Coal-Fired Power Plant Introduction Coal-fired power plants produces electricity by burning coal in a boiler to heat water to produce

steam. The powerful steam flows into turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. The stream is cooled, condensed back into water and returned to the boiler to start the process over. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel and plays a key part in terms of fuel-supply security. It is and will remain the most important fuel for power plants for a long time. In 2004-2030 world scenario, coals remains the princpal souece for electrcity generation, contributing from 41% in 2004 to 45% in 2030, to the world total electricity generation. Coal and natural gas are the principal sources of electricity and have the highest projected annual growth rates compared to oil, nuclear and renewables. Regional electricity source mix and forecasts until 2030 As long as oil and natural gas prices are higth, coal continues to be best option for power generation, especially by countries with rich coal resources like china, india and USA, where coal was used in 2004 to generate 80, 74 amd 50 % of the national electricity, respectively. In canada, coal will remain significant source for electricity geneation until 2030 with a slight increase of 17 to 18%. Coal reserves in Canada Canada has an abundant coal resource. Tbe largest known reserves are located in the western provinces, which are also Canadas principal producers. Globally, Canada is a mid-size coal producer. Over half of its production is used for electricity generation. Canada currently holds 8.7 billion tonnes of proved resources of coal-in-place, which are the resources in nown deposits that have been carefuly measured and assessed. Of that amount, 6.6 billion tonnes are deemed recoverable using existing technology. At todays production rate, these recoverable resources will last about 100 years.

Emission Reduction Any energy convertion has effect on enviroment. When fossil fuels are burned in power plants, discharge of pollutants become an issue. Whereas in the 1920s a heavily smoking power plant stack was an indication of sucess but today discharge of any combustion products must be minimized. For this reason, emission reduction measures and systems has been introduced: Dust-removal systems (1940s) Desulfurization systems (1970s) Nitrogen oxide reduction systems (1980s)

CO2 Capture and sequestion (CCS) A recent report by massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) mentioned in power engineering international No.5 (2007): 1- CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) is the critical enabling technology that would reduce carbon emission significantly, while also allowing coal to meet the worlds pressing energy needs 2- With CCS more coal is used in 2050 than today 3- A major contribution to global emissions reduction for 2050 is the reduction CO2 emissions from coal to half or less of todays level. The MIT reports forecasts a successful demonstration of the technical, economic, and environmental performance of technologies that build all the major components of an integrated CCS systems.

Energy from Thorium

http://www.power-technology.com/features/feature1141/

For decades, scientists have dreamed about turning thorium into an alternative fuel for nuclear energy. Because it is proven thorium is less radioactive and produces less nuclear waste than uranium. Pure thorium is a silvery-white metal that, when exposed to air, forms thorium oxide or thoria (ThO2) which has the highest melting point of any known oxide. Its been ued in varous application including light bulbs, welding electrodes, heat-resistant ceramics and high refractive-index glass for high-quality optical lenses. Thorium (atomic number 90) occurs naturally, with soil often containing above ten parts per million, and it is about three times more abundant in nature than uranium. It is found in several minerals, most commonly the rare earth-thorium phosphate mineral monazite. Although nearly 30 isotopes have been isolated (from thorium-210 to thorium-236) thorium has only one naturally occuring isotope which is thorium-232. This isotope decays very slowly, with a half life of millions of years. It is therefore much safer than uranium or plutonium.