Coal Companies Partner with DOE in New Carbon Capture Center

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the creation of a new National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) that will develop and test technologies to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) from coal-fueled power plants.

Managed and operated by Southern Company Services Inc., DOE said the center is expected to focus national efforts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through technological innovation. In addition to DOE and Southern Company, participants in the NCCC project include Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, Rio Tinto, American Electric Power, Luminant and the Electric Power Research Institute.

In a May 27 release, DOE said Southern Company will establish and manage the NCCC at the Power Systems Development Facility in Wilsonville, Ala. The center will enable testing and analysis at a scale large enough to provide meaningful data under real operating conditions.

“Coal continues to be the fastest-growing fuel in the world, and carbon capture and storage will be essential to meet any carbon dioxide emissions goals in a cost-effective manner,” said Peabody Chairman and CEO Gregory H. Boyce in a May 27 statement.

“As a partner in the National Carbon Capture Center, we will help drive new energy technologies that will allow the United States to meet both its environmental and economic goals,” Steven F. Leer, Arch Coal's chairman and chief executive officer, said in May 27 release.

More information is available at: DOE NCCC Project.

Construction Agreement for Zero-Emission Coal-Fuel Power Plant

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the FutureGen Alliance on June 12 announced an agreement to proceed with construction of the world’s first zero-emissions coal-fueled power plant at Mattoon, Ill. Contingent upon an acceptable total project cost and funding, the alliance expects to begin equipment procurement and construction in 2010.

The agreement follows several months of discussions between officials from DOE and the alliance, a consortium of leading U.S. and global coal producers and electric utilities.

The FutureGen project was unveiled in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush. It was intended to be a joint venture between the federal government and the alliance. However, early in 2008 the Bush Administration reneged on its commitment to fund the project as originally envisioned, leaving it to the alliance and congressional supporters to fight for the project.

Under the agreement reached last week, DOE will provide $1.073 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the nearly $790 billion stimulus bill President Obama signed into law earlier this year. DOE will also provide previously appropriated federal funds. In addition, the agreement calls for the alliance and DOE to work together through the rest of 2009 to refine the facility’s design to reduce costs and technical risk.

In a June 12 statement, the alliance said several technology configurations will be considered, saying that upcoming discussions with equipment vendors, the project’s engineering team and economic factors will shape the final design of the facility.

“The FutureGen project holds great promise as a flagship facility to demonstrate carbon capture and storage at commercial scale,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on June 12. “Developing this technology is critically important for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and around the world.”

“In my time in Congress, I can’t recall a project that has greater scientific and practical significance than FutureGen, not to mention the enormous economic benefit it will have in Illinois,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

“The alliance is extremely grateful to Secretary Chu and DOE, for the tremendous support and tenacity of Sen. Durbin and project champions on Capitol Hill,” Future- Gen Alliance CEO Michael Mudd said on June 12. “The jobs created at FutureGen will result in important technology to reduce emissions from coal-fueled power plants at home and around the world ... so future generations can have cleaner energy for a secure future.”

More information is available at: DOE FutureGen Announcement.

More information is available at: FutureGen Alliance Statement.

American Minerals and Manufacturers Key to Lithium Car Batteries

Nearly 200 American manufacturers recently filed applications with the Department of Energy (DOE) to take part in a major new federal initiative designed to turn the U.S. into a world leader in lithium automotive battery production. The project will place America’s vast mineral wealth at the forefront of efforts to develop new automotive technologies capable of dramatically reducing emissions and lessening the nation’s dependence on imported oil.

When he announced the project earlier this year, President Obama stressed that the new funds help will “put Americans back to work.”

In addition, the initiative expands the key role domestic minerals play in ensuring the nation’s well-being. Aside from home, school and transportation system construction, American minerals are widely used to enable the development and use of advanced technologies, including laptop computers and mobile phones.

Late last month, 165 U.S. firms submitted applications seeking funding under a new $2.4 billion project created as part of the nearly $790 billion economic stimulus bill President Obama signed into law earlier this year.

Companies and state governments applying for funding could learn within a month whether their funding applications have been approved. Those seeking funds have proposed sites for new plants that will produce lithium-ion batteries, which have emerged as the leading choice to power future electric cars because they are lighter and more powerful than current battery technology.

A 2008 study suggested that a new U.S. lithium battery market could be worth more than $150 billion annually by 2030.

More information is available at: DOE Lithium Battery Project.

More information on the importance of American minerals is available at: Minerals: America’s Strength (pdf).

Cap and Trade CO₂ Bill Set for House Vote
Aggressive Mandates to Cost Jobs and Increase Energy Bills

The U.S. House of Representatives are set to vote as early as June 26 on sweeping legislation designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases through the imposition of a new economy wide cap-and-trade emissions program.

The bill’s cap-and-trade program requires U.S. carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions to ultimately be cut 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. In reaching that goal, the bill requires emissions to drop 17 percent by 2020 and 42 percent by 2030.

The bill also saddles coal-fueled electric utilities with an onerous performance standard that requires plants permitted after Jan. 1, 2009, to reduce CO₂ emissions by 50 percent, with plants permitted after Jan. 1, 2020, required to slash CO₂ emissions by 65 percent.

In a May 20 letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which was referenced during committee deliberations on the bill, National Mining Association President and CEO Hal Quinn warned that the bill mandates sharp near-term emission reductions before needed new technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, can be deployed. “The result will be devastating losses of high-paying mining jobs, higher energy costs for businesses and the exporting of American business and jobs to countries that do not require similar greenhouse gas emission reductions,” said Quinn.

To be effective, Quinn stressed that climate change policies must address global emissions and accelerate the development and commercial deployment of advanced clean coal and CCS technologies, saying the bill needed to provide sufficient and reliable funding to accelerate the development of such technologies.

Arch Coal Announces Scholarship Winners; Honors Teachers

The Arch Coal Foundation recently honored 11 high school graduates as the 2009 Arch Coal Scholars. The Arch Coal Scholars program recognizes outstanding scholastic achievement by the children of employees of Arch Coal, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Arch Coal is one of the largest coal producers in the country, providing the fuel for 6 percent of all U.S. electricity.

In recognition of the 20th year of the program, the foundation increased the annual scholarship to $2,000, an increase of 25 percent, for each scholar to apply to an accredited college or university for up to four years.

“Arch Coal is pleased to have the opportunity to honor such an outstanding group of graduates,” said Steven F. Leer, Arch Coal’s chairman and CEO.

This year’s top Arch Coal Scholar, Andrew Astin, received the Kendra Bradley Washburn Memorial Scholarship.

Astin was student body president, vice president of the National Honor Society, president of the Key Club and Western Slope League 3A All-Conference football player at Delta High School, Delta, Colo. He will attend the University of Colorado this fall, where he plans to major in integrative physiology.

Separately, 12 West Virginia teachers were recently honored with 2009 Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards.

In addition to recognition, award recipients receive a $3,500 unrestricted cash prize, a distinctive trophy and a classroom plaque. The West Virginia Foundation for the Improvement of Education (WVFIE), a foundation operated by the West Virginia Education Association, makes a $1,000 award to recipients from public schools, for use with at-risk students.

The awards are the longest running, privately sponsored teacher recognition program in West Virginia. More than 400 teacher nominations were made by the public this school year.

A complete list of scholarship winners is available at: Scholarship Winners.

A complete list of Teacher Achievement Award winners is available at: Award Winners.