The workshop, organized by UNECE, the World Coal Association and IEA Clean Coal Centre, focused on the role of coal in meeting climate commitments. The workshop also presented two case studies on the state-of-the art High Efficiency-Low Emissions (HELE) power plants in Europe and Asia.
The key messages that emerged from the workshop are:
- Because of its role in supporting energy access and economic development, coal is in must remain part of the sustainable energy mix.
- Deployment of HELE could be accelerated through finance and technology transfer provided by the international organizations and other mechanisms.
- HELE is only the first step on the pathway toward zero emission that could only be achieved with carbon capture and storage. To stay on this pathway coal needs policy parity with other low emission technologies.
HELE technologies enhance efficiency, environmental performance and reliability is coal-fired power plants. Increasing upstream efficiencies enables operators to reap significant economic and environmental dividends down the value chain of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and use. Each percent of increase in efficiency may result in 2–3 per cent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants. The deployment of HELE technologies might therefore offer the UNECE member States the opportunity to adjust policies and regulations as they prepare their energy system for the future.
