 |
| Photo: Hugh O’Brien |
At a time when the debate on global warming is hotting up more and more, Queensland is at the forefront of research on clean coal technology. That research is being led by Dr Kelly Thambimuthu, a world expert who plays a vital part in the Smart State’s growing reputation in the field.
In 2004 Dr Thambimuthu (pictured) accepted an invitation to become head of the Brisbane-based Centre for Low Emission Technology, a joint venture that’s a world leader in clean coal technology.
One of the most influential people in the world in the field, Dr Thambimuthu came to Queensland because he saw an "enormous opportunity" to develop technologies that would reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generators.
A chemical engineer, he previously worked with CANMET, Canada’s leading federal government science and technology organisation, at its Energy Technology Centre in Ottawa. He’s chairman of the International Energy Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Research and Development Program and a co-ordinating lead author of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on CO2 Capture and Storage.
Dr Thambimuthu is an advisor to two of the world’s biggest clean electricity demonstration projects, FutureGen in the United States and Saskatchewan Power in Canada. He is also consulted on the ZeroGen project by Stanwell in Queensland.
In a world dominated on the one hand by the need for cheap and plentiful energy, and on the other by the need to curb pollution of the planet, Brisbane’s Centre for Low Emission Technology has a vital role to play.
One of the centre’s main focuses is the reduction or elimination of carbon dioxide gas emissions from coal-fired power stations, a matter of crucial importance to the world since coal is, and will be for many years, the globe’s major source of energy.
Queensland is the world’s largest exporter of seaborne coal.
At the turn of this century more than 30 per cent of the world’s electricity was being generated from coal, with gas accounting for 24 per cent and oil for 12.2 per cent. Hydro-electric generators provide a further 21.5 per cent, nuclear just under 10 per cent, while biomass and renewables comprise two per cent.
"That’s unlikely to change in the next 30 years," Dr Thambimuthu said. "Biomass and renewables are not suitable for large electricity consumers, like smelters, because they currently can’t provide an uninterrupted supply."
Dr Thambimuthu said coal was a key energy source in many parts of the world and that, unlike oil, most countries have access to significant domestic resources. "The energy available from the world’s coal reserves also exceeds that from oil and gas combined," he said. "That makes coal very important in terms of security of energy supply."
The ZeroGen power plant at Stanwell could begin operations in 2010 and 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions will be captured and stored in natural reservoirs deep underground, for instance, in saline water formations.
ZeroGen, like the $US1 billion FutureGen plant in the United States, will produce hydrogen as well as generate electricity.
In the future, Dr Thambimuthu envisages coal fired power plants that will produce hydrogen, transport fuels and chemicals as well as electricity.
"In some chemical plants around the world, electricity is produced as a sideline in the production of chemicals," he said. "Joint electricity generation and transport fuel production is some way off in Australia– the challenge is to reliably produce electricity as well as liquids whilst capturing and storing CO2," he said.
In recognition of his significant contribution and leadership in clean coal technology development, Dr Thambimuthu received the 2006 Award for Sustainable Coal Development from the International Energy Agency’s Coal Industry Advisory Board.
Last reviewed 29 January 2007