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The coal-mining industry in particular has come under scrutiny recently, as society and politicians show a continued concern about CO2 emissions and global warming.

It is clear that the biggest problem in coal mining is the large amounts of CO2 emitted. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) coal contributes 31 per cent of CO2 emissions – the largest of any source.

Happily, coal mining is also an industry that is investing significantly in environmental processes and research into ‘clean coal technologies’;

“I firmly believe that this new approach is a global imperative, not only for sustainable mining but also for sustainable development, in general,” says Susan Shabangu, the Minister of Mineral Resources for South Africa.

Clean coal has a number of variations, but each one of them involve stripping the CO2 out of the coal, either before or after it is burned and then capturing it. It is then either utilized for industrial purposes or for enhanced oil recovery, or else it is pressurised into a liquid form where it can be injected underground and where it supposedly will stay indefinitely in a process called carbon sequestration. The overall process is called carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The least destructive form of clean coal is underground coal gasification (UCG). This is where the coal is left in the ground and converted to gas by chemical means and then sucked up to the surface where it is burned.

China has positively embraced the concept of moving towards cleaner coal technologies to lessen problems with greenhouse gases and reduce the release of sulphur and nitrogen oxide, which are the main contributors to acid rain.

FULL STORY VISIT

http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/exploring-sustainability-in-mining/