Keynote address: EPRI's global coal initiative

The use of coal for power generation is being questioned in many developed countries, as a result of ever-tightening environmental restrictions and co ncerns about the potential impact of CO2 emissions on climate. Coal will co ntinue to be the fuel of choice for new power plants for many developing co untries with large percentages of the world's population, because of its re latively low cost and broad availability. Even in many of the developed cou ntries that are under pressure, coal will continue to fuel large percentage s of power due to the installed base. Using coal efficiently and in an envi ronmentally responsible manner will be a challenge for technology and polit ics in this new century, with the politics played out on the world stage. C oal use will vary in the next few decades, including short-term changes suc h as the use of more diverse coals and the increased use of efficient ultra -supercritical boilers to longer term 'refining' of coal to produce a range of energy and chemical outputs. This paper outlines EPRI's Global Coal Ini tiative aimed at needed developments and demonstrations that support the lo ng-term vision of environmentally sound and economical coal use for power g eneration, and discusses some of the forces that are driving this developme nt effort.