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Manchin Wants Conversion Plant: ; Facility Could Turn Coal into Products Like Diesel or Natural Gas

Posted on: Saturday, 15 October 2005, 00:00 CDT

By Scott Finn

sfinn@wvgazette.com

Gov. Joe Manchin launched an initiative Thursday to build a "coal conversion" plant in West Virginia.

This new type of plant could turn coal into several products, including diesel fuel, jet fuel, natural gas, chemicals, and even hydrogen, he said.

Hurricane Katrina revealed just how fragile American oil and natural gas supplies are. Liquid fuel from coal, a technology that's been around for decades, is beginning to make economic sense, Manchin said.

"We need to take action to rectify our dependency, especially on foreign oil," he said. "We can't sit back and wait for someone on the national level to do something."

Other states have launched plans to turn coal into liquid fuel or natural gas. Manchin said his plan is different because the West Virginia facility would be a "poly-gen" plant, flexible enough to produce different products at different times.

A similar plant run by Eastman Chemical in Kingston, Tenn., already produces chemicals from coal, said Ken Nemeth, executive director of the nonprofit Southern States Energy Board.

The West Virginia plant also would have the ability to trap carbon dioxide before it enters the atmosphere, Nemeth said.

The federal government has poured billions into such projects since the 1970s, according to the U.S. General Accountability Office.

Despite a few successes, many clean-coal projects "experienced problems and difficulties in meeting cost, schedule and performance," the GAO said in a 2000 report.

Nemeth said things are different now. Energy prices are soaring and technologies have improved, making such plants more feasible.

The plant would be a public-private partnership, according to Pat Esposito of Morgantown, whom Manchin appointed to help lead the initiative.

Some funding could come from the U.S. Department of Energy, whose "FutureGen" project seeks to build a zero-emissions power plant somewhere in the U.S.

The state Public Energy Authority could sell bonds to lend money to the project, Esposito said, and private investors also will be involved.

Earlier this year, Manchin and state lawmakers resurrected the long-moribund Public Energy Authority. They restored the agency's power to take property for private construction projects and sell bonds to finance private construction projects.

Former Gov. Arch Moore started the agency in the 1980s to build more power plants. The agency completed only one project, a controversial Morgantown power plant.

Norm Steenstra, executive director of West Virginia Citizen Action Group, opposed the Morgantown plant. He questions whether environmental regulations will be enforced regarding this new plant.

"This state already does not have the political will to enforce environmental protections," he said. "If this process is expedited, we'll be giving big coal everything it has ever wanted."

Manchin promised to speed up the permitting process for the new plant. Also, the state Department of Environmental Protection would do some work in advance to prepare for the project.

For example, the state might try to reduce air pollution from other sources in certain counties to make room for the new plant, said DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer.

Also, the agency could test the water at potential sites before a permit application is made, she said.

She said the advance work would not prevent regulators from ensuring environmental laws are followed in the construction or operation of the plant.

The state Development Office will look for potential sites for such a plant, Manchin said. No particular site has been chosen yet.

It is unclear how long it may take before construction could begin on the project. Manchin promised taxpayers would see significant results of the initiative next year.

To contact staff writer Scott Finn, use e-mail or call 357-4323.

Source: Charleston Gazette, The

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