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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gasification Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (262)	7/12/2006 9:21:21 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1740

Governor meets with another company about coal to gas By MATT GOURAS helenair.com HELENA - Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he met with another large energy company Tuesday, as he continues to court a firm to build a coal-to-fuel, or coal gasification, plant in Montana. Schweitzer said his meeting with the international engineering and plant construction company Lurgi AG went very well, and company executives told him Montana is an attractive place for a coal-to-fuel plant. The company said it could likely build a plant in Montana that converts low-grade lignite coal bought at $6 a ton into diesel that could be sold at $1.13 a gallon, Schweitzer said. The governor said plans are still in the very early stages, as he looks to get different companies interested that can finance the project, build and run the plant and use or sell the end product. He envisions various projects for diesel, aviation fuel, methanol and electricity production. Lurgi could be a lynchpin for a deal because the company has the "oldest and best" technology and is being courted around the world for its services, Schweitzer said. "They are very interested what we have as opportunities in Montana," the governor said. "Having a Lurgi as part of the consortium makes the project more bankable. "They agreed with me, Montana has the cheapest fuel in the world." Schweitzer, touting the "Fischer-Tropsch" process first developed in Germany during World War II, has taken some heat for his enthusiasm over building a coal gasification plant in Montana. Environmentalists said the technology is not as clean as it is purported to be, while political foes said the governor is not being realistic with his expectations. But the governor said Tuesday that talks with companies are going well, and none have asked for special tax breaks or changes to law as they look at such a project in Montana. Schweitzer said he ultimately envisions a number of such projects in Montana. The governor, who described his role as a "catalyst", said he still needs to firm up potential investors, firm up agreements for the use of whatever end product the chosen gasification plant makes and firm up deals with those who have expressed an interest in building the project. Schweitzer has met with such companies as the South African oil and gas company Sasol Ltd., and the Atlanta-based Southern Co., and General Electric about a similar plant. A service of the Associated Press(AP)