Review of the latest research on coal, environment, and clean technologies.

Fossil fuels, coal in particular, are indispensable sources of energy necessary for today's technological and economical progress throughout the world. Their burning releases numerous environmental contaminants, like CO2, SO2, and a range of organic and inorganic compounds. Arguably, however, and despite the fact that these emissions have resulted in air pollution and regional acid rain problems, there is no evidence yet of their usage completely replaced by a low-CO2- producing energy source. Coal, due to its unique composition and characteristics, has been actively investigated by scientists and technologists from various disciplines in a search for economically valuable metals and medically active substances. Also, coal is used universally for the fabrication of new nanomaterials in laboratories, and utilized in wastetreatment and clean-coal technologies. The aim of this paper is to focus on the latest advancements in coal research of leading international scientists from India, China, and the USA. Also, this paper is briefly presenting selected papers of several Indian and Croatian research groups addressing environmental issues and emerging waste-treatment technologies. Although the two countries are different from a geographical, historical, economical, and industrial point of view, they both have been linked with coal extraction and its usage in power generation and associated heavy industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fosilna goriva, posebno ugljen, nužni su izvori energije potrebni za današnji tehnološki i ekonomski napredak diljem svijeta. Njihovim spaljivanjem oslobađaju se brojni onečišĆivači okoliša, poput CO2, SO2, te niz organskih i anorganskih spojeva. Međutim, iako su te emisije rezultirale zagađenjem zraka i problemima regionalnih zakiseljavanja oborina, ipak se ne može dokazati da je njihova uporaba u potpunosti zamijenjena izvorom energije koji bi ispuštao niske razine CO2. Ugljen, zbog jedinstvenoga sastava i obilježja, aktivno istražuju znanstvenici i tehnolozi iz različitih disciplina u potrazi za ekonomski vrijednim metalima i medicinski aktivnim tvarima. Isto tako, ugljen se rabi u izradi novih nanomaterijala u laboratorijima te za potrebe tehnologija obrade otpadnih voda i proizvodnje čistoga ugljena. Cilj rada bio je usredoto- čiti se na najnovija dostignuĆa istraživanja ugljena vodeĆih međunarodnih znanstvenika iz Indije, Kine i SAD-a. Također, u radu su ukratko predstavljeni odabrani radovi nekoliko indijskih i hrvatskih istraživačkih skupina koje se bave pitanjima zaštite okoliša i novih tehnologija za obradu otpada. Iako se dvije zemlje razlikuju u zemljopisnome, povijesnome, ekonomskome i industrijskome smislu, obje su pridobivale ugljen i primjenjivale ga u proizvodnji električne energije te pripadajuĆim teškim industrijama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]