Europe Turns to Coal

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: April 23, 2008

CIVITAVECCHIA, Italy — At a time when the world’s top climate experts agree that carbon emissions must be rapidly reduced to hold down global warming, Italy’s major electricity producer, Enel, is converting its massive power plant here from oil to coal, generally the dirtiest fuel on earth.

And Italy is not alone in its return to coal. Driven by rising demand, record high oil and natural gas prices, concerns over energy security and an aversion to nuclear energy, European countries are expected to put into operation about 50 coal-fired plants over the next five years, plants that will be in use for the next five decades.

In the United States, fewer new coal plants are likely to begin operations, in part because it is becoming harder to get regulatory permits and in part because nuclear power remains an alternative. Of 151 proposals in early 2007, more than 60 had been dropped by the year’s end, many blocked by state governments. Dozens of other are stuck in court challenges.


European power plants boosting coal use
United Press International

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High oil and natural gas prices, coupled with increased demand, are driving Europe's return to coal-fired power plants, an industry official says.
Enel's, Italy's largest electricity producer, is converting one of its biggest power plants from oil to coal, despite environmental concerns. The New York Times reported European countries are expected to add 50 coal-fired plants over the next five years.

Gianfilippo Mancini, Enel's chief of generation and energy management, said the power plant in Civitavecchia, Italy, "will be the cleanest coal plant in Europe." Mancini said the company wants to prove coal can be "sustainable and environmentally friendly."

"In order to get over oil, which is getting more and more expensive, our plan is to convert all oil plants to coal using clean-coal technologies," Mancini said.

While power companies say they are doing to their best to make the new coal plants as clean as possible, critics say the term "clean coal" is an oxymoron. "Given our knowledge about what needs to be done to stabilize climate, this plan is like barging into a war without having a plan for how it should be conducted, even though information is available," NASA climatologist James E. Hansen told the Times.