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

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (710)	6/12/2007 6:32:38 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

Companies tap small Ohio area for coal-to-liquid fuel Meigs County could host 3 plants, $6B investment Cincinnati Business Courier - May 18, 2007 by Dan Monk Senior Staff Reporter masshightech.bizjournals.com^1463589 Meigs County seems an unlikely place for a construction boom. Nestled in the foothills of Southeast Ohio, this 26,000-person county is known for its floral trade, Civil War re-enactments and tourist destinations that tout themselves as being "light on commercialism, heavy on charm." But rising oil prices and a changing regulatory climate in Columbus and Washington, D.C., could make Meigs County Ohio's leading producer of coal-to-liquid fuel. Three companies are evaluating investments totaling $6 billion on the Meigs County riverfront. All would turn Ohio coal into diesel or other liquid fuels for use in power plants or to supply military contracts. "It's only in the last few years to where it's economically feasible to build plants like this. You need oil prices to be somewhere in the $50 per barrel range to make this profitable," said Perry Varnadoe, director of the Meigs County Economic Development Office. Mark Shanahan, executive director of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority and Gov. Ted Strickland's top energy adviser, called the proposed projects huge. "They're all different sizes, but they each talk about 200 to 300 full-time employees, 1,500 to 3,000 construction jobs." Shanahan said the trio of Meigs County projects fit nicely with the governor's strategy of making Ohio a national leader in energy innovation. Strickland told the Business Courier recently that he is "open to any effort to make Ohio more involved in energy research, innovation and production." The development of an ethanol infrastructure is one branch of that plan. Shanahan said Strickland's budget includes $1 million a year for subsidies to build E-85 fuel pumps. Ohio now has fewer than 40 ethanol service stations. "We're trying to get to 100 pumps statewide," he said. "In Ohio right now, we're in a chicken-egg scenario. We have (ethanol) production coming online. There are a little over 200,000 flex-fuel vehicles in the state. But we don't have the pumps yet." Beyond ethanol, Shanahan said the state is prepared to issue tax-free bonds and offer tax incentives to encourage investments in coal-to-liquid fuel plants, which one analyst estimated could emerge as a $22 billion a year market in the United States. Pavel Molchanov, who follows the industry for Raymond James Associates Inc., said the biggest impediment to growth is the massive capital investment required for such plants. But Congressional appetite is growing for new federal subsidies to encourage the industry's development. One bill now pending in the Senate calls for tax credits of up to $200 million and allows federal debt guarantees for new plant construction. It also encourages the U.S. military to sign long-term purchase contracts for coal-based diesel. The bill was co-sponsored by Northern Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning and Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat and presidential contender. "Given that the U.S. has the world's largest coal reserves, there is a substantial opportunity to make domestic (coal-to-liquid fuel production) a reality, especially in an environment of high oil prices and tight refining capacity," Molchanov wrote in a Jan. 22 report. Shanahan said Baard Energy LLC is planning a $4 billion coal-to-liquid fuels plant in Wellsville, south of Youngstown. A Boston company, CME International, wants to convert an existing plant near Ironton into a coal-to-liquid fuels facility, he added. But Meigs County has the most action in this arena. Varnadoe said two Columbus utilities, American Electric Power and American Municipal Power, are pursuing a pair of $1.5 billion power plants on a combined 2,200 acres of riverfront land. Both plants would be powered by liquid fuel made from coal. AEP is planning a 600 megawatt plant while AMP, a nonprofit that generates electricity for municipal governments, is planning a 1,000-megawatt facility. "Both wanted to start construction in 2009, but that's dependent on the permitting process," Varnadoe said. Los Angeles-based Rentech Inc. is at an earlier stage in the planning process. Varnadoe said the company has options on a 400-acre site for a $3 billion plant that would convert coal to diesel fuel for use by the military. A Rentech executive confirmed early talks with Meigs County officials but added that other sites are also being explored. "We like the business climate in Ohio," said Tom Sayles, Rentech's senior vice president for government affairs. "We're hopeful we can work something out." Environmental concerns also could emerge as an impediment for coal-to-liquid fuel plants, which "use large quantities of water and omit carbon dioxide," said J. Michael Horwitz, analyst for Pacific Growth Equities. But Horwitz added that diesel made from coal burns cleaner than petroleum-based diesel and newer plants can "use waste coal as feedstock," which benefits the environment.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (710)	3/15/2008 7:19:26 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1740

AEP To Wait For Clarity On Ohio Electricity Generation March 14, 2008: 04:56 PM EST money.cnn.com DOW JONES NEWSWIRES American Electric Power Co. (AEP) said it will have to wait for clarity about the future of electricity generation in Ohio before it determines if it can build an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plant in the state. According to the Columbus energy company, the Ohio Supreme Court "did not provide the clarity we need to move forward with construction of an IGCC plant in Ohio." American Electric reaffirmed its commitment to Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle generation and said it will continue to pursue it "in jurisdictions where there are conducive investment climates." The company had proposed to build a 629-megawatt Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle unit in Meigs County, Ohio. -Melissa Korn; 201-938-5400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires 03-14-08 1656ET Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.