Coal starts to burn investors
Coal-fired power generation in the USA is facing some of the same fundamental problems that nuclear power faced during the 1970s, a new report said. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility's (ICCR's) new study, Don't Get Burned, concludes that the two main forces of rising construction costs and regulatory uncertainty over emissions are threatening to upset plans for up to 100 new coal-fired power units. Twenty coal-fired units were cancelled in 2007, it said, and the "increasingly shaky" status of coal investments was "reminiscent of nuclear power" in the 1970s. To remain viable, emissions from burning coal must be reduced or captured, but technology to do that is still years away, with uncertain costs under as-yet undecided regulation in the USA - and worldwide. Meanwhile, construction costs are rising.
Coal-fired power generation in the USA is facing some of the same fundamental problems that nuclear power faced during the 1970s, a new report said. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility's (ICCR's) new study, Don't Get Burned, concludes that the two main forces of rising construction costs and regulatory uncertainty over emissions are threatening to upset plans for up to 100 new coal-fired power units. Twenty coal-fired units were cancelled in 2007, it said, and the "increasingly shaky" status of coal investments was "reminiscent of nuclear power" in the 1970s. To remain viable, emissions from burning coal must be reduced or captured, but technology to do that is still years away, with uncertain costs under as-yet undecided regulation in the USA - and worldwide. Meanwhile, construction costs are rising.
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