Tuesday January 8, 2008

http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/200801080203

Manchin to tout coal-to-liquid plants in address

Developers already looking for sites for five proposed facilities 

by Jake Stump

Daily Mail Capitol Reporter

West Virginia's energy independence could bank on the development of five

coal-to-liquid plants, which Gov. Joe Manchin hopes the state can

accommodate by 2030. 

Such an initiative serves as the cornerstone of the governor's new state

energy report designed to free West Virginia from reliance on foreign oil

imports. 

The governor is likely to tout the plan during his annual State of the
State

speech, which will be Wednesday evening at the state Capitol.

The five plants would ideally produce 20,000 barrels of liquid coal each
per

day. In the process, state coal production would increase by 15 percent,

according to the report. 

Developers have already been scouring sites in West Virginia for these
fuel

plants. Colorado-based Rentech Inc. had pledged to build a $1 billion

coal-to-liquid plant in Mingo County by 2012. 

"Realizing as a nation how we're facing real energy security challenges,
the

feeling is that coal is a way to resolve those issues," said Jeff
Herholdt,

director of the state Division of Energy.

Herholdt said 60 percent of the state's oil products come from imported

sources, accounting for 1.4 billion gallons of petroleum product yearly.
The

development of five coal-to-liquid plants would make up for that amount
if

they collectively produce 100,000 barrels a day. 

The state would likely replace oil with liquid fuel derived from coal,
the

report reads. 

To liquefy coal, it must be fired up to 1,000 degrees and mixed with water.

The gas created from that turns into fuel that can be used in cars and
jets.

The coal-to-liquid process, however, can be quite costly and intensive.
The

average price of building a plant is estimated at $4 billion, according
to a

Washington Post article. The state's report says only half of that, $2

billion, is needed to construct a 20,000-barrel-a-day coal-to-liquid plant.

Each plant would require roughly 4 million tons of coal a year. 

On the national scale, experts believe the process would require vast

amounts of water and 120 million tons of coal each year just to wean the

United States off of 1 million barrel of crude oil a day. 

The governor's report, however, states, "While our conventional oil
and gas

reserves could be materially depleted in decades, our nation's coal reserves

are plentiful." 

Another factor in reaching the governor's goal depends on the private

sector's willingness to start up a project in the state. 

Though the state is encouraging development of coal-to-liquid plants,

private companies would be largely responsible for funding such projects.

"It's a decision that industry would have to make in making that investment

and locating here," Herholdt said. 

In December 2006, Rentech Inc. and the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority

announced a joint development agreement to build a plant that would employ

up to 400 full-time workers. 

The plant would convert synthesis gas, a combination of hydrogen and carbon

monoxide produced from coal, into 3 million to 9 million barrels of

clean-burning transportation fuel annually. 

Construction is expected to take three years. Rentech and the redevelopment

authority are cooperating in developing, financing and owning the plant.

Herholdt noted that Vancouver, Wash.-based Baard Energy is another company

that could possibly build in West Virginia. 

Baard Energy has already announced plans for a $5 billion coal-to-liquids

plant in Wellsville, Ohio, near Hancock County. That plant would burn 70

percent coal and 30 percent biomass. The company has stated it would capture

and sequester 85 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions underground.

In addition to the vast amounts of water and coal needed for a successful

coal-to-liquid plant, a site would also need to be set on flat land,

Herholdt said. 

There are also environmental concerns to consider, he said. 

"The environmental side of the issue has caused the slowing down of
these

technologies," Herholdt said. 

Citing studies from groups such as the Idaho National Laboratory, Herholdt

said that rendering coal-to-liquid fuel has about the same environmental

impact as producing standard petroleum.

Several critics of this technology remain concerned. They contend that

liquid coal fuels generate twice the carbon dioxide of petroleum fuels.

Environmentalists have said Manchin's energy plan would do little to reduce

the release of greenhouse gases or to discourage mountaintop removal mining

methods.

Last year, coal production in West Virginia was 148 million tons. A 15

percent increase would bring that number to around 170 million tons. 

According to the state report, West Virginia ranks 9th per capita in total

energy consumption. 

Gas consumption is 2.3 million gallons per day; distillate fuel is 1.6

million gallons; liquefied petroleum gas is only 0.2 and jet fuel is .03.

Contact writer Jake Stump at jakest...@dailymail.com or 348-4842. 