IGCC Emission Controversy
In 2007, the New York State Attorney General's office demanded full disclosure of "financial risks from greenhouse gases" to the shareholders of electric power companies proposing the development of IGCC coal-fired power plants. "Any one of the several new or likely regulatory initiatives for CO2 emissions from power plants - including state carbon controls, EPA's regulations under the Clean Air Act, or the enactment of federal global warming legislation - would add a significant cost to carbon-intensive coal generation"; U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton from New York has proposed that this full risk disclosure be required of all publicly-traded power companies nationwide. This honest disclosure has begun to reduce investor interest in all types of existing-technology coal-fired power plant development, including IGCC.
Senator Harry Reid (Majority Leader of the 2007/2008 U.S. Senate) told the 2007 Clean Energy Summit that he will do everything he can to stop construction of proposed new IGCC coal-fired electric power plants in Nevada. Reid wants Nevada utility companies to invest in solar energy, wind energy and geothermal energy instead of coal technologies. Reid stated that global warming is a reality, and just one proposed coal-fired plant would contribute to it by burning seven million tons of coal a year. The long-term healthcare costs would be far too high, he claimed (no source attributed). "I'm going to do everything I can to stop these plants.", he said. "There is no clean coal technology. There is cleaner coal technology, but there is no clean coal technology."
One of the most efficient ways to treat the H2S gas from a IGCC plant, is by converting it into sulphuric acid in a wet gas sulphuric acid process wsa process However, the majority of the H2S treating plants utilize the modified Claus process, as the sulphur market infrastructure and the transportation costs of sulphuric acid versus sulphur are in favour of sulphur production.
Read more about this topic: Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
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