August 22, 2008

In this update: 

• New CTL Montana project announced
• CONSOL Energy unveils plans for West Virginia CTL plant
• New bipartisan Senate energy proposal promotes CTL fuels
• President Bush touts CTL fuels in West Virginia speech
• Become a CTL grassroots supporter
• Stay up-to-date on the latest news reports spotlighting CTL

New CTL Montana project announced

Montana's Crow Nation and Australian-American Energy Company (AECC) this month announced they will jointly construct a $7 billion coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels plant in southeastern Montana.  Plans for the plant were unveiled on Aug. 8, with 2016 announced as the likely date for the start of production at the plant.

The "Many Stars Project" is aiming to use 38,000 tons of coal per day to produce 50,000 barrels of CTL fuel per day and will provide up to 4,000 jobs during construction and 900 permanent jobs. Ultimately, plant production could be ramped up to reach 125,000 barrels per day.

"This project means supplying American energy produced by American workers to the country," said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) in an Aug. 8 statement. Schweitzer said the plant will be a "huge step in ensuring energy security for the United States" and praised the plant's ability to cleanly utilize coal.

"We made a decision to pursue this type of clean-coal project because it provides long-term economic and social benefits for our people for many generations to come," said Crow Chairman Carl Venne in a joint Aug. 8 press release with AECC.

"The Many Stars project is important on so many levels," said AECC Chairman Allan Blood. "It provides good jobs in a part of Montana that needs them, it helps address U.S. dependence on foreign fuels and it will demonstrate this is a technology that can be used in a way that addresses environmental concerns."

Blood noted that the project design calls for capturing carbon dioxide for geo-sequestration and supply to enhanced-oil recovery projects to provide an environmentally responsible project and create additional energy opportunities in otherwise declining regional oil fields.

According to Blood, AAEC has already completed its initial feasibility study for the project and will begin the environmental permitting process later this year, with construction expected to begin in 2012.

A copy of the joint Aug. 8 press release is available here.

A copy of Gov. Schweitzer's press statement is available here.

CONSOL Energy unveils plans for West Virginia CTL plant

CONSOL Energy Inc. and Synthesis Energy Systems Inc., a leading global industrial gasification company, recently unveiled plans to develop a coal gasification and liquefaction plant in West Virginia.

On July 28, the companies announced they would jointly fund development activities for the plant, including a front-end engineering and design (FEED) package. The FEED will include a carbon management strategy that will focus on underground carbon storage using a deep saline aquifer.

The plant is expected to utilize coal to produce methanol, which will then be refined into approximately 100 million gallons annually of 87 octane gasoline.  The plant will also produce approximately 720,000 metric tons per year of methanol for use as a chemical industry feedstock.  The plant will be built in Benwood, W.Va.

"This project has the potential to transform West Virginia from a major coal producing state to a national energy center as well," said CONSOL President and CEO J. Brett Harvey. "By converting some of our region's abundant, high-Btu coal into gases and liquids, not only will we create economic value for the state, but we will help West Virginia become the linchpin of American energy security," Harvey said.

"Technological solutions like this plant at Benwood will lead to more environmentally friendly ways to use our coal and hold the key to America's energy security," said West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) in a July 28 statement.

"We're poised to be a national leader. We're going to be a global leader. And we're ready to blaze the trail that will put our country on the path to energy security, to greater economic growth - and to a better way of life," said U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

"West Virginia has the coal, the brains, and the determination to meet that challenge and demonstrate to the world that we intend to be part of the solution," said U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

A CONSOL press release is available here.

Gov. Manchin's statement is available here.

A copy of Sen. Rockefeller's statement is available here.

New bipartisan Senate energy proposal promotes CTL fuels
 

A new bipartisan Senate energy proposal designed to promote the use of alternative and non-conventional transportation fuels includes provisions meant to accelerate the domestic production of coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels. The proposal will likely be the focus of an energy summit Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) wants to hold next month.

The "New Energy Reform Act" (New ERA), unveiled Aug. 1, was developed by the so called Group of 10, comprised of five Democrat senators and five Republican senators.  They are: Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). 

The proposal supports providing grants and loan guarantees to help develop domestic CTL plants capable of capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions. To qualify for the grants and loan guarantees, CTL plants must produce fuels with lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions below those of the fuels they replace.

In addition, the proposal also calls for a tax credit for carbon dioxide used in enhanced oil recovery operations (EOR), where carbon is shipped via pipeline to nearly depleted oil fields and then pumped underground to help free difficult to reach oil. The carbon then remains trapped underground in the rock space vacated by the freed oil. The first fleet of domestic CTL plants would use EOR as a technique for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

At present, the New ERA proposal has not been drafted into legislative language.

A summary of the proposal is available here.

President Bush touts CTL fuels in West Virginia speech

President Bush recently stressed the key role that coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels can play in lessening the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

In a July 31 speech to the West Virginia Coal Association's annual meeting in White Sulphur, W.Va., the president said  CTL fuels are a "really promising source of energy, so we can power our automobiles and become less dependent on foreign energy."

A complete copy of the president's speech is available here.

Become a CTL grassroots supporter

The Coal-to-Liquids Coalition is working to build a strong network of grassroots supporters willing to contact federal and state lawmakers to voice their support for measures meant to spur the domestic production of affordable, clean-burning CTL fuels.  CTL grassroots supporters can include company employees, union members, retirees, their families, friends and others spread across the country who share a personal stake in the successful launch of a domestic CTL industry.

A robust CTL grassroots network can be an invaluable tool in helping to increase the bipartisan support for legislation designed to jumpstart the production of ultra-clean CTL fuels.  

 To become a grassroots supporter visit: http://capwiz.com/futurecoalfuels/home/.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news reports spotlighting CTL

Through its web site, www.futurecoalfuels.org, the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition collects news stories from across the country that feature the latest information on how coal-to-liquid fuels will help reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and yield important environmental benefits.  For access to recent CTL news items, please visit: http://www.futurecoalfuels.org/news.asp.