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Friday, March 06, 2009
Environment - Clean coal in Illinois, coal gasification in Indiana
"New Life for 'Clean Coal' Project: Illinois Plant Was Abandoned by Bush; Now Its Backers Are in Power" is the headline to a lengthy story today in the Washington Post, reported by Kimberly Kindy. It begins:
Deep inside the economic stimulus package is a $1 billion prize that, in five short words, shows the benefits of being in power in Washington."Promise of saving millions: Coal-gas plant gaining traction" is the headline to a story today by Bryan Corbin of the Evansville Courier & Press. From the long story:The funding, for "fossil energy research and development," is likely to go to a power plant in a small Illinois town, a project whose longtime backers include a group of powerful lawmakers from the state, among them President Obama.
They were unable to prevent the "clean coal" research project known as FutureGen from being abruptly killed last year by the Bush administration, which had created it and promoted it across the world as an environmentally sound way to produce power.
But now those same Illinois legislators -- including Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, and Ray LaHood, now transportation secretary -- control the White House and hold key leadership positions in Washington, and FutureGen is on the verge of resurrection.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said yesterday that he would support the plant with "some modifications."
"I have to say, there are many, many good things about it," Chu said after testifying before a Senate committee.
If FutureGen lived up to its promises, it would revolutionize the use of coal. On what is now 400 acres of cornfields in Mattoon, Ill., backers plan to build a commercial-size power plant that would produce 275 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 150,000 homes. Instead of releasing the resulting carbon dioxide emissions into the air as pollution, however, the plant would pump them into deep geologic formations thousands of feet below Earth's surface.
The project's goal is to test and develop affordable technology, on a commercial scale, that can remove 90 percent of emissions produced by coal plants. Chu said he thinks that the plant -- which would be built with a group of private coal and utility companies known as the FutureGen Alliance -- will move forward with some changes that have not yet been determined and will become a part of larger "portfolio" of research plants developed with other countries.
The FutureGen plant is expected to create jobs, and backers are currently pushing it as a stimulus project that could employ as many as 11,000 workers. The alliance must compete for the stimulus funds, but Chu's support adds significant momentum to the effort.
FutureGen's destiny is being decided as the debate over clean coal technology takes center stage in Washington, drawing big money in lobbying fees and campaign contributions. More than $20 million has been spent to hire lobbying firms that have petitioned members of Congress on FutureGen and other clean coal issues, according to a Washington Post analysis. And employees of the energy companies in the FutureGen Alliance have donated $3 million to congressional and presidential candidates.
INDIANAPOLIS — The developer of the proposed coal-to-gas plant in Spencer County, Ind., is confident synthetic gas can be produced there less expensively than natural gas.There is much more to read in this story.So confident is Indiana Gasification LLC that it made a promise to state lawmakers Thursday: If the coal-gasification plant does not achieve $400 million in savings over 30 years from what natural gas would have cost, the company will turn the plant over to the state or pay the state $400 million.
Indiana Gasification is trying to get state lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow it to apply for federal loan guarantees to build the plant — something it says it cannot do without the state legislation.
Upping the ante seemed to work. After a five-hour hearing, an Indiana House committee approved the bill the developer is requesting, Senate Bill 423, which now moves to the full House.
Since 2006, the developer has wanted to build a coal-gasification plant near Rockport, Ind., that would convert high-sulfur local coal into a substitute form of natural gas. The pipeline-quality synthetic gas then would be purchased by utilities to serve their home-heating customers.
The scope of the project in Southwestern Indiana would be massive: A $2 billion investment employing 1,000 construction workers for 31/2 years, followed by a permanent operational staff of at least 200. * * *
Under Senate Bill 423 that Rep. Russ Stilwell is sponsoring in the House, the Indiana Finance Authority would act as a go-between for the plant and utilities. The agency would purchase synthetic gas from the plant and immediately resell it to the utilities at the same price under 30-year purchasing contracts. Using the state as a pass-through would mean utilities would avoid long-term accounting implications that thwarted the earlier proposal, witnesses testified.
William Rosenberg of Indiana Gasification told lawmakers that with a 30-year contract, the Indiana Finance Authority could lock in a price for the synthetic gas refined from coal that would serve as a hedge against volatile price spikes in the market for natural gas.
If the plant produces the gas as promised, it would be paid the state-approved amount. If it doesn't produce, utility ratepayers wouldn't pay for it, and the developer is on the hook, Rosenberg said.
Sweetening the deal, he said the gasification plant will track daily the difference between the agreed-upon synthetic-gas price and the fluctuating price for natural gas, and guarantee a savings over time.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 6, 2009 10:00 AM
Posted to Environment