There were two columns in the Gazette this week that CTL is the wrong way to go, but apparently Rockefeller has not gotten the message. The requirement for carbon capture may make this moot, but it is still a dangerous precedent. See story below from Huntington News Net.
JBK
***** Oct. 6, 2007
Finance Committee Endorses Rockefeller Coal-to-Liquid Development Proposal
By HNN Staff
From Senator Rockefeller's Office
Washington, DC (HNN) – Late last night, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) brokered an agreement with members of the Senate Finance Committee to keep the development of coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology advancing in the right direction.
“Many of us have come to understand that a responsible energy policy requires us to harness all of our abundant natural resources, including coal, and to demand and help spawn clean technologies. Clean coal-to-liquids conversion can and should play a big part in achieving energy independence that is so critical to our national security,” Rockefeller said.
Specifically, Rockefeller worked with his colleagues to extend the alternative fuel tax credit for CTL development for three more years. To qualify, developers will need to demonstrate that they can capture 50 percent of the carbon emissions from a CTL facility over the next two years; then 75 percent by 2010. The agreement was reached as part of the Finance Committee’s deliberations on a major agricultural assistance bill that included tax incentives aimed at spurring rural development. The bill also includes tax incentives aimed at other alternative fuel research, such as ethanol and other biofuels, natural gas and wind power.
“There is no single alternative fuel source that will address our growing energy needs and lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy. We need to be investing in every solution and hold every solution to a high “green technology” standard. The responsible use of clean coal to meet our electricity and transportation needs must be in the mix,” Rockefeller said. “By including coal-to-liquids in this bill, we’re sending a signal to Wall Street and investors that coal conversion is a technology worth investing in.”
Senator Rockefeller has long-supported efforts that would promote CTL development and believes CTL can and must meet high environmental standards. As part of the Senate debate on the Energy Act of 2007, Senator Rockefeller supported efforts to begin a substantial federal government investment – along the lines of the Apollo space program – to begin researching and developing a workable carbon capture and sequestration solution.
Additionally, he’s working on legislation that would create a Future Fuels Corporation – a large scale joint government and private effort to finally solve carbon capture. Rockefeller noted that the ability to capture industrial carbon emissions will be the challenge of the coming decades and is crucial to addressing the problem of global climate change.
Rockefeller also promoted CTL development in legislation he authored earlier this year to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. The Senator is advocating for the creation of a national center of excellence to develop coal-to-jet fuel technologies. Rockefeller noted that several countries around the world already use fuels derived from coal with great success -- and the U.S. military has some projects underway, specifically, the Air Force is already testing the use of Appalachian coal-based jet fuels.
"Vickie Wolfe" wolfev@verizon.net 10/7/2007 5:06 PM >>>
Seen this? Finance Committee Endorses Rockefeller Coal-to-Liquid Development Proposal http://www.huntingtonnews.net/political/071006-staff-politicalrockefeller.ht...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vickie L. Wolfe 510 Rosemont Avenue South Charleston, WV 25303-2126 PHONE: (304) 744-8777 E-MAIL: wolfev@verizon.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Think coal-derived electricity is "cheap"? Visit http://www.appalachian-center.org/media/2006/vanity_fair_may06.pdf ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ When he was 10, Ralph Nader said, he came home from school and his father, a restaurant owner, demanded of him, "Well, Ralph, what did you learn today? Did you learn how to think? Or did you learn how to believe?"