Memo: Coal-to-Fuels Process Big Polluter

By Dennison, Mike

HELENA – Contrary to claims by Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a large coalto-liquid fuels plant in Montana would be a major polluter and wouldn’t do much to offset foreign fuel imports, says a memo prepared for one of the state’s leading conservation groups.

The memo, prepared for the Northern Plains Resource Council, says a plant the size being promoted by the governor would create thousands of tons per year of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, solid waste and other pollutants – as well as use huge amounts of water.

The memo was written by John Smillie, program director and researcher for the Western Organization of Resource Councils in Billings, an umbrella group that does training and planning for the NPRC and similar groups in the region.

He based most of his numbers on a similar plant in South Africa, owned and operated by Sasol, an international petrochemicals firm.

One of the governor’s top advisers, however, said Tuesday that processes used at the South African plant are “old technology” and that Schweitzer believes newer technology can convert coal to diesel fuel more cleanly.

“The governor has said from the beginning, if this cannot be done cleanly, he’s not interested in it,” said Eric Stem, senior counselor to the governor. “The question is: Does the party doing it make that commitment? We’re going to make that commitment.”

Sasol said they would “never use that (old) technology right now.”

For several months, Schweitzer has been promoting the idea of using Montana coal to produce diesel fuel, using a Fischer-Tropsch process first developed in Germany during World War II.

He became interested in the process after talking to U.S. defense officials in Washington, D.C., who have said they would buy the fuel to run military equipment and machinery.

Eastern Montana has massive, undeveloped coal fields, and using them to produce diesel fuel can help ease the country’s dependence on foreign oil, provide thousands of jobs, and do it all with minimal environmental impact, Schweitzer has said.

The NPRC memo argues otherwise, saying the South African plant has been a huge polluter, citing information from the company’s own reports. It also says Sasol is in the process of substituting natural gas for coal in its liquid fuels plant to reduce the pollution caused by using coal.

“That plant was so polluting that they are now converting it to natural gas (instead of coal) to cut the pollution,” said Helen Waller, a Circlearea farmer and NPRC member. “We are not aware of any (synthetic fuels) plant that has been built anywhere else using any sort of technology that would cut out the pollution.”

Waller and several other environmentalists and farmers plan to meet today with Schweitzer’s staff to ask how the governor can claim a coal-to-liquid fuels plant would be mostly pollution-free.

“If the governor or his staff know something we dont know, this is his opportunity to level with us,” she said.

Stem said some leading environmental groups have given “positive reviews” to converting coal to fuel if the process can “sequester” pollutants such as carbon dioxide and mercury.

“He’s talked with a number of environmentalists nationally,” Stem said of Schweitzer. “We look forward to having a continued discussion with environmentalists.”

Northern Plains, based in Billings, has frequently opposed development of coal and coalbed methane, a form of natural gas. It often argues that such development threatens agricultural land use in Eastern Montana.

Waller said the state should concentrate on developing cleaner energy that will help rather than threaten agriculture, such as biofuels, wind power and ethanol.

Copyright Billings Gazette Oct 12, 2005