Our CEO, Curt Lefebvre, recently participated in Sky Radio Network’s "Energy Advisors" and “America’s Innovators” series.  Sky Radio asked Curt to comment on “clean coal” and the role that artificial intelligence-based optimization software can play in reducing fossil-fired power plant emissions. He acknowledged the emissions challenges, but explained that our economy still very much depends on fossil-fired generation, and that transitioning the economy to alternative sources of electricity will take substantial time and investment.

Natural gas and renewable realities
This reality has been a common thread in my blogs. “Clean” and “green” energy has recently become something of a mantra, and is a centerpiece of the Obama administration’s energy and economic policies. Most recently, I mentioned Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers’ reference to natural gas as the “crack cocaine” of the electric power industry, based on the simplistic view that switching from coal to gas-fired generation will solve our climate change problem.  This view is flawed not only because of the price volatility and dependence on foreign energy associated with natural gas, but also because gas-fired generation emits almost half as much CO2 as coal.

While wind and solar both have considerable promise and in some applications are price competitive with fossil-fired generation, they are intermittent energy sources and have geographic limitations, meaning that our nation’s energy demands will still require baseload power generation. And while permitting and early development for nuclear power has accelerated, the supply chain does not exist to meet incremental generation needs over the next 10-20 years, let alone replace existing coal-fired assets.

Coal’s here to stay for the foreseeable future
Curt summarized this situation by stating that coal will be a necessary part of the U.S. generation mix in the foreseeable future; that we must ensure that this generation resource be employed in the cleanest and most efficient manner possible; and that optimization technology can play an important role toward these objectives. He went on to discuss NeuCo’s two Clean Coal Power Initiative projects, which were undertaken in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy and with facilities owned by Dynegy and NRG Energy.  

Curt’s interview is airing through April 2009 on Sky Radio's Business & Technology Channels Network on American Airlines, Northwest Airlines and www.skyradionet.com.

If you happen to be on a flight and catch the interview, shoot us an email and let us know what you thought!

You can also listen to the broadcast here: http://www.skyradionet.com/player.cfm?ID=5719