Keith Johnson, blogging at the Wall Street Journal, has summarized an MIT symposium report on the massive challenges to be faced in retrofitting existing coal plants for zero emissions. The very first dot point in MIT’s seven-page PDF goes like this:
There is today no credible pathway towards stringent GHG stabilization targets without CO2 emissions reduction from existing coal power plants, and the United States and China are the largest emitters.
Of course, tackling the existing behemoths is just half the equation. Just as important is that moratorium on new coal plants.