Refined coal accounted for 19 percent of power sector coal consumption in 2017, according to EIA
Refined coal’s share of power sector coal consumption increased from 17 percent in 2016 to 19 percent from the beginning of 2017 through September, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
According to year-to-date data through September 2017 from EIA’s monthly Power Plant Operations Report, 20 percent of subbituminous coal, 18 percent of bituminous coal, and 17 percent of lignite coal were refined before being used for electricity generation.
Refined coal is coal that has been processed to remove certain pollutants. Electricity generators that use refined coal can produce fewer emissions than those fueled by feedstock coal alone.
Coal is typically refined by mixing proprietary additives into feedstock coal that contain a mixture of halogens and metals to increase the production of mercury oxides. Emission reduction technologies, such as flue gas desulfurization scrubbers and particulate matter control systems, can capture oxidized mercury. Oxidized mercury can also be adsorbed by powder activated carbon injection (ACI) and captured by particulate matter control systems.
The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 created a tax credit for the production of coal refined by facilities unassociated with the consuming power plant. The tax credit, which was designed to increase with inflation, was valued $6.91 per short ton in 2017.
For a producer to qualify for the tax credit, a qualified professional engineer must demonstrate that the use of the refined coal results in a 20 percent emissions reduction of nitrogen oxide and a 40 percent emissions reduction of either sulfur dioxide or mercury relative to the emissions burning feedstock coal would produce.
The producer must demonstrate the emissions reductions every six months to continue using the tax credit. To qualify, the producer must have been in service by December 2011 and can only use the credit for the first 10 years the processing facility is in operation.
