Post Carbon Fellow Richard Heinberg was quoted in this article looking at the prospects for ‘clean’ coal.

From the article:

Richard Heinberg at the Post-Carbon Institute in Santa Rosa, California dismissed the environmental merits of CCS on coal plants.

Adding such equipment to plants would “cannibalise” a third of the energy used in the process, he said.

“The coal industry sees CCS as an expansion strategy as you have to build a third more coal plants. It’s really 90% public relations.”

The stance told of an industry “in panic” with Chinese coal consumption and possibly, global consumption having peaked.