese coal plant permits. Reasons for the rapid fall-off include a dramatic
clampdown on new coal plant projects by Chinese central authorities and financial
retrenchment in India, where construction is now frozen at over 100 project sites.

1
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/international/negotiations/paris_en
2
World Resources Institute

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New improvements in technology continue to modify the outlook for the energy sector, the
business models, energy demand and supply patterns as well as regulatory approaches.
Climate changes, energy security and economic competitiveness are increasingly being
factored in by decision makers. Governments have far more cost-effective electricity-
generation technologies at their disposal.

2. COAL

- So, are we ready to abandon immediately coal mining?

- Of course not!
Coal continues to offer millions of people a reliable source of electricity3. Transition to low-
carbon technologies will not happen overnight. We need to expand access to these
technologies rapidly, while helping people whose livelihoods depend on the coal industry. In
addition to direct coal burning, coal can be used as a feedstock for the production of liquid
and gaseous fuels. [1][2]
Because of new technologies, in the future, bio-fuels can replace gradually the volumes of
crude oil from depleted deposits. In the same time, a large quantity of existing waste is
adequate to produce synthetic oil, but is not enough to produce a sufficient amount, so the
difference can be covered with solid energy raw materials, currently responsible for the
appearance greenhouse gas emissions.
In this regard, Governments must accept that coal will necessarily play a major role in world
energy supply for many decades, and to put in place policies that will accelerate innovation,
investment in and rapid deployment of cleaner coal technologies. This position contrasts with
the more commonly adopted policy of encouraging a shift away from coal to less reliable
energy sources (wind, water or solar).

3
http://www.iea.org/topics/coal/

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3. ECO APPROACH

a) Open pit coal mine’s Greening

European major policy for coal is to initiate large programs of mine closure and greening. In
the past, the declared objective of environmental mining works was to restore the mined
landscape to its original shape and use after the completion of mining. But companies,
regulatory authorities and social groups have realised that no matter what the technical and
financial resources invested, the amount of coal removed make it virtually impossible to
return a mined area to its original state. Instead, companies now are leveraging the economic
and technical capacity of the mining operation to upgrade the affected land and surroundings
at very low additional costs, creating new and possibly more useful space for nearby
communities even if the landscape is not returned to the previous state.4
European major policy for coal is to initiate large programs of mine closure and greening. In
the past, the declared objective of environmental mining works was to restore the mined
landscape to its original shape and use after the completion of mining. But companies,
regulatory authorities and social groups have realised that no matter what the technical and
financial resources invested, the amount of coal removed make it virtually impossible to
return a mined area to its original state. Instead, companies now are leveraging the economic
and technical capacity of the mining operation to upgrade the affected land and surroundings
at very low additional costs, creating new and possibly more useful space for nearby
communities even if the landscape is not returned to the previous state.5

b) Coal liquefaction and modern technologies options [10][11][12][13]

Due to the high efficiency, interest in coal liquefaction technologies (CTL) and coal
gasification has now grown in many countries rich in this resource, a good example being
China. The Chinese government aims coal liquefaction projects (CTL) as part of a national
energy policy with a cost exceeding $ 10 billion. Beijing plans to have a capacity of CTL to
approach 50 million tonnes by 2020 and the province of Inner Mongolia plans to turn half of
coal production (about 135 mil. Tons - the equivalent of 40% of the annual production of coal
in Australia ) in the liquid fuel or chemicals. [7][17]
To this was added catalytic depolymerization technology without pressure - DCP. After
decades of intensive research and development reactor DCP and successful application of this
technology in a proven system in Germany it is now opened for its widespread use. This
innovative technology allows substantially complete conversion (80 to 90%) of the raw
materials of organic nature such as charcoal, wood and biomass and bio-waste, mineral and
industrial, in a biofuel as a source of energy friendly the storable. Biofuel result has low
contamination, high calorific value, and can be used without restriction, so in all types of
diesel engines and especially energy. Given the geopolitics of oil, alternative recycling
methods will take a leading position. With this technology it is possible to transform not only
coal but also residues of organic material such as waste plastics, waste oils and residues of
paraffin and initial sources such as rape, wood, plant residues, biomass and deşeuril organic
pollutants in food and meat processing in an economical way in biofuel (diesel). The final
product resulting from the application of technology DCP has outstanding quality and can be
used without restrictions as a fuel for vehicles and for diesel engines. [9]

4
https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2012/december/the-greening-of-open-pit-coal-mines.html
5
https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2012/december/the-greening-of-open-pit-coal-mines.html

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c) Organomineral fertilizers [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]

Organomineral fertilizers, having in their composition natural organic polymers and/or
synthesis associated with various minerals, which in addition to providing elements deficient
in plant nutrition have qualities for improvement of soil properties, are produced relatively
new used in agricultural practice. They were created and developed, in particular due to the
need of improving sandy soils, those luvic degraded and other soils with low humus, with the
development of intensive agriculture and for improving soil contaminated products organic or
heavy metal. Scientific research conducted in Romania, showed beneficial effects of these
substances in various fields (medicine, engineering, water treatment, remediation of the
environment or agriculture), due to their chemical and biochemical outstanding (nitrogen
heterocyclic chemical structures complex functions hydrophobic and hydrophilic qualities and
chelating cation exchange, etc.). Among these effects may include: increasing the
accessibility of nutrients in the soil and stimulate microbiological activity, resulting in an
improvement in the humus soil, stimulating the physiological processes of the plants, an
improvement in the aerohidric and physical properties, restoration of fertility of soil
degradation, reduction in the need of fertilization with macro and micro elements, increasing
the resistance of plants to drought, and as a consequence, significant increases in production
for many crops plant diversification of the fertilizer organo-mineral application radicular
extraradicular and new technologies introduced to achieve a modern agriculture, intensive and
environmentally led to the increase of this type of fertilizer balance substances used for
fertilization approx. 10 to 15%. The research activities carried out in Romania [26,27,28]
focused on the extraction of the humic substances (humic and fulvic acids) of native
carbonaceous material (lignite) and their exploitation in the form of organo-mineral fertilizers
together or without other carriers nutrient substances and experimental testing of their
agronomic efficiency. Due to the dark colour and special properties, humic acids are known
as "black gold".

4. CONCLUSION

Open-pit mines will not disappear soon, any more than coal usage will. All over the world,
companies are using open-pit mining as a low-cost way to recover the world‟s fastest-growing
energy source. At 28% of total primary energy consumption, coal is second only to oil as a
fuel. But while other policies can address impacts such as noise and dust produced during the
mining, Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2012 highlights how the right environmental,
operational and management approach exists to leave behind a useful and scenic, if not
original, landscape after the mining, at limited cost to the operator. [3]
This scenario would mainten coal market and ensure that the mining activities will continue
until all resources will be exploaited, in a modern and sustainable European economy.

REFERENCES

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[6] Alliance for Synthetic Fuels in Europe 2006, Synthetic Fuels: Driving Towards Sustainable Mobility
[7] China Daily (2006), “Shenhua to build oil projects,” 16 June 2006

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[8] http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/ /projects/shenhua

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