Michelle Manook, CEO of FutureCoal, emphasizes the importance of education and innovation in securing a sustainable future for coal. She argues that coal's value chain will evolve to incorporate sustainable stewardship practices and that clean coal technologies offer a viable path to reduce emissions and ensure energy security.
Following South Africa Mining minister Gwede Mantashe's stating that coal was a critical mineral, Mining Journal spoke to the head of FutureCoal, which is looking to innovate the sector. 'The future of coal lies in education around sustainable stewardship (...) Coal can't stay the same,' Michelle Manook, chief executive of FutureCoal, told Mining Journal on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference held this week in Cape Town. 'Most of the value chain recognizes that.
I think the future of coal is not just going to be about producers, consumers, suppliers to the industry. I think the value chain will come together,' Manook said. 'I think that the coal value chain will look different, or the coal payers will look different,' she added. FutureCoal (formerly World Coal Association) rebranded itself last year to highlight coal's place in the supply chain. 'Last year, when we rebranded, it wasn't about a name change per se, but it was really about saying, look, there is a future for coal, and it will go beyond its traditional uses, but it must look something along the lines of what we term sustainable coal stewardship,' Manook explained. Manook said that there was a disparity between the realities of the coal supply chain and the understanding of coal. 'What we really found is that people didn't really understand coal; a lot of the debate, or the anti-coal debate, sits around combustion. But sustainable coal stewardship is saying, 'Okay, well, how do I extract the most value out of one tonne of coal that both supports, you know, an economic contribution as well as an environmental contribution?'' We must educate. And also evolve our own businesses. ASEAN study A study into the ASEAN, commissioned by FutureCoal, showed that Investing $26 billion in clean coal technology in the ASEAN states rather than renewables will reduce CO2 and ensure a reliable energy source. 'Investing $26 billion to upgrade existing subcritical coal power plants with Ultra-Supercritical technology would reduce annual emissions by 60 million tCO₂' the report said. 'Globally, the environmental challenges associated with older, less efficient, subcritical technologies are well-documented. However, less well known are the efforts of the global coal value chain to eradicate and mitigate these externalities through constant innovation and adaptation,' the report highlighted. Manook highlighted the moves being made by Japan, China and India in this field, saying they are 'running the most efficient fleets in the world'. 'It's important that the multilateral banks, finance and investment community really understand the available technologies that really qualify coal to participate in clean energy,' she added. 'We've got to stop slamming coal of cars and technologies of the past and really allow countries to invest in coal and give them the opportunity to create an energy means that that really gives them everything that's important from an energy trilemma perspective: security, reliability, affordability.'
Mining COAL SUSTAINABLE STEWARDSHIP CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY FUTURECOAL MICHELLE MANOOK ASEAN MINING INDABA
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