Rio Tinto Says U.S. Must Spend Billions for Clean-Coal Devices

Rio Tinto Group and U.S. utilities are urging the government to spend $20 billion on a technology they say has the best chance for eliminating pollution linked to global warming.

The energy companies are lobbying Congress to help create devices that can trap carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants and bury the gas in underground caverns. Environmental groups, labor unions and members of Congress from coal states say pilot projects won’t begin without U.S. support that is unlikely to come this year.
As the Senate today begins debating the first U.S. curbs on greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, coal companies say they won’t provide most of the money for capture-and-storage technology. The industry has spent “tens of millions of dollars,” on development, and it’s too costly for companies alone to finance, said Rio Tinto Chief Executive Officer for Energy Preston Chiaro.

“We can’t do it without government support for the early projects,” Chiaro, who also is chairman of the London-based World Coal Institute, said in a May 29 interview in New York. “Shareholders simply won’t stand for it unless there’s a commercial return.” The institute is an international trade group for coal producers such as London-based Rio Tinto.

Bloomberg