Energy World December 2016

This issue of the magazine takes a long hard look at coal as a fuel for power generation, starting with analysis by consultants Pöyry of the conundrum that the use of coal worldwide is growing at the same time that world governments are pledging to reduce carbon emissions.

Is carbon capture and storage (CCS) the answer? A second article, from the Global CCS Institute, concludes that the pace of development of this technology will need to be accelerated considerably if CCS is to contribute to meeting climate targets. We also include articles on work being carried out in the US and Germany to improve the efficiency of coal-to-power plants.

Our second focus is renewables. We start with some views from Martin Wright of the UK Renewable Energy Association on the move away from large, centralised electricity generating plant to a model based on smaller, decentralised systems. A second article describes how wood pellets made in the southern US are being shipped over to fuel biomass power plants in the UK. Further articles cover a new biomass source – ‘sea squirts’ – and a range of renewables projects completed recently in the UK.