The future looks bright for renewable energy. Oil has reached $100 a barrel, numerous alternative energy companies are being founded and environmental awareness is at an all-time high. However, our sustainable energy future exists on unstable grounds. The natural descendent of our petroleum-based economy is not solar, wind or biomass, but coal.

The United States is the most coal-rich country in the world, holding 27.1 percent of the world’s proven coal reserves. In comparison, Saudi Arabia only holds 22 percent of the world’s oil. In 2006 alone, the United States produced more than a billion tons of coal. We are simply being buried in a mountain of coal.

Almost all of this supply is used for electrical generation, supplying 49 percent of the industry. However, a wide variety of technologies exist for utilizing coal in other ways. Sasol, a South African company, perfected a technique that converts coal to gasoline or diesel. This method supplied their country with fuel during apartheid.

Another process, called gasification, can turn coal into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which can be used as a substitute for natural gas or converted to a feedstock in the production of plastics.

The coal industry is trying to become even more green. A vast array of “clean” coal technologies is being developed to make coal a more palatable fuel in an environmentally conscious world. These range from removing traditional pollutants, such as particulates and nitrogen oxides, to reducing greenhouse gases through carbon sequestration. However, none of these methods bring coal anywhere close to most renewable energy sources in environmental cleanliness. Most of them do not actually reduce the pollution but rather change it to a more acceptable form.

Many coal mines are also plagued by acid mine drainage. This occurs when pyrite, commonly known as “fool’s gold,” is exposed to air and water. This forms sulfuric acid that drains into local waterways. Some of the most acidic water on this planet was formed in this manner. An old copper mine located outside of Redding, Calif., contained water with a pH level of 0.5.

However, it is not only the pollution of coal that makes it unattractive. The most advanced plants in operation today are only around 35 percent efficient, meaning that 65 percent of the energy in the coal is being wasted. Newer technologies claim that they can be more efficient, but most of them have not yet been proven.

Renewable energy is the best alternative to this coal-dominated future, but it is not being given a fair chance to succeed. In 1999, renewable energy sources got $1.1 billion in federal subsidies. This may seem large, but in that same year oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy combined received $3.4 billion. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 handed out $8.7 billion in tax reductions to various nonrenewable industries, while only giving $4 billion to renewable sources. Subsidies for clean coal technology beat both increased energy efficiency and alternative motor vehicles.

Solar, wind and biomass simply cannot compete with existing technologies that are being subsidized in greater amounts. This has to stop or we will simply replace one nonrenewable and dirty resource with another.

The first step is for the government to stop favoring existing industries using nonrenewable resources. It seems silly for the federal government to continue to subsidize industries that have been around for decades and are extremely profitable. I think that after 50 years, Shell Exxon-Mobil and BP can take care of themselves without government handouts.

The amount of money spent on alternative energy research is nowhere near what is necessary to catch up with coal. If we can spend $1.6 billion on clean coal technology, we can definitely afford to spend a much greater amount on sustainable energy research.

Finally, there needs to be a comprehensive plan that heavily encourages people to switch to renewable sources, such as a carbon tax combined with tax credits for greater conservation or for switching to alternative energy. More importantly, it needs to be the most significant part of our energy policy.

Without a serious commitment to changing course, coal is likely going to be the dominant source of energy. It will power our homes, fuel our cars, and make our plastics. If we do not act now, our future will be as black as the coal we burn.

[Reach columnist Mike Noon at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.]