The first is the recognition that in spite of renewable and nuclear options and the presence of still large supplies of natural gas around the world, coal will remain a supplier of large scale energy to the world's economies, until the 2050's and beyond. This is new thinking for countries like the UK, where until recently a mixture of "wind-plus-gas"1, was going to meet its energy requirements for the foreseeable future. Coal is in plentiful supply; the European reserve alone is 130BT and the US equivalent, which is the largest in the world, is 246BT. The US is committed to exploiting coal as a security alternative to Middle East oil. Even Europe, alarmed at its growing dependence on Russian oil and gas, is prepared to look at alternatives like coal and nuclear in its energy and research policies.
The security-of-supply advantages of coal are generally accepted, but differences remain about the conversion route for power generation. Both supercritical thermal plant and IGCC coal plant are being installed in similar numbers, and both are capable of similar plant efficiencies, but gasification appears to be edging in the lead although Co2 CCS or so-called capture ready plant is also being planned. The advantages of pre-combustion capture from gasification apply equally well to UCG; in fact, the high concentration of the Co2 in UCG product gas makes separation easier.