BP and Rio Tinto have formed a new jointly-owned company, Hydrogen Energy, which will develop “decarbonized” energy projects around the world. The venture will initially focus on hydrogen-fueled power generation, using fossil fuels and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Decarbonized energy projects convert fossil fuel feedstocks such as coal,... Read more →

Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (SES), a coal gasification company, and Yima Coal Industry Group Co., Ltd. (YIMA), a large Chinese integrated coal company, have signed a preliminary agreement to establish a joint venture company to build and operate a new integrated coal gasification to methanol to Dimethyl Ether (DME) plant.... Read more →

Process flow diagram for coal-to-liquids production with associated carbon dioxide emissions. Click to enlarge. Leading academics from an interdisciplinary MIT panel issued a report last week that examines how the world can continue to use coal in a way that mitigates, instead of worsens, the global warming crisis. Led by... Read more →

Headwaters Incorporated and Great River Energy, an energy provider headquartered in Elk River, Minnesota, announced today the start-up of Blue Flint Ethanol LLC in Underwood, ND. The ethanol plant is co-located with the 1,100 MW Coal Creek Station and will use excess heat from the adjacent power plant to process... Read more →

China will join the Government Steering Committee of the FutureGen project, thereby making China the third country to join the United States in the FutureGen International Partnership. India joined in April 2006 and South Korea joined the FutureGen initiative in June 2006. The US and China also signed an Energy... Read more →

Des Moines Register. A report by Frontline BioEnergy in Ames, Iowa concludes that ethanol plants powered by coal release as much as 92% more carbon dioxide than those powered by natural gas. The City Council of Des Moines, Iowa, is trying to decide between two competing proposals for a $200-million,... Read more →

The Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) has awarded $1.15 million to four research projects into biofuel production and coal utilization with carbon sequestration. GCEP, which is administered at Stanford University, is a collaborative scientific and engineering effort of academic research institutions and industry. Its purpose is to conduct fundamental,... Read more →

FuelCell Energy, a leading manufacturer of stationary fuel-cell power generation systems, has finalized terms with the US Department of Energy (DOE) for a $36.2 million Phase I award to develop a coal-based, multi-megawatt solid oxide fuel cell-based hybrid power generation system. This award provides funding for the first stage of... Read more →

The Department of Energy announced funding for six cost-shared research and development projects investigating different aspects of coal-to-hydrogen production and the utilization of hydrogen or hydrogen/natural-gas mixtures in combustion engines. The total value of the six projects is nearly $18 million dollars, with DOE providing $12.9 million and industry partners... Read more →

A SEM image of in-situ microbes in coal. BASF Venture Capital America, Inc. is investing $3 million in LUCA Technologies. LUCA is developing a technology platform that uses microorganisms to reactivate or intensify the production of methane from finite fuels such as coal, shale or oil. (Earlier post.) LUCA is... Read more →

Synthesis Energy Systems and Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide announced the successful operation of the world’s first engine generator using synthesis gas (syngas) as fuel. The engine generator set, a 125kW Kohler engine based on a General Motors 8.1 liter V-8 block, successfully and repeatably produced stabilized power. The syngas... Read more →

Another major use for crude oil aside from transportation fuels is as the feedstock for the production of olefins (alkenes). Olefins include ethylene and propylene, and are the primary building blocks for products such as polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE, LLDPE), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene glycol, and SBR/PBR rubber. China is... Read more →

A Wyoming company has received a National Science Foundation Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to determine the technical feasibility and economic viability of the electrolytic production of hydrogen from coal-bed methane (CBM) water using power generated from wind turbines. In Ladd Energy’s concept, the electrolysis units would... Read more →

A team of researchers from China and Japan has concluded the first study comparing levels of organic aerosol particles in China’s newly developing midwestern cities with levels in older megacities such as Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The research confirms that most of the 14 cities studied have much higher... Read more →

In a speech today in Gliwice, Poland to a conference on the future EU energy mix, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that while the EU’s newly abundant coal reserves could offer security of supply, coal use must be accompanied by a reduced environmental impact, which means lower emissions. The... Read more →

In a speech to the National Press Club, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) called for a targeted reduction in oil consumption equivalent to 50% of imported oil by 2025—roughly equivalent to 8 million barrels per day. Achieving that goal is feasible, she argued, based on increased use of biofuels, greater vehicle... Read more →

Australia’s Linc Energy, which is partnering with Syntroleum Corporation on a coal-to-liquids (CTL) project in Australia that integrates Linc’s underground coal gasification (UCG) technology with Syntroleum’s air-based Fischer-Tropsch technology (earlier post), has closed its initial public offer (IPO) oversubscribed, raising $A22 million ($US16.97 million). Part of the funds will be... Read more →

As a follow-on to last week’s hearing on Coal Liquefaction (earlier post), the US Senate Committee on Energy and natural Resources convened a hearing Monday regarding the economic and environmental issues associated with coal gasification technology. Testifying at the hearing were: David Garman, Under Secretary of Energy for Energy, Science... Read more →

A synthetic jet fuel comparable to Jet A or military JP 8, but derived from at least 50% bituminous coal, has successfully powered a helicopter jet engine, according to a Penn State fuel scientist. The JP 900—on which the Penn State team has been working since the early 1990s—is produced... Read more →

Europe and China will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) this week on clean-coal technology during the 6th EU–China Energy Conference. The MoU will encourage the development of technology allowing the capture and underground storage of carbon dioxide emitted from coal-fired power stations. China is also keen to exploit coal... Read more →

DME is a component of China’s vision for coal utilization. Japan’s Toyo Engineering will design and build China’s first major coal-to-dimethyl ether (DME) with China’s Ningxia Coal Group in northwestern China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. DME can serve as a synthetic fuel that is to diesel what LPG is to... Read more →

Jilin Province China Daily. One of China’s top five power producers, China Power Investment Corp (CPIC), is planning to develop oil shale resources, in addition to expanding beyond coal-fired power generation into wind and nuclear. The State-owned electricity generator has inked a framework agreement with the local government in Jilin... Read more →