Turns Out ‘Clean Coal’ Is Actually Real, Sort Of

The fossil fuel industry has been using the term “clean coal” for years in an effort to portray the resource as less of a threat to the environment. Many in the renewable energy sector have largely called this hogwash, but a new discovery makes this issue a little more complicated. Apparently, coal and other fossil fuel resources can actually be used for power without heavy carbon emissions with the right process.

The new method was developed by Ohio State University researchers, which allows for the use of coal and biomass while keeping the environmental damage to a minimum. A total of three papers have been published so far, with some talking about shale gas and the rest talking about coal.

In an article posted on the university website, the study’s lead, professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Liang-Shih Fan noted that this was not meant to supplant renewable energy. This is simply intended to buy enough time for the trend to catch up and keep the worst effects of global warming at bay.

“Renewables are the future,” Fan said. “We need a bridge that allows us to create clean energy until we get there—something affordable we can use for the next 30 years or more, while wind and solar power become the prevailing technologies.”

With regards to the actual process involved, it’s apparently called “chemical looping” and it is a way of burning fossil fuel where carbon dioxide is not released into the atmosphere, Futurism reports. Instead of using oxygen to feed the heat, the researchers used metal dioxide particles that would be contained in high-pressure reactors.

As a result, burning fossil fuel would produce the energy needed to power homes without the environmental damage that comes with it. What really makes this breakthrough noteworthy is the fact that the team managed to keep the metal dioxide particles from getting worn out, thus extending efficiency.