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Coal

As of 2009, coal accounts for 21% of the United States' primary energy flow.

As of 2009, coal accounts for 21% of the United States' primary energy flow.

Carbon Capture and Storage Forum Round-Up
Sec. Chu speaks about carbon capture and sequestration. | Energy Department Photo

Yesterday, Secretary Chu joined Senator Jay Rockefeller at the University of Charleston in West Virginia for a forum on the future of coal and the case for carbon capture and storage. We were at the event, relaying some of the highlights live via Twitter so that people across the nation could follow along and weigh in on the discussion.

Cleaning Up Coal
Pete McGrail, a Laboratory Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is part of a team studying basalts to determine how carbon dioxide can be safely and permanently stored in these massive, deep underground rock formations. | Photo courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

How we're making coal a better energy source than it used to be.

Innovative Geothermal Startup Will Put Carbon Dioxide To Good Use
A basic overview of GreenFire's process to convert CO2 into electricity. | Photo courtesy of GreenFire.

GreenFire Energy began work to demonstrate a process that would use CO2 to harness geothermal energy to make electricity. What is more, the technology has the potential to add carbon sequestration – not to mention reduced water consumption – to the benefits already associated with geothermal power.