Abstract

Coal is an important energy source for the power industry due to its low cost and wide distribution. Improving coal’s environmental performance is key to its future role in the energy mix, especially as emissions regulations are becoming stricter and standards are now being introduced for previously unregulated pollutants, crucially for CO2. This report examines the policies that drive research, development and demonstration (RD&D) of clean coal technologies (CCTs) and CO2 capture in the power generating industry for Australia, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, South Africa and the USA. Domestic energy resources, political environments, market policies and mechanisms, and the level of collaboration amongst national entities can all shape the approaches that a country takes to developing CCTs. Each country chapter begins with a discussion of their energy, coal and climate policies as these can have a major influence on their coal RD&D programmes. It then moves on to describe RD&D policy and any specific CCT and CCS initiatives and programmes. Roadmaps for the development of CCT and CCS are included, where available. The amount the national government spends on RD&D and, where possible, on CCT and CCS is addressed. International collaboration on RD&D is outlined, followed by a brief description of the major national government-funded demonstration and development CCT projects. Finally, the national research organisations carrying out CCT and CCS research are briefly described.