Coal-generated power is clean, economical

In April, the Sierra Club ran a slick, high-dollar advertising campaign attacking Colorado's affordable and environmentally sustainable electricity production system. While some in the environmental movement talk about protecting our land, water and air, I am proud to say that Colorado's and America's electricity producers are actually doing something about it.

Utilities across America, including Colorado, have invested more than $50 billion to make electricity production cleaner, and the results have been impressive. Over the 10-year period, 1989-1998, "total criteria air pollutants" (those pollutants affecting human health) in Colorado decreased by 16 percent in spite of a 20 percent increase in population, a 63 percent increase in the Gross State Product and a 21 percent increase in electricity generation.

Nationally, while electricity consumption increased 133 percent between 1970 and 1998, sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from coal- based electricity dropped 21 percent to their lowest levels since the 1920s. Clearly, advances in technology are making Colorado's and America's most abundant and affordable electricity source - coal - cleaner all the time. And with a 250-year supply, we'd be foolish to remove it from our energy mix, as some environmental extremists are pressuring us to do.

Clean coal technologies are advancing at such a rate that engineers and energy experts estimate that by the year 2020, we will be able to produce emission-free electricity from coal.

That's an exciting prospect, meaning we don't have to choose between our environment and our standard of living.

Currently, clean coal technologies include working prototypes of coal gasification plants that convert coal into a gas and then filter out any impurities before the gas is burned to generate electricity. During this process, approximately 95 percent of the sulfur pollutants are extracted and then recycled into commercially valuable products. Once cleaned, the coal gases are burned in a gas turbine, and then the turbine's exhaust is used to boil water for a conventional steam turbine-generator. The combination of gas and steam turbines increases the plant's efficiency, which means fuel is conserved, greenhouse gases are reduced, and consumers see lower electricity costs.

While renewable energies such as wind and solar power should be considered, they are not yet technologically viable or economically feasible to deliver the baseload capacity or reliability of coal- generated electricity. Until such a time when they do become feasible and reliable, we can continue working to make electricity from coal that much cleaner.

More than 80 percent of Colorado's electricity is generated from domestically abundant and affordable coal, giving us the third- lowest electricity rates in the nation, according to a study by the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets. That same study also found that we Coloradoans spend only 1.2 percent of our income on electricity, the second-lowest percentage in America. Affordable electricity is important to everyone in Colorado, especially low- income families, seniors on fixed incomes and small businesses.

By relying upon energy forecasts provided by the federal government and other energy experts, researchers at Penn State University recently revealed how coal-based electricity empowers Colorado's economy. Their study shows that access to affordable coal- based electricity will be responsible for as much $9.6 billion in increased household income and 277,000 Colorado jobs in the year 2010. That's more high-paying jobs in the state and more money in the pockets of Colorado families.

I live in Colorado because of our beautiful environment and standard of living. Folks may disagree on how best to protect our quality of life here, but I firmly believe that with the right intentions and continued technological advancements, we can have both a clean environment and a high standard of living. We've already made great progress toward that goal, why stop now?

- Sanderson is president of the Colorado Mining Association, founded in 1876. CMA represents 70 companies and 500 individuals working in Colorado's $7.7 billion a year mining industry.

Copyright 2002
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