Zero-carbon-emission coal fuel cell directly creates electricity; avoids cycle of: burning coal/ creating heat/ boiling water/ spinning turbine

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/chinas-converts-coal-into-electricity

"coal pulverized, dried, purified increasing reactivity, fed into anode, oxygen fed into cathode, electrochemical reaction occurs across oxide membrane: electrons stripped from coal's carbon atoms creating electric current... CO2 byproduct concentrated/ pure, captured, converted into stable solids like baking soda or used as feedstock for syngas... >50% efficient... scaling to GW-scale power plant involves  engineering; oxide membrane durability/ catalyst costs"