Coal "creates substantially more CO2 than the other fossil fuels for the amount of energy obtained." (55). As such, it would not seem to have any place in a discussion of options regarding reduction of greenhouse gases. Some people have offered the possibility of carbon sequestration as a method for reducing greenhouse gases, while permitting utilization of our nation's vast coal resources. Carbon sequestration "involves capturing the carbon dioxide shooting out of coal plant smokestacks and permanently disposing of it." (56). However, "capturing carbon dioxide presents technical challenges of a higher order of magnitude. Once captured, the massive quantities of CO2 have to be moved to a disposal site, and, finally disposed of in a way that won't come back to haunt us." (57).

President Bush has established a "Coal Research Initiative" committing "$2 billion over 10 years to speed up research in the use of clean coal technologies to generate electricity while meeting environmental regulations at low cost." (58) The Administration's 2007 budget provides $54 Million for the FutureGen Initiative. "The FutureGen initiative is a partnership between government and the private sector to develop innovative technologies for an emissions-free coal plant that captures the carbon dioxide it produces and stores it in deep geologic formations." (58).

Strict enforcement and oversight of carbon sequestration would be necessary to ensure compliance. "Every company and every country would be faced with a strong, ongoing economic incentive simply to vent the CO2 to the air instead of going to the expense of, say, hauling it to the nearest ocean or salt mine and pumping it into the depths. Since CO2 mixes so thoroughly in the global environment, cheating this way would be incredibly hard to detect absent near constant oversight by some regulatory authority" (59).

A Massachusetts based company, GreatPoint Energy, has apparently developed a system, in the laboratory setting, in which it is able to convert coal into gas while seperating out a significant amount of the carbon dioxide. They say that they plan to sell the carbon dioxide to, for example, soft drink manufacturers.

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Hydrogen Fuel Cells