This book presents the evolution toward advanced coal-fired power plants. Advanced power plants with an efficiency level of 45% are today commercially available and even more efficient plants are in their development phase.

Considering that presently many pulverized coal-fired power plants operate with an efficiency of about 32%, an improvement of more than 40% specific coal consumption and CO2 discharge can be achieved.

Before trying to apply as a secondary measure the use of carbon sequestration, it seems that this 40% specific CO2 discharge reduction as a primary measure can much easier be achieved.

The effect of power generation on the environment can be drastically improved by the use of flue gas cleanup systems in advanced pulverized coal-fired power plants (SO2 emission reduction from 40 to 1.4 lb/MWh and NOx emission reduction from 7.5 to 0.64 lb/MWh).

With an increased number of coal-fired plants, CO2 discharge and emissions can be reduced, even with an increase of electric power generation in the US by 38% over the next 20 years.

Even though the book concentrates on pulverized coal-fired power plants, it also discusses and compares other options like fluidized-bed combustion and coal gasification.