Companies Continue Quest for Clean Energy

Governments, universities and companies continue in their efforts to find sustainable, clean energy, and yet mankind is nowhere near dislodging coal, abundant and cheap but the least clean of all, as the top source, Ian Marcus of RTKL said Feb. 20.

Marcus, a mechanical engineer based in the company’s Washington, D.C., office, mentioned several studies into alternative sources such as geothermal systems and biofuels that look promising.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers have developed a technology capable of converting 98 percent of spent uranium into usable energy.

Marcus said, however, that there may still be some way to clean off coal, noting Seattle-based energy development firm Summit Power’s Texas Clean Energy Project to recapture 90 percent carbon emissions using integrated gasification combined cycle.

The Energy Department-backed project could be made into a blueprint for future coal power plants, he added.

“The ultimate hope is that we can continue to study and discover new ways to produce clean energy,” Marcus wrote on the RTKL blog, adding, “Its use will help provide a better life for us now and a better outlook for the future of our planet.”