Clean power generation from the intractable natural coalfield fires: Turn harm into benefit

The coal fires, a global catastrophe for hundreds of years, have been proved extremely difficult to control, and hit almost every coal-bearing area globally. Meanwhile, underground coal fires contain tremendous reservoir of geothermal energy. Approximately one billion tons of coal burns underground annually in the world, which could generate ~1000 GW per annum. A game-changing approach, environmentally sound thermal energy extraction from the intractable natural coalfield fires, is being developed by utilizing the waste energy and reducing the temperature of coalfield fires at the same time. Based on the Seebeck effect of thermoelectric materials, the temperature difference between the heat medium and cooling medium was employed to directly convert thermal energy into clean electrical energy. By the time of December 2016, the power generation from a single borehole at Daquan Lake fire district in Xinjiang has been exceeded 174.6 W. The field trial demonstrates that it is possible to exploit and utilize the waste heat resources in the treated coal fire areas. It promises a significant impact on the structure of global energy generation and can also promote progress in thermoelectric conversion materials, geothermal exploration, underground coal fires control and other energy related areas.