After 38 years the World Coal Association (WCA) will close its doors and usher in a new era under the transformative branding: FutureCoal – the Global Alliance for Sustainable Coal.
FutureCoal Chief Executive, Michelle Manook, said the change responded to a call from coal and coal allied sectors to modernise and unite under a common purpose.
The FutureCoal Global Alliance is the world’s only multi-lateral, neutral and progressive organisation representing the entire coal value chain which is dedicated to raising awareness on the significant total contribution of coal.
“FutureCoal may seem bold to some but for many it is simply representative of the reality we are confronted with. The total contribution of coal to our modern society and the growing global population should neither be dismissed nor disregarded. Coal and more specifically, a wider definition of abated coal solutions exists and will be needed in any energy transition. This critical resource is a legitimate participant in both economic development and emissions abatement,” Manook said.
The FutureCoal Global Alliance will embed this transformation through Sustainable Coal Stewardship (SCS). SCS provides a pathway which supports extracting more value per tonne of coal.
Value is determined and measured in both economic and environmental benefits.
SCS outlines abatement opportunities for the coal value chain to modernise and transform their businesses, supporting the right to choose and establish a coal ecosystem that includes efficiency, process improvements, health and safety, emissions reduction, waste management, and technology advancement.
Specifically, SCS comprises three components:
1.Pre-combustion
Pre-combustion describes the abatement opportunities available to the upstream sector in the coal value chain. These can include waste management, recycling, and dust and water management.
2.Combustion
Combustion describes the range of efficiency technologies which when combined support power and heat utilise to abate and capture up to 99% of emissions.
3.Beyond Combustion
Beyond Combustion encapsulates a vision where future business prospects increase further to transforming coal into new higher value products. Coal and coal waste acting as a secondary resource for cementitious materials, including fly ash from power stations and slag from ironmaking blast furnaces which are valuable to the construction sector to replace cement.