Over the next few years many countries around the world are hoping to take advantage of coal's relative low cost and abundance as an energy source. Yet, at the same time, increasing fears over global warming and coal's impact on the environment and human health have led to calls for coal to be replaced by cleaner energy sources. Taken together, these factors create an opportunity for clean coal technologies, which aim to reduce the harmful by-products of burning coal. The market is likely to see substantial spending over the next decade as a number of national governments and private companies seek to invest in this growing market. The new study available on ASDReports.com calculates that spending on R&D, as well as installing and operating new clean coal technologies will total $23bn in 2011.
Though some of these clean coal technologies have been around for many years, there are others - most notably carbon capture and storage - which are relatively new to the coal industry but possess the potential to radically reduce coal's environmental impact.
The coal market is also likely to be influenced by environmental regulations, technological innovations, and other important factors and trends which are changing the dynamics of the industry. Visiongain details these trends and gives an in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities faced by companies in the clean coal technologies market over the next ten years.