New coal technology: low CO2 emissions, increased energy

Queensland University researchers have successfully tested a new technology that promises to revolutionize the use of energy from coal.

Chemical engineer, GS. John Zhu from the School of Chemical Technology conducting the Direct Carbon Fuel Cells (DCFC) technology project. New technology will create twice the energy when using coal compared to current technology and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

GS. " The high energy efficiency of this new technology will halve the amount of coal needed to produce electricity, " Zhu said.

' When applied, this technology will help the industry save energy and costs significantly. After that, consumers will also benefit from this . '

The use of coal emits a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.(Photo: VNN)

Along with efficient energy and cost savings, DCFC technology will also provide cleaner power. GS. Zhu believes that, with DCFC byproducts of coal combustion - greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide - will be kept and stored safely.

'One of the key challenges of using energy from coal is to reduce its impact on the environment by separating carbon dioxide from the emissions generated by coal combustion and make sure it is not released into the atmosphere ', GS. Zhu said.

' DCFC will bring pure carbon dioxide as a byproduct, making it easier to handle it .'

The latter phase of this technology development will include an understanding of the energy industry and government funding to help broaden this technology.

Head of the Department of Technology, Architecture and Information Technology, University of Queensland, GS. Graham Schaffer said that DCFC is one of the clean energy technologies being promoted by the University of Queensland.

' Engineers at the University of Queensland are at the forefront of the battle to develop low-emissions coal technology and provide renewable energy sources such as hydrogen, geothermal and solar power, 'added Prof. Schaffer.