ucga UPDATE


Quarterly Newsletter for Members of the UCG Association

ISSUE 15, January 2010

UCG Partnership

5th International Conference on

Underground Coal Gasification

Deloitte, New Street Square, London

23rd -24th March 2010.

Drinks Reception and Networking Dinner at The Tower Hotel

Hear from the world’s leading UCG experts and foremost

practioners.

The definitive conference on Underground Coal Gasification.

Our flagship two day event will reflect the increased level of global interest, activity, research and studies

plus news on all the existing and emerging UCG projects. We address the relevant issues and challenges

facing the UCG community and provide the only high-level forum for exchange of information and expertise.

The full programme has now been finalised and is available at:

www.ucgp.com/conference or contact Julie Lauder, julie.lauder@ucgp.com

This event offers unparalleled networking for all in UCG and the Networking Dinner is a must for

everyone attending.

Workshop Day

A full programme of topics including: UCG – CCS,IEA Clean Coal UCG Report, Coiled Tube Drilling Techniques,

Hydrogeology, UCG Chamber Design, Impact of UCG at depths Review of UCGA/UCGP.

Conference Day

The UCGP Conference provides the most up to date reports on UCG projects and studies from around the

world, and the opportunity to network with the most prominent in the UCG community. Topics include:

Bloodwood Creek update, ENN UCG project, UCG in Botswana, Syngas Resource, Funding and Legal

aspects of UCG.

Speakers include: Prof. Efrim Kreynin, Gazprom. Dr.John Topper, IEA Clean Coal Centre, Dr Cliff Mallett,

Carbon Energy. Dr Elizabeth Burton, LLNL. Mike Fowler, Clean Air Task Force, Peter Dryburgh, Wardell

Armstrong, Dr Feng Chen, ENN China. Lionel Boillot, EU. Dr. Alexander Kronimus, TNO, Peter Sallans,

Liberty Resources, Dr Shaun Lavis, Clean Coal.

The Two Day Conference & Workshop is free to all Members wishing to

attend - but you must register to secure a place.

After many requests from Members and conference attendees we will be holding our First Networking

Dinner. The cost of the dinner, which includes wine is £100.00 per head. Pre dinner drinks and canapés

at a private reception in Tower Hotels XI, with stunning views of Tower Bridge, followed by a Three Course

Dinner, Coffee, Petit Fours, VAT is also included.

Places are limited to 100 so book early – non conference attendees

welcome.

Not a member? Join Today! If you or one of your colleagues would

like to join us we offer not only the chance to add your voice to a

growing number working in the same sector and the opportunity

to engage in projects at an early stage.

Conference Drinks Reception

and Dinner

Tower Hotel, London

23rd March 2010

Conference Accommodation

The Tower Hotel, London – *Book soon

UCGP have again secured special rates* for conference delegates at this 4 star London Hotel, situated

close to the Conference & Workshop venue, with stunning views of some of London’s most historic landmarks,

prices are excellent and £20.00 lower than last year! Plus no VAT increase

Prices: Per night.

Deluxe Rooms: £155.00 inclusive of VAT and English breakfast

Executive Rooms at £185.00 inclusive of VAT and English breakfast

Premier Executive Rooms at £205.00 inclusive of VAT and English breakfast

There will be a £10 supplement for double occupancy to cover the second breakfasts

http://www.guoman.com/the-tower/

Event Media Sponsors: We are delighted to be supported by these

leading industry publications.

Hart Energy Publishing is one of the leading information providers in the energy sector. Hart publishes

GasificationNews your best source for comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news, insight and analysis in

the rapidly converging arena of GTL, CTL, BTL, IGCC and the chemicals markets. www.worldfuels.com/gn

Tradelink Publications Ltd is a publisher of leading journals for the mining industries. Publications

include Mining & Quarry World (quarterly journal for the mineral extraction industries),

Coal International (bi-monthly publication for the coal mining industry) and the

International Guide to the Coalfields (annual directory of coal mines worldwide.)

www.quarryworld.co.uk

IEA - CCC REPORT: “UNDERGROUND COAL GASIFICATION”

In September, the IEA Clean Coal Centre released its intensively-researched report on UCG, written by Gordon Couch. Although this

was published a month before the UCGP October Newsletter was circulated, it was not given due prominence, for which we are now

making amends. This is a valuable reference and essential reading, particularly for the rapidly-increasing circle of people becoming

interested in the huge potential of UCG. Four pages of well-argued and balanced conclusions analyse the stage of commercial

application and the hurdles which remain to be cleared, in its widespread application.

CCC works to high standards of factual proof, and Gordon has recorded his frustration that, notwithstanding the co-operation from

numerous sources, many of them associated with UCGP, he found it difficult to find information on some developments which met the

criteria for full incorporation in the report. Nevertheless, it is a 129-page encyclopaedic reference on the technology and development

of UCG, published at a very appropriate point in time, when evaluation and application of the process is taking off all round the world.

With the rate of development of UCG, the reporting of current activities is a snapshot in time, and it will be in the interests of all

connected with UCG to ensure that CCC are made aware of progress, for incorporation in any future update of the report.

Reference: ISBN 978-92-9029-471-9, Underground Coal Gasification, Gordon R. Couch, CCC/151, July 2009. Obtainable from sales@

iea-coal.org Please note: Dr John Topper, Director of the IEA CCC will be presenting an overview of this report at our event in March.

Training Courses and

Workshops

This is an area of real focus for us this year, as

we need to ensure that many more understand

the technical and logistical aspects of UCG.

Training: We intend to run another week long

residential basic UCG course but are also keen to

work with others on specific courses targeted at one

aspect of UCG, such as Hydrogeology, Site selection

and so on.

Workshops: Again this is an area of growth, not

only as an addition at conference events but for

those responsible for the planning and legislation

of emerging energy technologies. If you wish to

attend a training course or would like us to run an in

house workshop for your colleagues and staff please

contact us.Email:info@ucgp.com

New Members

UCGA warmly welcome the following new members:

EMIS Ltd, Sofia, Bulgaria

Poltegor Instytut, Wroclaw, Poland

Hunting Energy Services Ltd, Aberdeen

Meerkat Energy Pty. Ltd, Sydney, Australia

Donald Perreira, Granherne Ltd

Underground Resources Innovation Network,

Japan

Why not join UCGA?

If you or one of your colleagues would like to join

us we offer not only the chance to add your voice

to a growing number working in the same sector

and the opportunity to engage in projects at an

early stage. For more details see membership

costs and benefits at the end of this newsletter.

News from Around the World

AUSTRALIA

Carbon Energy confirms UCG syngas reserves

Angie Tomlinson,Thursday, 10 December 2009

CARBON Energy says independent testing of its underground

coal gasification syngas reserves at the Bloodwood Creek site

in Queensland’s Surat Basin show the site will support a power

station and ammonia and synthetic natural gas plants for the

next 15 years.

Carbon Energy Limited in Final Stages of Australia’s

First UCG Syngas Power Station

Australia-based Carbon Energy Limited is in the final stages of

constructing its 5 MW power station which will be powered by

syngas produced from its underground coal gasification (UCG)

facility at Bloodwood Creek in Queensland. This is an Australian

first for fuelling this type of power station with syngas.

The construction of the main power station facility is almost

complete and the gas engines have been successfully tested on

air. Heavy rain in the local area over has slowed progress and

this, combined with the start of the Christmas/New Year holiday

period, has pushed testing of the engines on gas into the first

few days of the New Year.

The completion date for the project remains scheduled for the

end of January 2010, with electricity flowing into the local grid

around the same time.In July this year, Carbon Energy signed an

off-take agreement with Ergon Energy, a Queensland Government

owned electricity provider, for electricity produced at this

facility. The contract is worth approximately A$2 million per year

and will represent the company’s first revenue from its UCG

activities.

Carbon Energy is also progressing with its Phase 2 project, the

construction of a larger, 20 to 25 MW power plant, which will

incorporate carbon capture and storage technology.

Carbon Energy’s unique approach to UCG is based on practical

experience in conducting UCG trials in the US and New Zealand.

It was further developed in a 10 year CSIRO research program

that combined the skills of its scientists in coal gasification, coal

mining engineering and sustainable environmental practices.

The result is a modular UCG design to produce high quality

syngas for large scale production

Residents air coal plant fears

By Sam Burgess, 8 December 09

Almost 50 Kingaroy residents in southern Queensland have

formed an action group to stop an underground coal

gasification plant near the town.Cougar Energy wants to build

a power station using fuel that is created by burning coal

underground.

Action group chairman Gary Tessman says their concerns about

water and air pollution have not been addressed. “The biggest

worry is what impact it has on underground water, because

you’re actually burning something underground that will affect

burning water and after the coal has burnt out ... there can be

residues and things left there plus subsidence that will cause

people’s water to be cut-off as well as actually pollutants in the

water,” he said.

Cougar Energy spokesman John Henderson says he is confident

the plant will not have a negative impact on the environment.”I

think we can give a guarantee that there’ll be no risk for this

pilot plant,” he said.”The work that we’re doing there is being

done under a very detailed environmental authority and that

requires ground emissions studies, air omissions studies, very

controlled studies with which we’re operating in.”

Worries aired over coal gasification dam

By Katherine Spackman, Posted Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:34am

AEDT

Cougar Energy says it is on track to ignite its underground coal

gasification operation at Kingaroy in southern Queensland by

February 2010.The company says siteworks are now

completed, major equipment is installed and power

infrastructure is well advanced.

It says a production dam built on site will be able to withstand

a one-in-50-year storm event without overflowing. But South

Burnett Mayor David Carter says the consultative committee he

chairs has concerns about the moisture content of the red soil

used in the dam.

“We’ve got a couple of questions still about the dam,” he said.

“How that is going to be monitored and the time it will take if

there is a leak and how long it will be detected’ “So there are

issues we’ve addressed already. The committee is working very

well to get a good relationship between the community and

Cougar.”

Power station study on target

22nd December 2009

SENIOR Cougar Energy staff are now concentrating on a

feasibility study program for the 400MW power station planned

to be built 10km south of Kingaroy.

Cougar Energy manager for underground coal gasification

John Henderson said the company was on track to completing

the study as well as recruiting a study team.

“We are 100 per cent on track to achieve both, with the expected

commissioning of the pilot plant early next year, the appointment

of Peter South to the position of operations manager

for the pilot plant and the recruitment of more outstandingly

talented people to fill key roles,” he said.

Linc finds coal target for gasification

The Australian, 5th November 2009

Linc Energy has announced that its drilling program in South

Australia has identified a coal mineralisation target of between

one billion and 1.3 billion tonnes that could be suitable for coal

gasification. The Brisbane-based group said the drilling had

intersected coal at depths between 200m and 230m with coal

seam thickness of 23m. “The coal deposit is at an ideal depth

for underground coal gasification and initial analysis confirms

that the coal properties and the geology of the overlying strata

are all well suited to host a world-scale UCG project,” Linc said

in a statement.

Clean Coal: Myth, Misnomer or Manifestly Real?

By Greg Peel.15/12/2009

The small US city of Rawlins is a gateway to the wilderness

of southern Wyoming. A few miles west of the city centre, at

the charmingly named locale North Knobs, development has

been underway since the 1980s on one of the few commercial

trials of underground coal gasification (UCG) technology in the

western world. To date, US$100m has been spent in preparation

of design and feasibility studies.

The site is owned by the US Williams Companies group, and

over twenty years the technological development of the project

has been conducted by energy consultant Raven Ridge

Resources, a team of world specialists in alternative energies

such as coal seam methane (CSM) and UCG. Raven has teamed

up with Energy Technology Partners LLC, which has developed

its own proprietary technology and catalysts based on the

Fischer-Tropsch coal-to-liquid process. This partnership exists

as InSitu Energy LLC, principals of which had previously

conducted the world’s first commercial scale oxygen injection

project on behalf of Gulf Oil - being the second test at the site.

Considering North Knobs to be a non-core project amongst

its other developments, Williams Energy Ventures has sold an

option to Australian-based company Energie Future to acquire

100% of the project. Energie Future is as yet unlisted.

Energie Future and InSitu Energy have formed a joint venture to

share in the licensing of the technology. As such, were Energie

Future to sell all or part of the North Knobs project to a major

corporate investor sometime in the future, the joint venture

would continue to receive royalty payments based on the

technology licence? Before the end of 2009, InSitu will finalise

the acquisition of a 10% equity stake in Energy Future.

Eneabba Gas completes coal definition drilling on

Sargon Tenements

Australian Proactive Investor. December 10, 2009

Australian energy company Eneabba Gas (ASX: ENB) has

wrapped up coal resource definition drilling over the first of the

Company’s ten Sargon Tenements in the Mid West region of

Western Australia.As outlined in an ASX announcement of

October 2009, this programme resulted in a JORC Code

compliant coal resource of 194 million tonnes. Since

completion of this programme, the Company has sought the

opinion of Xstract Mining Consultants in regards to the

Company’s JORC Code Resource Statement, recent

transactions related to projects offering underground coal

gasification potential and the positioning of the Company’s

coal resources relative to other UCG participants.

Based on Xstrata’s report, Eneabba will now be reviewing the

recommendations, so that the Company’s 2010 exploration

programme will achieve a more detailed UCG sampling within

E 70 / 2758, greater geological, geotechnical, hydrological and

UCG studies on the coals overburden, and surrounding country

rocks and the design of a strategic exploration programme for

the remaining Sargon Tenements. In discussing the relative

positioning of the Company’s coal resources relative to other

UCG participants, Eneabba notes a recent ASX release by

Cougar Energy.

Based on this announcement, Linc Energy, Carbon Energy and

Cougar Energy have implied A$/GJ (for 3P reserves) of A$0.02

to 0.09 per GJ, based on their Enterprise Value and implied

recoverable UCG reserves. In addition, offers of up to A$0.18/GJ

have recently been bid for at least two Australian UCG projects.

Eneabba Gas is focused on the development of the 168MW

gas-fired Centauri 1 Power Station on Company owned land

near Dongara in the Mid West of Western Australia. Eneabba

Gas proposes to market power from Centauri 1 to the fast

growing Mid West region of Western Australia.

Fuel cells and carbon capture combine for clean coal

breakthrough

Integrating underground coal gasification with hydrogen fuel

cells will revolutionise energy generation, predict Linc and AFC

Energy: Tom Young, BusinessGreen, 30 Dec 2009

Australian clean coal technology specialist Linc Energy and

British fuel cell firm AFC Energy have signed a major new

partnership, paving the way for a pioneering demonstration

project that the two companies believe could revolutionise the

coal industry.Under the deal, which was signed earlier this

month, Linc has been granted exclusive rights to test AFC’s fuel

cell technology in conjunction with underground coal

gasification techniques. The firms believe that combining

underground coal gasification techniques with hydrogen fuel

cell technologies will provide a significantly cleaner and cheaper

way of generating energy from coal than fitting standard

coal-fired power stations with costly CCS systems.

“The future of this concept is simply staggering,” said Peter

Bond, chief executive of Linc Energy. “It could easily be the

ultimate answer for clean coal power many of us are looking for,

and it’s only one or two years away from reality.” The exclusivity

agreement lasts for two years, though Linc can choose to

extend it if it invests £2.3m in AFC Energy stock. Under the

plans proposed by Linc Energy and AFC the resulting gases

would be mixed with steam to produce carbon dioxide and

hydrogen. The hydrogen would then be used to power the AFC

fuel cells, while the CO2 will be captured and injected back

underground. The fuel cells would then use the hydrogen to

produce electricity and heat, with distilled water the only side

product from the process.

AFC said that the cells will last 10 to 13 years and can be sited

anywhere, adding that for a 1,000MW power station they would

produce over 2.5bn litres of clean water a year.

Advocates of the technique argue that it is cheaper and less

environmentally damaging than mining, transporting and

burning coal in a standard coal-fired power plant and then

capturing the carbon emissions afterwards.

A spokesman for AFC said that with over 80 per cent of the

cost of planned CCS projects related to capturing the CO2, the

new process offered a cheaper alternative whereby the CO2 is

already captured and contained, ready for injection. Linc Energy

also argues that underground coal gasification can reach coal

fields that would be too expensive to mine traditionally,

potentially increasing the world’s reserves of accessible coal by

up to five times.

The AFC spokesman said that the technology had the potential

to revolutionise the coal industry, adding that both E.ON and

the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change both had a

“watching brief” on the proposed technique.”The vision is that

everyone switches to underground coal gasification using

hydrogen fuel cells instead of mining coal,” he said. “We think

it’s going to be a step change on a par with the internal

combustion engine.”

The project could also open up a new market for AFC, which

is already planning to deploy its fuel cells to take advantage of

hydrogen syngas produced by landfill sites and syngases

generated by conventional integrated gasification combined

cycle plants, which carry out a similar process to that proposed

by Linc Energy, but above the ground.

Metallica Minerals lodges MetroCoal IPO

prospectus

November 03, 2009

Metallica Minerals (ASX: MLM) has advised it has lodged the

MetroCoal Limited (MetroCoal) prospectus seeking to raise $10

million and list MetroCoal on the ASX in December 2009.

The MetroCoal IPO is consistent with Metallica’s strategy policy

of giving non-core assets within Metallica’s diversified

portfolio - their own commodity focused entity - a coal and

energy company, with its own management team, funding

capability and ASX listing.

Investment highlights of MetroCoal are: MetroCoal holds 100%

of extensive coal tenements covering approximately 4,000km²

in the Surat Basin region and has identified thermal coal

Exploration Targets totalling between 2.5 and 3.5 Billion tonnes

and expects to confirm these targets within the next two years

Projects include the 100% owned Juandah thermal coal project

area which has a 172Mt (149Mt inferred and 23Mt indicated)

resource and this area represents only 1.5% of MetroCoal’s

prospective coal tenements. This resource is based on just one

coal seam, the Macalister Upper Seam. The Macalister Coal

Seam package is continuous and correlateable over most of

MetroCoal’s tenements. The Macalister Upper Seam

generally has a thickness and continuity that is highly

prospective for longwall mining.MetroCoal’s suite of tenements

provides investors with excellent exposure to the increased

global and domestic demand for energy

In addition to conventional coal exploitation, MetroCoal

anticipates certain tenements will hold extensive thermal coal

seams deeper than 150m below surface, suited to Underground

Coal Gasification (UCG).MetroCoal’s Juandah Project area is

one of the few areas in Queensland that has no overlapping

gas tenure.

Canada

Nordic Oil and Gas Ltd. Announces Third Quarter and

Nine Months Financial Results for the Period Ended

September 30, 2009

Canada NewsWire11/28/2009

Subsequent to the end of the third quarter, on October 1, the

Company announced, in conjunction with its joint venture

partner, Western Warner Oils Ltd. that it had acquired the

Petroleum and Natural Gas (P & NG) rights on one-half section

of its land in Drumheller, Alberta. The rights are from the surface

to the base of the Belly River zone. This is an important step for

the Company in the process to develop its Drumheller property,

as it enables it to move forward on the Underground Coal

Gasification (UCG) project that was announced in July of

this year

New technology headed to Springhill mine

By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter Dec 24 – 2009

Stealth Ventures Ltd. of Calgary is teaming up with Clean Coal

Ltd. of Britain to try a new technology to get energy from an old

mine outside of Springhill.

Stealth and Clean Coal will try using underground coal

gasification technology to get coal bed methane from the mine,

the companies announced Wednesday. “We are really excited

and this is leading edge technology,” said Stealth’s CEO Derek

Krivak, in a telephone interview Wednesday. This agreement

marks the first time Clean Coal will use the technology in

Canada.

Underground coal gasification is a method of converting

deep-seam coal into a synthetic gas. It is a proven method

of converting the coal into a combustible fuel used for power

generation or as a feedstock for the manufacture of hydrogen,

chemicals or transportation fuels, the company said in a news

release. Before using the technology, the company is working

with the provincial government to receive regulatory approval

for its use, Mr. Krivak said.

“We’re still working with the Nova Scotia government looking at

the environmental impacts and other issue. We’re hoping to use

it by next spring or summer,” he said. The company is bullish on

using the technology on the 71,600-hectare Cumberland Basin,

which could contain 1.2 trillion cubic feet of coal bed methane

gas. Last year Stealth had a setback at the province’s first

onshore gas project.

The company spent $10-million on drilling three onshore wells

but damaged the rock trying to tap into the coal bed methane.

“This technology will address all of the concerns we had in the

previous wells,” said Mr. Krivak.

“There is no question that we feel there is tremendous potential

for the Cumberland Basin and that it was a matter of

applying the right technology to harness the resource. We

believe that (underground coal gasification) technology has

not only great applications for Nova Scotia but can play a bigger

picture in Canada’s energy supply strategy.”He said Nova Scotia

is examining the viability of such an industry for the province

from economic and environmental standpoints.

“We believe this is an exciting and commercially viable

development which can bring significant long-term benefit to

Nova Scotia,” Graham Chapman, Clean Coal chief operating

officer, said in a release.

Clean Coal specializes in underground coal gasification and is

developing projects in global markets including North America

and Europe. The United Kingdom Coal Authority has recently

awarded five licences to Clean Coal to develop offshore sites for

underground coal gasification.

Innovative technology to burn underground coal

seams

“Clean coal” system promises to separate CO2 from

clean-burning gas and sequester it back underground,

Tom Young, BusinessGreen, 24 Dec 2009

The Canadian government has awarded C$285m (£165m) to a

flagship “clean coal” gasification project that promises to burn

coal without extracting it from the ground. The nascent

technology, which is to be deployed by Canadian firm Swan

Hills Synfuels, aims to produce a gas that can be burned

cleanly above ground, generating energy from coal without the

need to dig it up.

The technology works by driving oxygen down to a coal seam

and igniting it. Under high pressures, the oxygen, coal, and

saline water react to form a gas that is about one third methane

and two thirds hydrogen, along with some carbon monoxide

and carbon dioxide. The gas is drawn to the surface via another

well, where the carbon monoxide is converted to hydrogen

and CO2, allowing the CO2 to be removed. Under the proposed

plans, the CO2 captured by the project will be used in the Swan

Hills area for enhanced oil recovery, increasing conventional oil

production in Alberta while permanently sequestering the CO2

underground. Meanwhile, the synthetic gas generated from 20

pairs of wells will be used to power a new 300MW gas-fired

power plant.

The C$1.5bn project will aim to reach depths of up to 1,400m,

deeper than previous underground gasification projects.

More than 500 full-time jobs are expected to be created from

the construction of the power plant, which will take three to four

years to complete. A further 85 full-time jobs will be needed to

operate the power plant. “There’s about $100 million worth of

work that has to happen before construction. A lot of that is

engineering in support of the project design. We will be

operating our demonstration facility on a sustained basis to

help in that design process,” Swan Hills Synfuels president

Doug Shaigec said.

Construction on the sites is set to begin in 2012 with production

starting from 2015. The power plant component of the project

will be built, owned and operated by an energy firm that is yet

to be selected. “This transformative project is a whole new way

to generate clean electricity, using Alberta’s vast, deep stranded

coal resources,” said Swan Hills Synfuels president Douglas

Shaigec. “We are using an innovative approach with proven

technologies to deliver secure electricity, with a quarter of the

emissions produced by coal-fired power generation today, and

just over half those of natural gas-fired generation.” Shaigec

said that in the long term, the economic viability of the project

would be boosted by a strong price on carbon emissions. “We’re

not too particular about how that takes form ultimately, so long

as we see a more level playing field [for] projects that practice

capture and storage of CO2,” he said. The Swan Hills project

will be the deepest in the world at 1.4 km. Construction starts

in 2012.

China

CGE to develop underground coal gasification

project in Mongolia

5th November 2009

Australia-based Clean Global Energy (CGE) is forming a joint

venture with Beijing Yusenjiayu Environmental Protection

Technology, Inner Mongolia Gu Xin Mining and Goldbridge

Clean Tech Energy to develop an underground coal

gasification project in Inner Mongolia, China. The partners

will invest USD400m in the venture and plan to raise funding

through a public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Synthesis gas (syngas) from the project is expected to be

supplied to Inner Mongolia Sukli Oil and Gas Development.

The project will be designed and operated by CGE, which will

hold a 35% controlling stake in the venture. Injection and

production wells will be drilled into Gu Xin’s 1.8bn-ton coal

deposit. Pressurised air will then be pumped into the coal seam

and the syngas will be extracted from the production well.

Cougar inks MoU for UCG projects in China and

Mongolia

Published Dec 15, 2009

Cougar Energy Limited has executed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with Direct Invest Pte Ltd, the Singapore

domiciled subsidiary of the Direct Invest Group, to establish

Cougar Direct Invest China Limited (CDIC) for the purpose of

developing Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) projects in the

People’s Republic of China and in Mongolia. CDIC will be 60%

owned by Cougar Energy and 40% owned by Direct Invest Pte

Ltd with equal board representation and voting rights.

The MOU envisages the establishment of special purpose

companies for each project identified for development, with the

funding to be sourced through individual equity raisings and

bank finance.

Both China and Mongolia possess vast coal resources and CDIC

will be seeking to build business relationships with the major

mining and exploration companies in both countries.

Direct Invest is chaired by Michael Dobbs-Higginson, who has

had a distinguished career as an investment banker and an

entrepreneur in Europe and Asia, as well as being a

non-executive chairman, director and/or advisor to various

public and private companies particularly in Asia. For a period

of six years he was Chairman of Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific and a

member of Merrill Lynch New York’s Global Capital Committee.

Prior to that, he held similar positions with Credit Suisse First

Boston. He is based in Singapore and is involved with a number

of international companies in their investments in the Asia

Pacific region.

Mr Dobbs-Higginson is directly involved in the identification

of projects for CDIC, and preliminary discussions with the first

Chinese company have been initiated by him. This company’s

core business is in clean energy and environmental protection

applications. It operates in 20 provinces in China, and provides

a range of services to the major coal mining companies in those

provinces.

Dr Len Walker, Managing Director of Cougar Energy,

commented, ‘The Chinese authorities have signalled their

intention to tackle the challenge of reducing emissions from

their coal mining operations. We believe that UCG technology is

at the forefront of producing both cleaner and cheaper energy

from such resources in long-term sustainable operations. There

are many prospective sites in both China and Mongolia which

are suitable for UCG development.’

‘CDIC has been founded to combine the complimentary talents

of the shareholders, and to ensure that projects in the region

are developed using a sound long-term strategy. We bring the

technical evaluation and project design and development skills

and combine this with Direct Invest’s ability to evaluate and

structure projects and its extensive network of contacts in China

and Mongolia’. ‘The development of projects via CDIC

represents a highly prospective and exciting growth opportunity

for Cougar Energy as we continue to expand our coal resources

and operating entities across the globe utilising the world’s

leading commercial UCG technology,’ said Dr Walker

Hungary

WildHorse Energy announces work on fast tracking

Mecsek Hills Gas Project

January 18, 2010 - WildHorse press release

International uranium company WildHorse Energy (ASX: WHE)

has announced a series of significant developments focussed

on fast tracking the Mecsek Hills Gas Project in Hungary.

The company made the statement in anticipation of the

completion of the Schemes of Arrangement to acquire Peak

Coal and its Mecsek Hills Project.

The Company has signed agreements to employ Johan Brand

as UCG Project Director and Peter van Vuuren as UCG Technology

Manager. Mr Brand is a highly experienced and recognised

leader in the field of coal gasification and UCG, while Mr van

Vuuren has extensive coal gasification and gas processing

experience. Both will be based in Hungary and will manage the

on‐ground development of the Mecsek The pair have gained

experience at Sasol, the world’s leading coal gasification

company. Meanwhile, an agreement has been signed to acquire

specialist UCG technology intellectual property from African

Carbon Energy, a South African UCG development company.

The agreements will form strategic alliances with CDE Process

and Aqua Alpha Drilling.

CDE is a key supplier of specialist process engineering services

to companies such as Sasol and Eskom (South Africa’s

electricity supplier) while Aqua Alpha is a specialist directional

drilling company, with both companies established by ex‐senior

Sasol management.

India

Clean coal tech gets leg-up from oil companies

Hindu Business Daily, Anil Sasi,Richa Mishra.New Delhi, Nov. 1

2009

India’s move to adopt clean coal technologies is making steady

progress through a collaborative effort, with Coal India Ltd (CIL)

getting much-needed support from its counterparts in the oil

sector — GAIL (India) Ltd and ONGC. CIL and GAIL are

collaborating to develop a surface coal gasification project at

Talcher coalfield in Orissa for production of ammonium nitrate

and urea. “The techno-economic feasibility report has already

been prepared. About 5.5 mtpa of coal from Mahanadi

Coalfields will be required for this project and a long-term

linkage of 5.5 mtpa is required from the Coal Ministry,” a CIL

official told Business Line. Last year, GAIL and CIL entered into

an agreement to set up the surface coal gasification project

for the production of synthesis gas to be used as feedstock for

fertiliser production.

GAIL had organised a study by Udhe India for examining the

potential of the project. It was estimated that the project will

consume 5,000 tonnes of coal a day to produce 7.76 mscmd

of synthesis gas (equivalent to 3,000 tonnes a day of ammonia)

to produce 3,500 tonnes of urea a day.CIL is also working with

ONGC for underground coal gasification projects. The two are

working on the development, operation and R&D activities. “We

are working on projects short-listed from 15 sites all over India

to prove the potential of the process,” an official said.

The technical expert for the venture is the Skochinsky Institute

of Mining of Russia. Underground coal gasification is an alternative

and supplementary energy source, which allows converting

un-mineable coal and lignite — which forms over 80 per cent

of India’s 300-billion-tonne reserves — into combustible gases

by gasifying the coal in-situ.

According to ONGC, environmental clearance for the first

underground coal gasification pilot site at Vastan, Gujarat,

has been obtained and its design has been firmed up. The pilot

project is expected to commence production next year.

Government to initiate coal gasification to mitigate

pollution, optimise coal production news

07 December 2009

As a measure to counter environment pollution and at the same

time maximise coal production, the central government has

initiated steps to introduce underground coal gasification for

conversion of coal into product gas. Under the first phase, the

government has finalised three coal blocks in Jharkhand, Maharashtra

and Orissa to start gasification work within a year.

The underground gasification industrial process allows

maximisation of coal production, mitigation of carbon emissions

and also addresses other risks, according to minister of state for

coal (independent charge) Sriprakash Jaiswal. The technology is

currently in use in Russia, the US, Australia and China.

The minister said that underground coal gasification, has proved

to be a viable technology both on economic and ecological

grounds and can be used for producing fuel. Meanwhile 12

overseas coal producing companies shortlisted by state-owned

Coal Indian Ltd (CIL) for either strategic partnership or joint

ventures (JV) will make presentations in Kolkata on 14

December for evaluation of their offers by the Empowered

Committee. According to Partha S Bhattacharyya, chairman, CIL,

the 12 overseas mining companies would make their

presentations from 14 December to 17 December. The

presentations would then be evaluated and a decision on

entering into strategic partnerships of joint ventures taken.

The tie-up would be for import of coal through strategic

partnership, at a price which would be cheaper than that of

currently imported coal.

Replying to a query as to whether CIL would prefer joint venture,

Bhattacharya said the company was open to both strategic

partnership or JV depending on the offer. He added that if found

suitable, CIL could go for either partnership or JV with all 12

companies, which he declined to name. According to Coal India

director (technical), N C Jha, the companies would be ranked

on the basis of the strength and offer after evaluation of the

presentations of the companies from four companies.

India to begin extraction of coal through gasification

The Daily Times, December 2009

Amid international pressure to control environment pollution

and maximize the production of coal, the Centre has decided

to venture into underground coal gasification in a major way.

India will be the first among developing countries to start such a

venture. Underground coal gasification is an industrial

process, which enables coal to be converted into product gas.

In the first phase, the government has finalised three coal

blocks in Jharkhand, Maharastra and Orissa to start gasification

work within a year or so. The underground gasification

technique is a far better one than overcast and underground

mining. “This will maximize coal production; mitigate carbon

emission and other risks.

Ireland

Bringing Coal to Dublin Bay

Monday, 07 December 2009

The newly built dynamically positioned drillship Fugro Synergy

commences drilling operations for VP Power in the Kish Basin,

approximately 13.5 Nautical miles east of Bray Head this

morning. The wells will be shallow coal exploration drilling to

old layers of rock. The job is to verify the amount and quality of

coal in place for a future Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)

project. The deepest well will be drilled to 3,600 ft.

The operation has been put together by a consortium that

includes Brian Geoghan, husband of health minister Mary

Harney, and Michael O’Leary, who developed Dun Laoghaire

Marina. Funding for the €3million exploration was announced in

July. Details are in a Sunday Tribune article here. It is hoped that

2bn tonnes of “clean” gas-from-coal energy can be extracted

from the site.underground gasification.

VP Power nearly ready for €3m gas-from-coal test

Eamon Quinn

A group of investors, including director Mick Geoghegan and his

brother Brian, husband of health minister Mary Harney, have all

but completed a €3m fund raising to test a huge gas-from-coal

prospect that lies just eight miles off the Dublin City coast.

The Kish Basin prospect, close to the lighthouse of the same

name, is said to hold up to 2bn tonnes of “clean” gas-from-coal

energy that could power scores of power stations for many

years. VP Power, which has held an exploration license across

large sections of the Kish Basin for the last two years, is led

by the Dun Laoghaire marina developer Michael O’Leary (no

relation to Ryanair CEO), and chairman Con Casey, managing

partner of accountants LHM Casey McGrath.

Between them, geologist Mick Geoghegan, a senior director of

VP Power, and Brian Geoghegan, as an investor, hold “a slice” of

the shareholding in the company, O’Leary said. “All the seismic

information off the ship is now in two universities and with a

specialist house to analyse these reports.” Raglan Capital is

leading the investment round to complete the second stage

seismic study.

VP Power said it will use the new funding to prove the quantity

and quality of the coal in the 26 seams in the Kish prospect.

Clean technology, called underground coal gasification, that

heats the coal in the underwater rock reservoirs to extract gas,

has been proven in other parts of the world, say the investors.

The costs, though still considerable, would be lower and cleaner

than extracting energy from oil sands in Canada, VP Power says.

Mongolia

Gulfside Minerals Ltd. - Onjuul drilling update

TSX.V - GMG VANCOUVER, Dec. 7 /CNW

Robert L. Card, President of Gulfside Minerals Ltd, reports that

four holes of Gulfside’s drilling program on the Onjuul coal

project in Mongolia have been completed.

The first hole, TB001 was located as an offset to Hole No.12

of the 1973 Russian/Mongolian exploration program. Results

from this hole were reported in a news release dated November

23, 2009. The geophysical log revealed a 10 meter seam

between 125 meters and 135 meters, originally reported as 6

meters. The second hole, TB021, was drilled 500 meters to the

northwest of the 1973 exploration Hole No.11. TB021 was cored

to depth of 181.2 meters and encountered a 28.8 meter seam

between 37.6 and 66.4 meters; other thinner, but significant

seams were also encountered.

Clean Global Energy aims high with Mongolian coal

gasification agreement

Pro Active Investor, AU. Monday, November 02, 2009

Clean Global Energy Limited (ASX: CGV) has entered into Joint

Venture Agreement to undertake a proposed US$400m

Underground Coal Gasification project in Inner Mongolia, China.

The stock spiked on the news, currently up 15.4%, to 22.5

cents. Trading in the shares was strong with volume of 7.5

million shares. The project is to be undertaken on a staged

basis on Inner Mongolia Gu Xin Mining Co Ltd, Beijing’s 1.8

billion tonne coal deposit in Inner Mongolia.

A Hong Kong Based Joint Venture Company is to be established

for the project and to undertake the capital raising activities for

the project on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange of not less than

US$120m and debt funding of not more than US$280m.

Initial funding of the JVC prior to the listing, of US$1m will be

contributed by the joint venture partners in proportion to each

parties shareholding. CGE’s estimated portion of this will be

US$350,000 which will be funded from existing cash reserves.

CGE would hold a 35% controlling interest in the JVC and 2

board seats with the other parties holding 1 board seat each.

The Joint Venture Company is to enter into a documented

off-take agreement with Inner Mongolia Sukli Oil and Gas

Development Co. Ltd for the supply of between 5-12million

cubic meters of Syngas per day.

The Joint Venture Company is to exclusively engage and appoint

Clean Global Energy Limited to design, operate and manage the

Underground Coal Gasification plant under a separate

commercial operating agreement Clean Global Energy secured

the Joint Venture Agreement with Bejing Yusenjiayu

Environmental Protection Technology Co Ltd of Beijing, China,

Inner Mongolia Gu Xin Mining Co Ltd of Beijing, China (GX) and

Goldbridge Clean Tech Energy of East Sussex, United Kingdom,

to undertake a commercial underground coal gasification

project on GX’s Inner Mongolia coal deposit.

GX is an established and professional mining company, with

a large scale coal resource of 5 billion tonnes in Inner Mongolia.

With more than 1.2 billion tonnes of coal at depths and

seam thicknesses amenable to UCG. Following the signing of

the Joint Venture Agreement in Beijing, John Harkins, CGE’s

chairman and CEO, said: “This is a great outcome for CGE and

its shareholders. Not only is the Joint Venture Agreement the

achievement of another key milestone for CGE, it is a significant

example of the recognition of CGE’s UCG capabilities by the

international business community.”

“China is actively seeking clean energy alternatives and now

was the right time for CGE to become involved in this space,” he

said. We are very pleased to be working together with our joint

venture partners to provide a cleaner coal solution for China and

the global community and look forward to a successful future.”

CGE’s UCG technology uses an advance process known as

Controlled Retractable Injection Points that provides greater

control and efficiency in the UCG process.CGE is not without

experience in the UCG sector, one of its directors Dr Michael

Green is currently implementing the CRIP UCG process in

commercial projects in the UK and Europe. The CRIP UCG

process was successfully trialled in a €17m European project

in Spain which was headed up by CGE’s Technical Director, Dr.

Michael Green.

Pakistan

Cougar Energy receives Pakistan Government

approval for exploration licence.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Cougar Energy (ASX: CXY) - with the ongoing focus of

successfully progressing its Queensland UCG Power project –

has been granted an Exploration Licence through its

subsidiary for the Thar Coal Block III in the east of Sindh

Province in Pakistan. The announcement by Cougar Energy

was made to inform shareholders of the progress of its 47.8%

owned subsidiary, Cougar Energy UK, which advises that it has

been granted a Licence by the Government of Sindh in Pakistan.

The Licence of 47.3 square km covers an area of coal which

potentially is suited to the development of an Underground Coal

Gasification (UCG) project for much-needed power

generation in the region. It is located within Block III, in which

the Geological Survey of Pakistan had previously drilled 41

holes at approximately 1km spacing, all of which intersected

coal seams varying in thickness from 8m to 23m, at depths

ranging from 115m to 205m. The holes, of which 27 lie within

the Licence area, were cored and geophysically logged, and the

data has been compiled and reviewed, and is considered to be

insufficient to meet JORC standards of resource definition.

As a result, a drilling program is currently being planned to

establish an initial JORC resource in the range 100 – 200

million tonnes.

Cougar UK also advises that it has signed an MOU forming a

partnership with two financial institutions, based in Karachi and

Munich respectively, to assist in arranging the project financing.

Cougar Energy managing director Len Walker said the support

of the institutions would minimize any financial exposure of

Cougar UK in Pakistan and allowed the company to focus on

delivering the required project. Cougar UK is meeting its current

financial requirements for the project with funds from a

successful GBP100, 000 rights issue which was fully subscribed

by all shareholders. The company is also investigating a number

of possible project opportunities in Europe

Body set up to expedite Thar gasification projects

The International News, Sunday, December 13, 2009

By Imtiaz Ali

The Sindh government has decided to provide administrative

setup for the implementation of underground coal gasification

(UCG) projects in Thar. Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali

Shah has approved a summary to set up governing body along

with other arrangements for the proper execution of two coal

gasification schemes under the Coal and Energy Development

Department. This decision was taken at a meeting of the Thar

Coal and Energy Board (TCEB) chaired by Shah at the CM House

on November 21, official sources told The News.Dr Samar

Mubarakmand, Member Science and Technology, Planning

Division, Islamabad, had written a letter to the Sindh

government on October 29, urging it “to set up a

governing body to realize the national objectives of meeting

energy demand through UCG based on Thar coal field.”

Two underground gasification projects designed by the

Planning Commission were approved by the Central

Development Working Party (CDWP) on April 30 and will cost

Rs 984.98 million. The purpose of these projects is to complete

the pilot project study of 50 megawatt (MW) in next 15 months

based on Thar coal. In case of positive results, major projects

for 1000 MW are expected to follow. Dr Samar had asked the

provincial government to sponsor the schemes and proposed an

administrative structure for the execution of two UCGs.

The officials said that Secretary Planning Division, Islamabad,

has shown willingness to transfer funds allocated for the

projects to Sindh. Apart from the governing body, a Programme

Monitoring Unit (PMU) would also be set up to execute the

projects on fast track basis. The governing body comprises

of Dr. Samar Mubarakmand as its chairman, additional chief

secretary (development) Sindh as vice chairman, secretary Coal

and Energy Development Department as member, secretary

finance as member, director general Sindh Coal Authority as

member, and managing director/project director UCG schemes

as member and secretary. The officials said that the governing

body would be responsible for the overall management of two

gasification projects.

The Planning and Development Department, Sindh, will

undertake periodical monitoring of two projects to ensure their

implementation as per approved cost/time. The officials claimed

that the governing body would not affect TCEB, as the role of

latter was that of a one stop organization to facilitate the

development of Thar coal, whereas the line departments

perform their own mandated formalities/functions. The TCEB

also plays the role of an “overseer by reviewing progress of all

the projects in Thar regularly and facilitating them in case of

any problems being faced by individual investors”. The officials

hence believe that in this case also the role of TCEB would

remain the same as that of a facilitator and overseer.

They said that the governing body was being set up to facilitate

Dr. Samar for the execution of UCG for which Block-V Thar has

already been allocated. They said that the need for setting up

the body was felt because Dr. Samar was facing difficulties in

its execution because of the fact that Planning Commission was

not an executing agency, hence he needed the support of Sindh

government in this regard. Regarding funds, the officials said

that the federal government would provide finances.

Lakhra coal power plant - Feasibility study to

complete in 3 months

The Daily Times, 20.10.09

The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) will complete its

feasibility study of the 350MW Lakhra coal power plant, a joint

venture with Sindh government, within three months.

This was briefed in the 5th board meeting of the Thar Coal and

Energy Board (TCEB) at the Chief Minister’s House on Monday.

The chairman of the board, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah,

chaired the meeting where they were informed that the Asian

Development Bank would assist in preparing the feasibility

study for laying 1,200KVA HV DC line at a cost of $3.5 million,

which would cater for 3,000MW evacuation to the national grid

in first phase and 10,000MW later.

About the underground coal gasification scheme (UCGS), the

meeting was told that PEPCO would work with Dr Samar

Mubarakmand to expedite its early implementation. Cougar

Energy UK had started its tendering process for the UCGS in

block-3. The firm would start ground mobilisation by December.

The progress on the World Bank assisted Thar Coal and Power

Technical Assistance Project was also discussed and it was also

brought to the knowledge of the meeting that the Sindh

government’s irrigation and power department would submit the

PC-I for water conduit for Thar coal fields within three months.

The board further reviewed progress of venture between Sindh

government and Engro that includes engaging Chinese firms,

Sinocoal and North East Bureau of China, for bankable

feasibility; engaging of a German company RWE and engaging

of SRK and Hagler Baily for ESIA study.

South Africa

Alternative gasification method could reduce capital

costs

By: Paul Serebro, Creamer Media. 23rd October 2009

An alternative to coal gasification in reactors is underground

coal gasification (UCG).

This method of coal gasification has the potential to reduce

capital costs significantly, as the costs associated with surface

gasification and conventional coal-mining are removed,

because coal extraction and gasification occur in a single

phase. A further economic benefit of UCG is that it provides the

opportunity to extract stranded coal reserves that would

otherwise be unmineable.

The burning coal in the seam mitigates the environmental

impact of surface coal combustion and the associated release

of large quantities of carbon dioxide. Further, UCG reduces the

potential for soil contamination, as no handling and storage of

large volumes of ash and slag in ash dumps is required.

The method also allows for the removal of polluting

constituents, such as sulphur oxides, particulates and heavy

metals, from the production of synthetic gas (syngas).

In South Africa, petrochemicals company Sasol has completed

the basic engineering designs for a demonstration-scale UCG

plant, to be built on a stranded deep coal seam near its

coal-to-liquids facility in Secunda.Further, State-owned power

utility Eskom is developing a UCG project, with the first ignition

of the coal seam having occurred at the Majuba operation in

January 2007.

The project is being developed in a series of stages to ultimately

produce 2 100 MW of power using UCG in a combined-cycle

power plant.

Edited by: Shannon De Ryhove

UK

Balance of power returns to North Sea by burning

coal beneath the ocean floor.

Robin Pagnamenta Energy Editor, The Times December 9, 2009

Vast coal deposits lying deep beneath the North Sea will be

burnt in situ to generate up to 5 per cent of Britain’s energy

needs, under new plans approved by the Government last week.

The UK Coal Authority has awarded licences to Clean Coal, an

Anglo-American company, to develop five offshore sites for a

technology called Underground Coal Gasification (UCG).

The method, which has not been used on a commercial scale

in the UK, although it is widely used in Australia, taps the high

energy content of coal while doing away with the costly and

labour-intensive need to mine it first.

Rohan Courtney, a former director of Tullow Oil who is chairman

of Clean Coal, said that the potential for the technology was

enormous. “There are enormous amounts of coal lying beneath

the North Sea which have never been accessed,” he said. “This

technology is going to open up the industry again in the UK.”

The sites approved for use stretch up to 10km offshore from

Sunderland, Grimsby and Cromer on the shores of the North

Sea, Canonbie, near Annan in Dumfries and Galloway on the

other side of Scotland, and Swansea Bay, outside the entrance

to the Bristol Channel. The combined coal reserves are estimated

to be at least one billion tonnes, equivalent to more than

one sixth of all the coal consumed in an average year around

the world. Global consumption of coal is about 5.8 billion tonnes

a year. Total consumption in the UK is about 80 million tonnes a

year.

The technique uses two bore holes drilled into a coal seam. The

injection well is used to ignite the coal and keep it burning by

pumping down oxygen to supply the fire. The other is used to

extract a methane-rich synthetic gas that can be used to

generate electricity by driving an above-ground power station.

Mr Courtney said that polluting carbon dioxide produced from

the burning process could be stripped out and backfilled into

the cavities created beneath the surface using a technology that

was easier than the carbon capture and storage (CCS) method

that is proposed for use by power stations. However, the

methane gas produced will also emit carbon dioxide when it is

burnt. UCG technology was invented in Britain about a century

ago but has been refined recently through the use of advanced

seismic technology and directional drilling developed by the

oil industry. Ms Bond said that UCG had become commercially

viable in Britain with the advent of this new technology and

because high oil prices had improved the economics.

Enormous deposits of coal are known to lie beneath the North

Sea, extending from onshore deposits that have been mined in

Britain. Offshore exploration for oil has also shown the presence

of coal in many areas.

USA

Linc Energy increases coal lease holdings in Wyoming,

Montana and North Dakota.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Linc Energy (ASX: LNC) has announced that its wholly owned

subsidiaries Linc Energy (Wyoming) and Linc Energy (Montana)

have signed agreements with Wyoming based GasTech and its

related company Wold Oil Properties to acquire 81,268 acres

of additional coal lease areas in Wyoming, Montana and North

Dakota in the United States.These new coal lease areas will

add to and complement the 92,059 acres of State of Wyoming

Powder River Basin coal leases already held by the Company

and announced in September 2009.

On completion of the GasTech and Wold Oil transactions, Linc

Energy will hold a total of 173,327 acres of coal lease areas

across both the Powder River Basin and the Williston Basin in

the USA. Linc Energy chief executive Peter Bond said the

transaction was a key component to the completion of Linc

Energy’s entry into the Powder River Basin. “Linc Energy now

holds more State coal leases than any other company, with a

coal acreage footprint of 173,327 acres. This puts Linc Energy

into a very strong position to undertake commercial UCG

operations in Wyoming and move quickly to the construction of

a commercial Gas to Liquids facility in the USA,” Mr Bond said.

“The Linc Energy model will allow us to gain significant energy

flows from the coals of the Power River Basin using UCG.

“That gas flow will feed a GTL plant, but it will also provide

additional opportunities such as the sale of CO2 for use in

stranded oil recovery in the Wyoming region, and the ability to

produce cost effective power. He believed the company would

have at least 20 good sites within this acreage to undertake

UCG on coal properties.”I strongly believe that the utilisation of

UCG in Wyoming will transform the State and Linc Energy over

the next 24 months,” Mr Bond said. The purchase consideration

payable to GasTech is US$20,000,000, payable in ordinary, fully

paid shares in Linc Energy. The shares are to be issued in four

equal instalments valued at US$5,000,000 each, with the first

instalment being payable on the Closing Date and subsequent

instalments on each 6 month anniversary

Syngas With Carbon Capture at Cook Inlet

By Stefan Milkowski

C.I.R.I. Cook Inlet Region, Inc., an Alaska Native corporation, is

pursuing an underground coal gasification project on

corporation land near Anchorage. The technology could offer a

way to harness coal resources without the environmental

impacts of mining and burning coal. When developers

approached Cook Inlet Region Inc., an energy and resource

development company in Anchorage, Alaska, with the idea of

using underground coal gasification to tap into a huge coal field

nearby, officials thought the plan sounded too good to be true.

A well would be drilled into a coal seam deep underground.

Oxygen or air would be injected to start a combustion process,

and the resulting synthesis gas, or syngas, would be produced

through a second well. Carbon dioxide could be stripped out

before burning the syngas to make electricity.

“The more we learned, the more we thought, well, maybe it will

work,” said Jim Jager, C.I.R.I.’s director of communications.

After turning down proposals to mine coal at the site – Mr.

Jager cited a desire not to “destroy” the land – the company

recently announced plans to develop an underground coal

gasification project with a 100-megawatt power plant and

carbon capture and sequestration technology.

As the nation looks for ways to burn coal without producing so

much carbon dioxide, developers, researchers, and

environmentalists are all approaching underground coal

gasification, or U.C.G., with cautious optimism.

“The technology is promising,” said George Peridas of the

Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s at a stage where we

need additional research and development and pilot projects.

We are watching closely, and we hope that it succeeds.”

In its September report, “Coal Without Carbon,” the non-profit

Clean Air Task Force called for large-scale government

investment in research and development of UCG.

The technology is not new. The Department of Energy’s

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory studied it extensively

in the 1970s and 1980s, and the former Soviet Union developed

several underground coal gasification plants, one of which is

still operating. Other plants are up and running in Australia and

South Africa. What is new, according to Lawrence Livermore’s

Roger Aines, is combining underground coal gasification with

carbon capture and storage technology.

Because carbon dioxide can be removed from syngas before

combustion, capturing the greenhouse gas should be a lot

cheaper than with a traditional coal-fired power plant. Stripping

the carbon dioxide pre-combustion leaves the syngas with a

carbon footprint similar to that of natural gas. By converting the

fuel to hydrogen, the carbon footprint could be eliminated

completely. While UCG is not a realistic substitute everywhere

coal is mined – it’s best for getting at coal seems deep underground

– it could potentially triple the total amount of coal

accessible for use in the United States, according to Mr. Aines.

And there’s already a lot of coal. “It’s an enormous resource,” he

said, “if we can make good on it.”

At Copenhagen, the US should partner with India

India’s melting Himalayan glaciers are a sign of India’s booming

coal industry, but a technology partnership with the US would

be high-impact and low-carbon.

By Kurt Waltzer , P.R. Shukla , Semil Shah / December 7, 2009

Boston and Ahmedabad, India

As the world focuses on climate change this week in

Copenhagen, Denmark, delegates are set to negotiate complex

deals to avoid a future world of melted Arctic ice sheets and

significantly higher sea levels. But there is another ice-rich

region the world must also take into consideration: the

Himalayan glaciers. India’s “water towers” are beginning to

melt. For the subcontinent already challenged by growing water

needs and on the heels of a boom in coal use, the stakes are

high. As the Indian economy continues to grow despite global

conditions, Indian coal power (largely driving this growth) is

expected to increase 600 percent by the 2030s. This will put

India on a path to rival the United States as one of the world’s

largest users of coal-based power generation, paving the way

for a surge in carbon dioxide emissions.

Given this daunting scenario, and regardless of the outcome

in Copenhagen, India has no choice but to transform into the

world’s most innovated in climate technology and clean energy.

Cash isn’t the problem – it’s the lack of a comprehensive,

long-term plan and India’s long-term use of coal power. India

and the US should collaborate to actively leverage and focus

engineering talent and financial resources to create cleaner

low-cost energy technology.

Both governments should promote collaborations spurring both

demonstration of US intellectual property in India as well as

technological innovations from India deployed in the US.

Realistically, while India is developing a portfolio of alternative

sources of energy, such as biofuels, hydroelectric, nuclear, and,

most notably, their recent US$900 million investment in solar

power, coal will remain the major energy component for the

foreseeable future.

India boasts major coal reserves – more than 210 gigatons.

Coal currently generates over half of India’s electricity and is

projected to see extremely high growth to 2030. Coal is also a

major economic input, a central component to steel, cement,

fertilizers, and manufacturing. Furthermore, with nearly half of

India’s growing population off the grid, any major attempt at

rural electrification will require heaps of coal. Compounding

these problems is the fact that most of India’s coal reserves are

physically unavailable using traditional mining techniques.

Therefore, India must find ways to use advanced technology

that keeps coal power affordable but also clean. Underground

coal gasification is one such advanced technology.

Underground coal gasification is a near commercial

technology that may dramatically reduce power costs – even

when including carbon dioxide pollution controls such as

capture and storage. Therefore technology’s power may offer

developing countries the opportunity to affordably include

capture and storage in the future, while offering developed

countries a lower-cost, low-carbon option today.

Underground coal gasification projects are not without

challenges, as any advanced power technology must provide

significant expansion of electricity generation, be cost

competitive, and help improve reliability. Development of

underground coal gasification projects requires both

commercial sector and government collaboration to focus on

key areas, such as project co investment, technical issues,

and environmental standards.

Today, underground coal gasification projects are under way in

China and Australia, with plans for projects in India, the US, and

South Africa; only cross-border collaboration, however, will help

the development of underground coal gasification and diffusion

accelerate in order to contribute to a world with less carbon.

A long-term solution for India, though, would be to leverage

its technology and engineering-focused pockets of talent from

technological universities and government-funded research

centres to transform India into the world’s laboratory for

cutting-edge research, development, and demonstration –

or R,D&D.

This model, while recognizing that coal is vital to meet India’s

energy demands for the foreseeable future, provides it with a

diversified portfolio that will help India affordably manage its

carbon emissions as its economy expands. Developed nations

such as the US should partner with India in this effort. The US

could commercialize its new technology more rapidly in the

booming Indian marketplace, as well as access lower-cost

technology developed by Indian inventors. And American

companies, research groups, and universities could provide

India with the components it needs – mainly, an industry that

wants to develop lower-cost clean energy options,

innovative technologies, and sophisticated multilateral funds.

India’s energy needs, growing economy, and the melting

Himalayas put the country in a difficult situation. Multilateral

negotiations, such as those at Copenhagen this week, can

only go so far – and move only so fast. India and the US could

develop a true partnership based on critical, mutual needs and

benefit both in the long term. India and the US have what they

need right there in front of them – it’s just a matter of reaching

out and grabbing it.

Kurt Waltzer is the carbon storage development coordinator,

of the Coal Transition Project, at the Clean Air Task Force. P.R.

Shukla is a professor at the Indian Institute of Management in

Ahmedabad. Semil Shah is a principal at India Strategy

Consulting.

Energy research and consultancy, Zeus Development

Corporation observes a rapid rise in the number

of underground coal gasification (UCG) projects in

recent months.

HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwire)-- 11/30/09

“Greenhouse gas emission concerns are prompting power

and coal-to-liquids project developers to find innovative ways

to manage carbon,” said Chris Cothran, upstream analyst at

Zeus. “Most of the UCG projects proposed currently intend to

capture and store carbon emissions either in nearby oilfields for

improved oil recovery or exhausted coal seams.”

Underground coal gasification offers a third way for producers

to convert the energy from coal into electricity, the first two

being traditional pulverized coal combustion and integrated

gasification and combined-cycle (IGCC) generation. “Both

pulverized coal and IGCC plants require mining the coal from

surface or underground mines, which is expensive and energy

intensive,” Cothran said. “If UCG developers can perfect their

technology, the cost of mining and transporting coal as well as

building the reactor for IGCC to gasify the coal will disappear.”

In the past four months, announcements have been issued of

advancements at six UCG projects. Developers include India’s

Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC), Australia’s Linc Energy,

Carbon Energy, and Cougar Energy, and U.S. Gas Tech and Cook

Inlet Region Inc. (CERI).

Vietnam

Huge projects to exploit Red River coal deposits

29-10-2009

HA NOI — The National Viet Nam Coal and Mineral Industries

Group (VINACOMIN) wants to exploit nearly 210 billion tonnes of

coal from the Hong (Red) River basin. Recent surveys indicate

about 90 per cent of the coal is in Thai Binh Province. The

deposits are estimated to be 20 times bigger than the coal

reserve currently being mined in Quang Ninh Province.

Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Heavy Industry

Department Nguyen Manh Quan, who is also vice chairman of

the project’s Appraising Council, said the reserve is spread over

a 3,500sq.km area under paddy fields and residential housing.

The reserve is 600m to 2,000m beneath the surface.

Quan said VINACOMIN would not resort to open-cast mining

because it would destroy the topography.”The coal basin is in a

very environmentally sensitive area and open-cast mining might

adversely affect the socio-economy of the area. It is vital to take

into account the ecology and living conditions of the people in

the area,” Quan said.

Professor Le Nhu Hung from the University of Mining and

Geology, who is a member of the research team, said that the

coal reserve had to be mined carefully as there was a risk of

subsidence, which could affect water sources.”Food security

is also vital to our country,” he said. “However, if the mining is

conducted properly the opportunity of success is very high,”

Hung said.

VINACOMIN plans to start four pilot projects – three in Hung Yen

Province and one in Thai Binh. Shafts will be dug to depths of

between 450m-600m, and 600m to 1,200m.

Director of the Red River Energy Company, the project’s investor,

Nguyen Thanh Son, said the biggest concern was that

mining would lead to subsidence. However, he said if mining

was conducted carefully, there would not be a problem.

“There is no need to worry. We can control the situation during

the exploration. We will stop the project immediately if there are

any signs of subsidence,” Son said.

Two of the four projects will involve underground coal

gasification, which avoids the need to mine the coal. The

technique involves injecting oxidants into the unmined coal

seam and bringing the product gas to the surface through

production wells drilled. The product gas can be used as a

chemical feedstock or as fuel for power generation. The first

project will be launched next year at a cost of US$6.5 million.

Surveys indicate that a 85sq.km area in Hung Yen Province

could also be mined, and that there were potential coal reserves

in other areas of Thai Binh Province.

Quan said it would take between nine and ten years to mine

five million tonnes of coal, and three to four years to exploit the

same amount of coal using underground gasification

technology.

Coal reserves in Quang Ninh Province are expected to be

exhausted by 2015. — VNS

Red River Delta to be mined for coal

09 November 2009 by hoang

Vinacomin will soon begin exploring and extracting coal in

the Red River Delta on a trial basis, a group senior official

said last week.

The group believes that roughly 210 billion tonnes of coal lie

beneath the Red River Delta, with up to 90 per cent of the coal

in coastal Thai Binh province, the biggest rice bowl in the north,

and the rest is in nearby Hung Yen province

“We expect that the government will allow a trial exploration

and exploitation project in the first two mining spots in Khoai

Chau district, Hung Yen province early next year,” said

Vinacomin’s president Tran Xuan Hoa.

The government is reviewing the group’s proposal, which was

submitted early October. The company plans to use

underground coal gasification (UCG) and underground coal

mining (UCM) technologies in the Tien Dung and Binh Minh

mines. In late September, the Interministerial Assessment

Council agreed to recommend government approval for

Vinacomin’s plan to extract coal from the Red River Delta. This

agreement followed a series of meetings regarding the plan’s

feasibility and the impacts in the natural environment and rice

industry. The council includes representatives from the

ministries of Industry and Trade, Planning and Investment,

Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture and

Rural Development and leaders of Thai Binh and Hung Yen

provincial people’s committees.

The council also agreed to recommend that the government

approve the trial application of UCG and UCM technologies.

“The issues of the environment, rice cultivation and residents’

lives are of utmost concern to the government in regards to this

project,” Hoa said.

Vinacomin has estimated that Vietnam will have to import

around 7.9 million tonnes of coal in 2012 to feed local coal-fired

power plants, which will consume 32.5 million tonnes of coal.

Imports will increase to 9.2 million tonnes in 2013, 25 million

tonnes in 2015, 35.2 million tonnes in 2020 and 27 million

tonnes in 2025. Hoa said if the exploration and extraction could

start next year, the first batch of the Red River Delta coal would

be ready by 2015 or 2017. “We will then make specific

assessments and decide on whether to extend the project’s

scale,” he said.

In May 2009, Vinacomin established a joint venture with

Marubeni Corp. of Japan and Linc Energy of Australia to explore

coal in the Red River Delta with UCG technology.

The joint venture consists of a 60 per cent stake held by

Vinacomin, 20 per cent by Linc Energy and 20 per cent by

Marubeni. It is responsible for coal exploration in Tien Dung

mine. Vinacomin has also planned to use UCG technology for

coal exploration and exploitation in Binh Minh mine.

According to Vinacomin, mining coal reserves in the Red River

Delta will cost up to $2.5 billion.(VIR)

Other News

Secure Indigenous supply – as you all know this is

an aspect of UCG we are keen to promote. The very

unusual and lengthy spells of cold weather in Europe

and elsewhere highlighted concerns over Gas supplies,

below are just three of many articles:

National Grid issues second gas alert in four days

Daily Telegraph 07.01.2010

National Grid has issued its second gas balancing alert for

Britain this week as the snow and cold weather looked set to

push demand to a new record high.

The gas pipeline operator’s warning came as it predicted

demand for gas would hit a new record of 456.7 million

cubic metres (mcm) on Thursday, beating the previous record

of 449mcm on January 7, 2003. The Met Office expects the

extreme cold spell to last into next week.

On Monday, National Grid was forced to issue its second-ever

gas balancing alert, warning increased demand could force

large users to cut their consumption. This alert was triggered

by increased demand due to the extreme cold weather across

the country and a problem with a pipeline supplying gas from

Norway. Gas prices for same-day delivery surged as much as

80pc, touching 62p per therm, but fell back sharply as big users

such as power stations switched from gas to coal, suppliers

brought in more gas from the Continent and Norway came back

on stream.

Further problems with supply from Norway also caused today’s

alert, pushing up gas prices. Gas for delivery today jumped 7p

to 51.5p, while gas for Friday stood at 46p per therm ($7.34 per

mmbtu) by 1100 GMT, up 0.4p. Data from National Grid showed

Norwegian input via the Langeled pipeline plunged to around

25mcm from more than 70 mcm aroud 11am.

“There’s this nervousness. Supply from Norway has just

dropped off,” a trader told Reuters. “The system turned short

from long.

The cold spell is going to last for some time.”

The pipeline operator warned on Monday there was a “high

likelihood” that customers with so-called interruptible

contracts - which include factories and NHS trusts - could face

supply disruption. Such customers pay lower gas rates on the

understanding that their supply may occasionally be cut in order

to protect supplies to homes. Coal accounted for 44pc of the

country’s power supply, according to National Grid data, while

the gas share stood at 39pc.

Europe faces energy crisis as Vladimir Putin cuts

Russian gas supply

Europe has been plunged into an energy crisis after Vladimir

Putin ordered Russia’s state-run gas company to cut supplies

by 20 per cent. Daily Telegraph By Miriam Elder in Moscow and

Bruno Waterfield in Brussels 05 Jan 2009

As temperatures dropped below zero across much of Europe,

the Russian prime minister instructed the head of Gazprom:

“Cut it - starting today.” The cut was ordered to punish

neighbouring Ukraine, which Russia accuses of topping up its

own gas supply by siphoning off energy meant for European

consumers and sent through its pipelines.

But Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-run gas company, said that it was

European Union countries, including Britain, that would feel the

effects of an increasingly bitter East-West energy row.

“Gazprom has in fact cut volumes of transit gas to European

customers. The Russian company has therefore placed under

threat the delivery of gas to European countries,” Naftogaz said

in a statement. The EU meanwhile dispatched an emergency

fact-finding mission to Ukraine after eight European countries

reported a disruption of gas supplies following a smaller

Russian cut last week. The taskforce of senior officials from

the European Commission and the Czech Republic, which has

just taken over the EU’s rotating presidency, will also hold crisis

talks with Gazprom on Tuesday.

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Prague on Thursday, will then

assess levels of gas supply disruption and discuss possible

action to prevent energy shortages amid sub-zero temperatures

in most European capitals. EU countries are dependent for one

quarter of their gas supplies on Russia, of which 80 per cent

comes via pipelines that cross the Ukraine. Some, such as

Poland, depend on Gazprom for over three quarters of their gas

supply. Britain receives up to 15 per cent of its supply from

Russian sources, mainly channelled through French pipelines.

The Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria,

Slovakia, Croatia and Hungary have already reported problems

with their supply.

The Commission has insisted that “there is no immediate

danger of disruption for European citizens”. But officials are

worried that the latest wave of freezing weather, in one of the

coldest winters for years, will push the EU into a full blown

energy crisis by fuelling demand for Russian gas as people seek

to heat their homes across Europe.

“The situation is changing. We are seeing a cold week ahead,”

said the Commission spokesman.”Cold weather has an

immediate effect on demand.The supply of gas has to be higher

or complemented with more use of storage.”

At a meeting at Mr Putin’s luxury dacha, he backed demands

by Alexei Miller, the CEO of Gazprom, for a daily reduction to

Ukraine’s pipeline gas flow of 65.3 million cubic metres, energy

that Russia claims that the Kiev has stolen during a price

dispute.

Gazprom first started to cut gas supplies to Ukraine on New

Year’s Day, after talks over a supply contract broke down amid

accusations that Kiev had failed to pay its full bill for 2008.

Naftogaz denies allegations it has siphoned off gas without

paying Russia.

Central China power supply in jeopardy on coal,

weather

Thu Jan 7, 2010 3:20am GMT

BEJING, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Power supplies to all regions covered

by Central China Grid Co are in jeopardy after some provinces

started rationing power, while demand in others continues to

rise, State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), the country’s leading grid

operator, said on Thursday.The regions, including the central

and southwestern inland provinces of Chongqing, Henan, Hubei,

Hunan, Jiangxi and Sichuan are vulnerable to power supply

shocks in winter when hydropower output shrinks and coal

shipments are confined by less efficient road and rail transport.

Coastal regions can receive coal in bulk from sea-borne routes

even though they are further from coal production centres in

northern China. Parts of China have been experiencing power

and natural gas shortages since November as earlier-than-usual

cold weather drove up demand and increases in coal and gas

supplies were limited.

However, analysts doubted a re-emergence of the widespread

power shortages seen in the summer of 2008, when power

plants curbed coal stocks and power output because of soaring

coal costs. Power loads on the central China grid continued to

rise entering 2010 after hitting a record high of 94.61 gigawatts

(GW) on Dec. 28, SGCC said in a release on its website, sourcing

information from Central China Grid Co, one of its five regional

grids. Electricity loads rose to fresh highs in Hunan, Jiangxi and

Sichuan on Tuesday after power rationing started on Monday in

Hunan, Hubei and Chongqing, leading to an emergency situation

in terms of power use, it said. Power demand in these regions

is likely to continue to grow in January and February, with

temperatures expected to keep falling. Coal stocks at coal-fired

power plants in the region would decline to less than 6 million

tonnes if supplies did not improve in January, and more

generators would have to be shut down, the release said.

A total of 3.35 GW of power generators were shut down on Dec.

31 and 53 power plants, with a generating capacity of 38.84

GW, were running with coal stocks insufficient for seven days of

generation. In addition, 17 generators, or 6.51 GW of capacity,

were shut down on Dec. 17 because of malfunctions from either

long-term overuse or poor coal quality, according to the release.

Power generating capacity in the region, including all types and

sizes of generators, totalled 172.37 GW at the end of 2008.

(Reporting by Jim Bai and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Chris

Lewis)

Forthcoming Events 2010

2010

January

The 6th Annual Clean Energy Forum-Clean

Coal 2010

January 27-29, 2010, Tianjin China.

The event is endorsed by IEA Clean Coal Centre, and supported

by National Reform and Development Commission Energy

Research Institute and Clean Air Task Force. More information,

please visit event website: www.cleancoalforum.com

February

Coal UK Conference and Dinner 2010

February 22, 2010 - London, UK

Coal UK Conference and Dinner will focus on four key themes:

policy, supply, the markets and the challenges. All the latest

issues and views will be presented and discussed to bring you

up-to-date and aid your future planning. The keynote session

looks at the long-term future policy for the UK coal and power

industries with addresses from both the major political parties

http://conf.mccloskeycoal.com/story.

asp?storycode=68406

March

5th UCGP International Conference & Workshop

London 23rd - 24th March 2010

Venue: Deloitte, 2 New Street Square, London

Our own flasgship event offering two days of the most

informative and in depth information on UCG.

Please don’t forget to book your place!

This event also offers unparalleled networking for this sector

so please join us at the Networking Dinner in the evening of the

23rd at the Tower Hotel.

www.ucgp.com/conference.

2010

April

SMi Gasification

Dates 19-20 April 2010 Location: Crowne Plaza St James

London

Covering a wide range of industry driven topics such as the latest

UCG and IGCC developments, Gasification 2010 will also be

uncovering some newer trends including biomass gasification

and niche technologies within the field. Featuring speakers from

key projects around the world and providing in-depth analysis

of the issues facing the sector.

http://www.smi-online.co.uk/2010gasification29.

asp

October

27th International Pittsburgh Coal Conference

Istanbul, Turkey 11th -14th October 2010

This leading conference is dedicated to providing a unique

opportunity for in-depth and focused exchange of technical

information and policy issues among representatives from

industry, government and academia throughout the world.

Topics include, Combustion, Gasification, UCG, Coal Process

plus more. There is now a call for papers. To qualify for acceptance,

you must submit a one-page abstract

on or before March 1, 2010.

A template and all conference details can be found on the website

www.engr.pitt.edu/pcc/

This is an event we highly recommend.

If you are presenting at an event on UCG

anywhere - please let us know, we will be

happy to publicise your attendance.

UCGA News

UCGP becomes UCGA

In 2009, with great support from the legal firm Nabarro, we had been looking to change our status to a UK registered charity.

UCG Association (“UCGA”), a private company limited by guarantee, was formed in June 2009 and an application was made to register

UCGA with the Charity Commission. UCGA’s application has however met some initial objections from the Charity Commission, which

we are trying to resolve. Regardless of whether UCGA achieves charitable status, there are important benefits in moving to a company

limited by guarantee, such as reinforcing UCGA as a non-profit organisation and establishing limited liability for its members.UCG

Partnership Limited (“UCGP”) will become a wholly owned subsidiary company of UCGA.

This move follows a natural growth in the work we undertake which has had a shift towards the regulatory and licensing aspects of

UCG Technology, plus Training and knowledge exchange to increase global understanding and expertise. The organisation’s main

emphasis will be very much focused on public information on all aspects of underground coal gasification, and information for

regulators, industry and anyone wishing to know more about UCG to support the commercial growth and understanding of UCG

globally. We will emphasise more the UCG process and how it fits in to the energy mix. Our target audience will be regulators,

financiers, investors and the general public. The organisation will further develop its activities in training, workshops and

conferences under the UCGP banner.

We will of course continue in promoting UCG as a clean, environmentally friendly energy source with the advantage of security of

supply as well as economic benefits but feel that we have established a firm platform for commercial UCG operators to push the

financial viability and commercial aspects better themselves. This will enable us, as an organisation, to remain impartial to the

commercial objectives and growth of members but support all of you in your endeavours.

A new website will be unveiled in March and all are welcome to give suggestions and input. We have always intended to have the

definitive UCG library contained within our site and we ask all of you to please send us any UCG information/presentations/papers.

Original authors will always be acknowledged.

UCGA will be overseen by Julie Lauder, who becomes CEO of the organisation. She will be guided and supported by the Board of

Trustees. The UCGA Advisory Council and UCGA Research Group remits and personnel remain the same.

The Trustees of the Association are:

Rohan Courtney, Clean Coal(Chairman)

Don Kinnersley, Deloitte

Prof. Peter Styles, Keele University

Dr Cliff Mallett, Carbon Energy

Dr Michael Green, UCG Engineering

Kenneth Fergusson, Senior Advisor, UCG Partnership

All members of UCGP will automatically be UCGA members. There is no change in fees or member

benefits.If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us, we will be happy to receive

questions or comments.

UCG Regulations and Licensing

UCGP have been invited by a number of regulatory authorities to assist in the development and formulation of UCG licensing and

regulations. Most countries do not have ready made licensing for UCG and we can assist. It is our pleasure to engage with regulators at

an early stage to ensure that every issue likely to come up is dealt with. If would like us to assist please let us know.

We have extensive information on this subject as a result of previous discussions with regulators around the world.

Our knowledge base covers permitting, environmental and health and safety issues. UCGP continues to expand and extend

involvement in the industry. We are working on a standard method of valuation for UCG assets, which is particularly important when

members are seeking financing for their projects. This should be available soon. We encourage exchange of information on project

results and also note the concerns our members have and the problems they come across. We always welcome enquiries from our

members or prospective members and are here to help.

UCG Chapters and Membership Expansion

We continue to work towards establishing UCG chapters in key global locations, namely, USA, South Africa, Australia, and China.

We have been offered considerable support from members in these regions and will update you on any significant developments.

However, we are requesting that members please pass on any contacts they may know or have worked with who may benefit from

joining the Association. We are especially keen to engage with those that we see as integral to the supply chain. Please pass on any

details and contacts to Julie Lauder – julie.lauder@ucgp.com

UCGP Research Group

Prof Peter Styles, who Chairs the Research Group continues to work all hours on preparations for several EU funding initiatives for

UCG. Peter has undertaken all of the paperwork and set up for the two groups below and we would like to acknowledge the time spent,

especially on the submission deadline of 23rd December! You will understand the scope of this work when you see the impressive

groups below.

In July we submitted the first Marie Curie Proposal under the IAPP (Industry and Academic Partnership Scheme) with 5 partners

UK

Professor Peter Styles, Keele University ,

Dr Matt Turner, Clean Coal Limited,

Spain

Dr Jose Paulino Fernandez Alvarez, Departamento de Matemáticas y Explotación de Minas, Facultad de Ciencias y Escuela, Oviedo.

Dr Cesar Romero HUNOSA Ltd, Independencia, 13, 33004 Oviedo,Spain

Australia

Dr Cliff Mallett, Carbon Energy Pty Ltd.,

The proposal feedback has been received and we scored 71% which is above the threshold for funding and we await the results of

the final phase. We understand that competition is very fierce so we are not getting too excited but from a zero baseline where the EU

knew very little about UCG this is a good start and the involvement of Australia was seen as a strong feature.

Clean Coal and Carbon Capture Consortium

UK

Professor Peter Styles,Keele University

Professor Dermot Roddy/Dr Gerardo Gonzalez, Newcastle University

Julie Lauder, UCGA

Prof Jon Gluyas, Durham University

Mr Peter Dryburgh, Director, Wardell Armstrong LLP

Dr Richard Marsh, Cardiff University

Germany

Dr Ralph Schlueter, Deutsche Montan Technologie GmbH,

Prof Thomas Kempka,Department of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology / RWTH Aachen

Netherlands

Dr Alexander Kronimus,TNO - National Geological Survey

Poland

Professor Jan Palarski, Silesian Technical University of Gliwice (STU),

Spain

Dr Jose Paulino Fernandez Alvarez

Departamento de Matemáticas y Explotación de Minas Oviedo, SPAIN

Dr Cesar Romero,HUNOSA, Oviedo,Spain

Italy

Fabrizio Pisanu Mech.Eng.,Head of Development Division,CARBOSULCIS SpA

Slovakia

Prof.Ing.Karol Kostúr,CSc.,Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes

Faculty of Mining, Technical University,Košice,Slovakia

Turkey

Prof.Dr. Mustafa Versan KÖKDept. Middle East Technical University,Ankara,Turkey

Australia

Dr Cliff Mallett, Carbon Energy Pty Ltd.

This is a very powerful network and should have a reasonable chance of catching the EU FP7 eye. Time will tell!

If you have any research ideas or information that you would like to share with him or others in this group please contact Prof. Styles in

the first instance. Email: p.styles@esci.keele.ac.uk

We thank Peter for his continued efforts and support

EU Project HUGE - Update

The EU Huge project is due for completion in 2010. An underground UCG test at the Barbro experimental test centre is planned to start

this month, and the final experiments with high pressure gasification of Polish coal samples will be undertaken at Liege University in

the next few months. Ex-situ tests on blocks of coal are also underway. The project is on schedule for its completion date of July 2010.

UCG Reserves Initiative

As reported in the last issue, UCGP is currently working with a selected group of members, all of whom have experience in this area,

to research a method and criteria to place a reliable valuation on any potential UCG resource .The team is led by Ray Pilcher, Raven

Ridge Resources. Ray will share the findings at our forthcoming conference in March, there will of course be scope for discussions and

further input.

Government Policies on UCG

On 9th November 2009, the UK government published its responses to consultations on proposed new regulations for carbon-capture

readiness (CCR) and for the development of clean coal. UCGP had submitted views on both of these consultations. Notwithstanding

this, the responses made only two passing references to UCG, and failed to recognise UCG as a potential major contribution to UK

energy resources, which should be accommodated in policy statements.

A further consultation was launched in January, on planning procedures and requirements, in the form of “National Policy Statements”.

UCGP will respond to this and propose that a specific NPS for UCG should be formulated. Input from members welcome

We welcome information as to whether similar policy responses have been made or are required in other regions. As a central

organisation we are well placed to assist and support all efforts to have UCG recognised and included in all future energy policies

globally.

UCG trip to Australia by Julie Lauder – October/November 2009

The Australia visit was a very worthwhile exercise, as it is vital for our relationship with members to visit and support them at events.

Also a lot of spreading the word and trying to enlist new members, many new contacts to add to the mailing list, new relationships

formed and some new members.

Many were very happy for the chance to have one on one discussions and to be informed of the future focus for UCGP and the change

to UCGA. I visited folk in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Many new relationships down under were initiated. The interest for a

UCG conference in Australia was high and met with much enthusiasm. Julie met an array of people from all the skill sets, drillers, and

geologists, finance, regulatory and commercial UCG companies. The issues and rivalry between UCG and CBM is certainly an issue in

Australia. Several events were attended, special thanks to Rick Somerton of Energie Futures for the invitation to present at an investor

event and to Don Kinnersley, from Deloitte who made introductions to all the main Deloitte offices in Australia. The introductions were

very helpful in securing meetings and potential UCG contacts.

As well as almost six weeks of perfect weather Julie was fortunate to visit the Bloodwood Creek site with Cliff Mallett and Rusty Mark

of Carbon Energy on the day they linked the syngas to a turbine, so shared in a historic UCG moment.

UCG Presentations were given by Kenneth Fergusson, Senior Advisor UCG Partnership at the following recent UK events:

Midland Institute of Mining Engineers - 12th November 2009

Keele University - 13th November 2009.

The All-Party Group on Peak Oil (APPGOPO) in the UK Parliament - 19th January 2010

In addition to describing the basics of UCG and state of development internationally, the potential of UCG gas, with CCS, to supplement

or replace natural gas in CCGT power stations in the UK was described. All events were well attended and involved lively and informed

discussions, as well as promotion of the UCGA. Each event attracted a different audience and the presentations were modified in accordance

to the attendees. We thank Ken for his time, efforts and continuing commitment. The presentations are available on the UCGP

website.

UCGA Reports



As the association grows in strength and influence so do the benefits.

We are always seeking to strengthen our membership and what we offer and continue to work with others to obtain discounts

and benefits that we can pass on to all members. Our 2010 Conference is free to all members attending, substantial discounts

apply to UCGP training courses and we have managed to obtain discounts to outside conferences for members.

Some of the benefits of Membership

· A network of contacts of individuals, companies and public organisations involved in UCG Regular newsletter and updates on new

and existing UCG projects around the world Employment Register and Job opportunities in UCG.

· Investment Opportunities described on the website.

· Access to a complete and unique online archive information on all UCG from early days.

· Focal point for all information relevant to UCG for members via email, website and seminars.

· Access to inter-active website.

· Public and independent information service on UCG.

· Representation at the highest level.

· Early advice and “clearing house” for UCG on financial and technical aspects of UCG projects, through contacts with energy

companies, banking and project finance specialists.

· Source of academic and practical training in UCG in association with academia.

· Feasibility studies, collaborative development and other study programmes on UCG.

· Information on Research Projects organised by UCG Association and early opportunity for members to become involved.

· Early opportunity for members to get involved in UCG Projects.

· Tailored support from UCGA for seminars, training courses (at additional cost).

Annual Membership Fees:

Number of Employees Cost No. of free conference delegate places

Under 10 people £750 One

Under 20 people £1,500 Two

Under 50 people £2,000 Three

Under 100 people £3,000 Four

100 people and over £5,000 Six

Academic £1,000 Two

Reciprocal Nil One

Membership and Benefits of UCGA

UCG Association

Elizabeth House, Duke Street,

Woking, Surrey GU21 5AS

Phone: +44 1252 661978 Fax: +44 1483 851170