We believe there is more that we must do to keep coal in our energy future over the truly long term. That is where carbon sequestration enters the picture. It is the only climate change option that won t require a wholesale changeover in our energy infrastructure. Now, sequestration research and development is in its first year of real federal funding at the Energy Department. Exhausted oil and gas reservoirs could store much of the carbon captured from power generation for most of the 21st Century.
Coal seams are an option.
So too are deep, unusable saltwater aquifers. And the ocean floor, which is the world s largest repository of dissolved CO2, represents a literal sea of possibility. Well, for one thing, it places the coal industry squarely on the side of looking over the horizon for answers, rather than just looking over your shoulder. It makes you part of the solution. And that s important in the way your industry is viewed in the short-term.