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To: Eric who wrote (142042)11/21/2010 2:42:20 AM
From: elmatador  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 206138
 
See what TJ says.
Message 26976109



To: Eric who wrote (142042)11/21/2010 1:50:58 PM
From: LoneClone1 Recommendation  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 206138
 
End of coal power in W Europe if carbon capture fails – IEA

miningweekly.com

By: Martin Creamer
18th November 2010

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – If carbon capture and storage (CCS) fails as a method of providing clean coal, it will probably mean the end of coal-fired electricity generation in Western Europe, International Energy Agency (IEA) Clean Coal Centre manager Robert Davidson tells Mining Weekly Online.

Davidson estimates that the success or failure of CCS, which is aimed at preventing global climate-changing carbon dioxide (CO2) from entering the atmosphere, is likely be known by 2013.

Davidson, who addressed the Fossil Fuel Foundation of Africa in Johannesburg, says that Western Europe is relying on CCS to transition coal from being a dirty unacceptable fuel to being a clean one that can be allowed to continue to fuel electricity generation.

"Certainly in Western Europe, it's the only way. If carbon capture and storage doesn't work, it probably means the end of coal-fired power generation in Western Europe," Davidson, who is the UK-based Clean Coal Centre's carbon capture and coal science manager, tells Mining Weekly Online in a video interview.

CCS involves removing CO2 from flue gas streams in conventional power plants, transporting the CO2 in liquefied form in pipelines and then injecting the gas into underground disposal sites at least 800 m deep.

The indications are that the CO2 will then remain underground permanently, as natural gas does prior to being extracted.

Davidson cites three main methods of capturing CO2 from power stations.The first method is to absorb the CO2 as a solvent, the second is to use oxy-fuel combustion, and the third, which cannot be applied to existing power plants, is to use integrated gasification combined-cycle power plants and capture the CO2 before the coal has been burnt.

Davidson believes that it is unlikely that large-scale use will be found for the captured CO2 stored in the ground.

As CO2 is the highest oxidation state of carbon, there is very little that can be done chemically to create a potential revenue stream from the carbon.

South African CCS Centre executive Sibbele Hietkamp, who also addressed the Fossil Fuel Foundation conference on clean coal, says that a scoping study for the establishment of the undertaking of a test injection of CO2 into the ground is likely to begin in South Africa in early 2011.

South Africa's CCS Centre falls under the South African National Energy Research Institute.

"We plan to start in January. We have looked at a number of consortiums and we have chosen one of them to start work on the test-injection project," Hietkamp tells Mining Weekly Online in the same video interview.

The scoping study is expected to take nine months, after which preparations will begin for the actual injection of CO2 into the ground in 2016.

Heitkamp says that the construction of a demonstration plant is then scheduled for 2020.

"There will have to be transport from where the CO2 is generated to where it is actually going to be stored," he says.



To: Eric who wrote (142042)11/22/2010 6:51:09 AM
From: Dennis Roth3 Recommendations  Respond to of 206138
 
Commodity Heap
Coking Coal – Continuing supply disruptions augurs well for 1Q11
settlement prices
19 November 2010 - 15 pages
citigroupgeo.com

Coking coal spot prices rallying — Spot hard coking coal prices having been
rising in recent weeks (see Figure 1) with some transactions are being done
higher than the $209/mt benchmark settled for the fourth quarter period. They
are also significantly higher than the levels seen leading into the last price
negotiation (where they were trading around $185/t). Chinese prices are also
moving higher and the arbitrage is re-opening.

Prices driven by seasonal effect — This has been driven partly by seasonal
weather disruptions (particularly in Australia and China) although blast furnace
start-ups and a China winter re-stock have also been strong contributors. But
the longer term issue of a lack of quality coking coal projects continues to hang
over the market and will remain supportive of contract prices going forward.

1Q11 settlements should exceed $230/t — Sentiment remains bullish with
most participants an industry event in Hong Kong this week expecting higher
prices to be discussed during next week’s negotiations. With the outlook of
further supply disruptions (including forecasts for extensive rain in coal
producing regions in Asia), we believe prices for high quality hard coking
brands for 1Q11 will settle at levels above $230/t.

-----------

Coal
Industry Overview
Alert: EIA September Flash, Coal Inventories Increase and
Remain High Despite the Weather Tailwind
21 November 2010 - 5 pages
citigroupgeo.com

Our Take, Still Cautious on Thermal Coal — With coal burn trailing historical
norms and inventories tracking above our model, US thermal coal fundamentals
remain weak. Barring a surge in natural gas, we do not see a positive catalyst for
Eastern coal pricing beyond a cost-push.