June 18, 2008
By Chuck Slothower | Herald Staff Writer

Coal must be part of the energy mix in the United States as demand for electricity grows, an industry representative said during a visit to Durango on Tuesday.

Brad S. Jones, regional communications director for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said wind and other renewable sources should play a part in meeting Americans' electricity needs. But coal is needed to provide reliable power.

Coal produces 72 percent of the electricity generated in Colorado, and about 50 percent of U.S. electricity, Jones said.

Electricity demand is expected to grow 30 percent in La Plata County in five years, said Pam Patton, chairwoman of the La Plata Electric Association board.

Coal has generated headlines in the Four Corners as regulators study the Desert Rock Energy Project. A proposed $3 billion, 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant that would be built on Navajo land about 30 miles southwest of Farmington, Desert Rock would consume an estimated 6.2 million tons of coal per year, according to a federal study.

Environmental groups have raised concerns about the plant's emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas that has been linked to global warming. Desert Rock would emit an estimated 12.7 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. A car would have to burn 1.3 billion gallons of gas to reach the same level of emissions.

Jones said the coal industry is working to tackle carbon-dioxide emissions - with the help of technology.

"The technology is there," Jones said. "What's missing is incentives and funding to make it commercially viable."

Companies are experimenting with injecting carbon dioxide into saline aquifers and underground coal seams, Jones said.

"There's never been a challenge the industry has faced where technology has not been the answer," Jones said.

Andrew Gulliford, a Fort Lewis College professor of Southwest studies, expressed skepticism that technology will solve all the problems associated with coal.

But Jones pointed to the precedent set by acid rain, an environmental problem that he said was largely solved with technology.

Jones indicated the coal industry has come to grips with the likelihood of additional federal regulations.

"The industry is now recognizing that reducing emissions is a good thing and that it's a moral issue for the American people," he said. "We've all come to the realization that federal regulations are going to occur in the next couple of years."