Recent developments and outlook for clean energy from coal without combustion

Development of new technologies and improvements on existing technologies are providing opportunities for coal to maintain its strong standing as a major competitive energy source for many centuries into the future. These technologies provide means for development of sustainable methods of production of hydrogen from coal without combustion and subsequent production of clean energy using fuel cell or turbine technology. In this paper, a review of past and current studies in this area is presented, concepts leading to design of zero emission power production are presented, and the impact of these developments on future energy and mining industries, contribution to improving environmental quality are examined. Finally, a preliminary estimate of power cost is provided.