Is clean coal a myth?

I had a bit of a debate with a student the other day about coal – fired power plants.  He believed ‘they’ (whoever ‘they’ are) are making a nearly emissions – free coal power plant in Switzerland.  I had read that carbon capture and storage (the technology that enables an emissions – free coal power plant) hadn’t been tested at even 1/500th the size needed for a modern coal power plant.   In an admittedly brief search of the net, I couldn’t find anything on this Swiss plant but I did come across this…

This short clip is directed by the Coen Brothers – the film makers responsible for The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men etc.  It is part of the website/blog, ‘This is Reality’ which debunks the ‘clean coal’ claims made by coal producers and lobbyists.  I am a bit unsure about the site because while it tells us that the coal producers make all these false claims about ‘clean coal’, they don’t reference a single one.  How am I meant to know what sort of claims coal producers are making if I’ve never seen one!

This website here has a lot more information and buried away on a link on the ‘Learn More’ page is a whole lot of recommended reading and viewing and a list of references.