ucgp UPDATE
Newsletter for Members of UCG Partnership
ISSUE 13 July 2009
New UCG Training Course for 2009
14th – 18th September 2009
UCGP Training Course No 1/09 on UCG (Basic)
Imperial College London
We have now finalised the complete course details and are delighted to announce the inclusion of Dr. Jon
Gibbons to the team of experts from Imperial College London, who will present on CCS aspects of UCG.
The course will be very similar in format and content as the successful 2008 training course with Imperial
College and will outline basic UCG methodology. There are now only a few places left on the course so if
you are interested in attending or would like more information please contact julie.lauder@ucgp.com
For more details go to: http://www.ucgp.com/ucg-partnership/training/
UCGP International Conferences 2010
Following consultation with UCGP members and the UCGP Advisory
Council, with so much UCG activity and interest around the world more events
are now required and we need to include more locations. With that in mind we are
delighted to announce our conference plans for 2010.
5th International Conference and Workshop on
Underground Coal Gasification,
London 23rd – 24th March 2010
and
1st UCGP International Conference,
Brisbane, Australia
October/November 2010
Such was the success of the last event that our main sponsor, Deloitte has already given their support for
the next annual UCGP Conference 2010. So the definitive conference on Underground Coal Gasification will
once again be held at the prestigious London location, Deloitte Auditorium, New Street Square. Our 5th
Conference has been extended to a 2.5 day event. A half day presentation on the EU HUGE Project will be
on Monday 22nd March, preceding the Workshop Day and Conference. If you are interested in presenting,
please send us your abstract or enquiry.
UCGP International Conference on Underground Coal
Gasification and Bloodwood Creek site visit, Australia
2010
We will be holding a second event in Brisbane, Australia in October/November 2010, date to be finalised,
and our first major event outside of the UK. The event will include presentations and updates from many of
our Australia members as well as global updates and will continue the related work from the recent Clean
Coal Networking mission.
A key feature of the event will be a site visit to the Carbon Energy Bloodwood Creek UCG facility, a must for
all in UCG and associated technologies.We are already speaking with many who have expressed an interest
in taking part in both events but welcome suggestions and input from members and affiliates, especially
if you have any contacts who may be interested in the opportunity of sponsorship.
As yet no decision has been made as to whether both events will be free to UCGP members or if there
will be a need to charge an attendance fee, hence the interest in sponsors. It may be that both events will
be free of charge but a token charge may be made for networking events. We will keep you all updated on
progress of both events and hope that you will look forward to them with as much excitement as us.
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 but opportunity
to engage in projects at an early stage.
News from Around the World
AUSTRALIA
World-first clean coal plant could increase Australia’s
energy security
PACE 24 April 2009
Linc Energy Limited has opened the world’s first demonstration
plant in Chinchilla designed to educate the industry about the
advantages of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) technology
– a coal-to-liquids process to convert vast ‘stranded’ coal deposits
into ultra clean liquid fuels.
Linc Energy’s Chinchilla Demonstration Plant in Queensland
is now producing clean synthetic diesel and jet fuel from gas
sourced from deep underground coal reserves, following the
plant’s first production in October 2008. The facility has gained
huge attention from media and government – both local and
from overseas – which have hailed the plant as “unique” and
“world-class”.
Vietnamese Government Ministers and Vice Ministers, representatives
from Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and business
supporters from South Africa and the United States gathered in
Chinchilla to mark the official opening of the world’s first Underground
Coal Gasification (UCG) to Gas to Liquids (GTL) facility.
“Linc Energy’s facility is truly unique; the only one of its kind,
complete with UCG gas field, a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) GTL plant
and an on-site, world-class laboratory,” said Linc Energy’s chief
executive officer, Peter Bond.
Linc Energy is an Australian-owned energy company and a leader
in clean coal technology. The company’s vision is to become
a dominant player in the supply of more environmentally-friendly
power, diesel and jet fuel. The company’s facility brings together,
for the first time anywhere in the world, the two proven production
processes known as Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) clean
coal technology and Gas to Liquids (GTL). These processes will
economically convert vast ‘stranded’ coal deposits into ultra clean
liquid fuels.
Linc Energy will also use the Syngas produced from UCG clean
coal technology as feedstock for gas turbines to generate much
needed environmentally friendly electricity.
The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP,
officially launched the demonstration plant this month. “Australia
is coal and gas rich, with hundreds of years of reserves.
Technologies that convert coal and gas to ultra-clean diesel
and jet fuel have the potential to replace Australia’s declining
oil reserves and make us self-sufficient in liquid transport
fuels once again,” he said.
“A domestic synthetic fuels industry would reduce - and maybe
even one day remove - our growing trade deficit in petroleum
products which last year grew to almost $15 billion. This
technology unlocks energy from Australia’s significant stranded
and uneconomic coal reserves and has the potential to
dramatically reduce Australia’s dependence upon imported oil
and refined products.”
According to Linc Energy, the technology could increase Australia’s
energy security, by producing environmentally-friendly fuels
containing almost zero sulphur and no aromatics, with a carbon
footprint comparable with the production of conventional fuels.
If gas-to-liquids takes off, it could open-up opportunities for jobs,
exports, revenue and economic growth – particularly in regional
communities, Ferguson said.
Liberty completes Queensland acquisition
By: Esmarie Swanepoel 23rd April 2009
(miningweekly.com)
Perth-based Liberty Resources reported this week that it had
completed the acquisition of Queensland tenements covering
shallow and deep coal, potentially suitable for underground coal
gasification (UCG). Liberty now owns 100% of tenement areas
covering about 26 000 km2 in the Surat, Galilee, and Bowen basins.
“This heralds a new phase of growth for the company. While
we acknowledge the challenges that lie ahead, we also see the
substantial growth opportunity in joining the leaders of a rapidly
developing, clean energy industry in Australia,” said company MD
Andrew Haythorpe.
The transaction followed the acquisition of four Australian private
companies that held exploration permits for coal applications
(EPCAs) and exploration permits for coal (EPCs), in Queensland.
Liberty now hold 11 granted EPCs, a mineral development lease
(MDL) and 28 EPCAs awaiting offer for grant. An estimated 4,
2-billion tons of coal occurs within the shallow part of the Surat
basin, adjacent to the EPCA areas. The MDL application covers
inferred resource of an estimated 338-million tons of thermal coal
in its Galilee project.
Cougar, Ignite talk UCG joint venture
Source: News Bites
Cougar Energy Ltd and Ignite Energy Resources are negotiating
a joint venture over the phased development of potential underground
coal gasification (UCG) project in Victoria’s Gippsland
region. Cougar and Ignite had previously worked on the project
under a memorandum of understanding.
The proposed joint venture is expected to be in the form of a
farm-in agreement which will enable Cougar to carry out a drilling
program on mutually agreed areas within EL4416 to define
suitable UCG deeper coal resources that would not normally be
exploited by Ignite on a conventional mining basis.
Underground coal gasification is the process by which coal is
converted in situ into a combustible gas that can be used as a
fuel or a chemical feedstock. It has the potential to exploit coal
resources that are either inaccessible or uneconomic using
conventional mining methods.
Cougar Energy has 2009 milestone for Kingaroy
UCG plant
Monday, June 15, 2009
Cougar Energy is on track with its Underground Coal Gasification
(UCG) project near Kingaroy in Queensland. Work is progressing
on a pre-production burn being commissioned later in 2009,
as the first stage in development of a 400MW power plant using
UCG gas as the fuel source. Recently, Cougar raised $4.2 million
to primarily advance the Kingaroy UCG project and specifically
for the construction of the UCG Pilot Plant facility due to commence
operations later this year.
The UCG process converts coal in-situ into a gas which can be
used as a fuel for power generation or for conversion into a range
of petrochemical products and gas-to-liquids solutions.
The Kingaroy power station will generate an electricity supply
for 400,000 homes for at least 30 years. Costs of producing the
power are significantly lower than natural gas supplied power stations
and carbon emissions are estimated to be 25% lower than
conventional coal-fired stations. Final development timetable and
go ahead for the construction and commissioning of the proposed
power plant at Kingaroy is dependent on Queensland Government
approval of underground coal gasification and Cougar
Energy Limited’s program of commercial development.
A second Queensland UCG project is targeted by Cougar, with a
new drilling program having commenced at the company’s Wandoan
lease (EPC 1118) in the Surat Basin. The Wandoan drilling
program is designed to establish an initial JORC compliant coal
resource of between 200 million and 300 million tonnes.
Eneabba leads the pack in bid to provide
“clean” energy
Newstore, com.au, 29 Apr 2009
Western Australian based energy company Eneabba Gas Limited,
has, as a result of careful planning and a number of recent
significant company generated developments, further cemented
its position as the only viable provider of cost effective “clean”
energy to the Mid West region of Western Australia.
Since 2005 Eneabba Gas and its technical consultants have diligently
progressed plans for its proposed 168MW Centauri 1 gas
fired power station project, located on company owned land eight
kilometres east of Dongara and approximately 365 kms north of
Perth in Western Australia.
These activities have at all times centered on the objective of
becoming the leading supplier of cost effective, low carbon emission,
“clean” energy to companies and organisations wishing to
develop major mining and industrial projects in Western Australia’s
rapidly developing Midwest region, not limited to but likely to
include a range of iron ore mining companies developing projects
in the region.
In the past twelve months the Company has stepped up its activities
regarding the development of the Centauri 1 power station
and to date is the ONLY energy company in the region to receive
the various Government approvals needed for the rapid development
of this vital piece of infrastructure, including Planning Approval
from the Shire of Irwin, Environmental Protection Authority
(EPA) and Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR).
In addition, Eneabba Gas is also the ONLY holder of an Economic
Regulation Authority (ERA) generation licence in the Mid West
region - a licence needed to commence power generation.
A vital milestone in the development of the Centauri 1 Power Station
has at all times been access to an uninterrupted gas supply.
This was confirmed on 1 April 2009, when the Company reached
agreement with fellow Australian company Carbon Energy Limited
to jointly develop an underground coal gasification (“UCG’)
project to supply the power station.
Under the terms of this agreement, Carbon Energy will acquire a
substantial coal exploration area in Western Australia from Eneabba
Gas, and will execute a 30 year Gas Supply Agreement with
Eneabba Gas to supply a minimum of 15 TJ per day (up to 45 TJ
per day) of UCG Syngas for the Centauri 1 Power Station.
This agreement, which is subject to due diligence and the final
results of a drilling programme, is expected to be finalised by
mid-year.
Cooking with gas and looking like a winner
Article from: The Australian May 20, 2009
After passing through the Maryborough cane fields and Bundaberg
Rum distilleries, the Bruce Highway travels north to Gladstone,
home of Queensland’s next important industry.
Nominated to host liquefied natural gas processing plants proposed
by the likes of Santos, Origin Energy, Arrow Energy and
British Gas, the region is set to become a leading natural gas export
base. According analyst Tim Morris, these projects will open
up new market opportunities for local gas producers: “To date,
a lack of infrastructure has suppressed east coast gas prices
below regional benchmarks in Asia. However the construction of
LNG processing facilities in Queensland could see international
demand start to influence local gas prices.”
Underpinning these LNG proposals are gas resources in underground
coal seams. Morris says there are two main methods for
extracting the gas, which is usually too deep for mining. “After
years of trial and error, coal seam gas has now become a wellaccepted
production method. Less established is underground
coal gasification, which is being pioneered by Carbon Energy.”
With a 668 million-tonne coal resource in the Surat Basin, Carbon
Energy aims to commercialise the contained gas using technology
developed by the CSIRO. Morris says that production trials
are proving successful. “Extraction rates averaging 20gigajoules
of gas per tonne of coal have been achieved using the UCG
technology. These initial production rates are on par with existing
CSG producers, confirming the company’s potential to establish
commercial energy supplies,” he says. Carbon Energy isn’t
relying on big LNG projects for gas sales. Instead it is targeting
incremental production growth in domestic power markets, Morris
says. “Given the size of its Surat Basin resource and the modular
nature of the CSIRO technology, production is very scalable while
capital requirements are modest,” he says. “As gas pipelines
already run through its tenements, infrastructure isn’t a problem.”
Further upgrade to Rey Resources’ Duchess Coal
resource cheered by investors.
Wotnews.com Monday, June 01, 2009
Total JORC resources at Rey Resources Ltd (have been at been
upgraded to 511 million tonnes (up from 498 million tonnes) at
the Duchess Paradise coal project in the Canning Basin, Western
Australia. Investors liked the news with the shares up 12%.
The area has been chronically under-explored for major coal
systems; this is the first systematic exploration of the area by Rey
Resources. Indicated resource increased by 51% to 144 million
tonnes thermal coal.
A pre-feasibility study, to evaluate if a commercial mining operation
can be sustained on the resource. The study is focusing
initially on selecting the higher quality, near surface areas of coal
within the approximately half billion tonnes of resource that has
been reported. The study is due for completion by the end of
2009.
Rey Resources believes that an initial open pit operation of
approximately 2Mtpa coal can be exported via the port of
Derby with production commencing in 2012. A larger exporting
operation using a new deepwater port site at Point Torment, 180
kilometres to the north will be evaluated. The Underground Coal
Gasification (UCG) potential of the deeper coals is also being
investigated.
Significant opportunity at our doorstep,’ says Devco
president
Greg McNeil, Cape Breton Post
SYDNEY — Eggs, sausage and the clean energy potential of the
Sydney coalfields were on the menu of the Scotiabank Breakfast
Series hosted by the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce,
Wednesday.
Ross McCurdy, president and CEO of the Cape Breton Development
Corp., was the guest speaker for the event and spoke of opportunities
other than mining. “We have a significant opportunity
at our doorstep,” he said of energy potential equal to the Alberta
oil sands. “Most of the coal is offshore, so underground mining is
not practical. We are advocating mining the energy, not the coal
— leave the coal in the ground.” McCurdy pointed to methane
gas, biomining and the most practical local application,
underground coal gasification, as potential opportunities.
There are currently six major players in the underground
gasification industry, he said.
One of the two that has expressed interest in the Sydney
coalfields has already visited the area. “When they were made
aware of the Sydney coalfield, its potential and the extent of it,
they became very interested,” McCurdy said without revealing the
company name. “I guess really they can see there is a potential
to have a viable business here and it probably makes sense.”
Similar systems are already at work in Alberta, Russia and Australia.
As for cost, a Wyoming underground coal gasification plant
began with a $600-million capital investment and is employing
90-150 people full-time. Funding of any local ventures is purely
speculative at this point. McCurdy said a company would first
have to step forward and develop their business case.
If a company does decide to proceed, coalfield development
could begin as early as 2010. “I think technology is far enough
advanced today that allows us to mine the energy and not necessarily
the coal. We can do this in a way to create some of the
cleanest energy that exists in the world today.”Knowledge-based
skills will be required during the development of these opportunities,
he said.
Once Devco ceases to exist in five years, Cape Breton University
and local community colleges will be key players in the process.“It
is part of our legacy program to see that something is to be
developed here. We want to do everything within our power to
help it gain momentum as we leave. Then, in fact, this is really
something that will take the place of us.”
International Resource to buy Clean Global Energy
Sydney - Thursday - April 30: (Australian Business News)
International Resource Holdings Ltd has entered a conditional
heads of agreement to acquire Clean Global Energy Pty Ltd
(CGE) for the issue of up to 300m IRH shares.
CGE is a private company with a vision of becoming a significant
provider of low-cost energy through converting vast sub-economic
coal deposits into a cheap, useful energy in the form of Syngas.
In exploiting coal deposits that are traditionally uneconomical to
mine, CGE will use its proven in-situ extraction method, Underground
Coal Gasification (UCG), to turn these resources into a
Syngas that is suitable for feedstock for power generation, the
production of chemicals and fertilisers, and for use in Gas to
Liquids technology that produces petrochemical products.
UCG is a process whereby coal is converted to gas in-situ and
brought to the surface for further use.
The UCG technology to be used by CGE has been developed
over the last 20 years by technical director Dr Michael Green
and proven most recently in a successful European UCG trial
conducted in Spain between 1992 and 1999. Dr Green has
continued to develop the process used in the trial.
CGE has four coal leases including EPC 1506, 1508 & 1539
located in the Clarence-Moreton Coal Basin in southeast
Queensland and EPC 1507 in the Biloela Coal Basin in central
Queensland. It has applied for three additional coal leases including
EPCA 1592 in the Bowen Basin, EPCA 1612 in the Clarence-
Moreton Basin and EPCA 1637 in the Galilee Basin.
If these additional leases are granted, the seven leases will cover
an area of about 1895 sq km.
METROCOAL’S SECOND DRILLING PROGRAM
COMPLETED ON QUEENSLAND UCG PROJECT
ABN Newswire, 8th May 2009
Metallica Limited has announced through its 84% holding in
MetroCoal Ltd, the successful completion of a second drilling
program on MetroCoal’s wholly owned underground coal
gasification (UCG) project in the Surat Basin, northwest of
Brisbane.
The program, focused within the Juandah project (MDLA 406),
has confirmed expectations of coal seam continuity and
thickness. Modelling and resource evaluation is ongoing with a
maiden resource estimate expected early in June, 2009.
MDLA 406 has no overlapping petroleum tenure issued under the
P&G Act and, in accordance with the recently announced State
policy regarding overlapping tenure, MetroCoal will be granted
exclusive tenure over the MDLA 406 area.
Juandah Project Highlights
16 drill holes (for a total of 4,893 m) within MDLA 406 completed
(See Table 1). 4 Core holes completed for 64.4m of core.
Coal intercepts confirm preliminary geological model.
Exploration expected to bring target resource to JORC Inferred
and Indicated status. Maiden resource statement expected early
in June 2009
Figure1 - MetroCoal Tenements and Setting
The 16 hole drill programme within MDLA 406 was completed
on 30 April 2009. This second drilling program follows the first
phase of drilling completed in October 2008. A geological model
constructed over large parts of EPC’s 1164, 1251 and 1164
was used to plan the program and will form the basis for future
resource estimation in the area. A 1x1 km grid was
established over MDLA 406 to provide a base for systematic exploration.
Twelve (12) pilot holes were rotary drilled, also referred
to as “open” holes, and four holes were `twinned’ to recover core
samples through the Macalister Seam section for coal quality
purposes. All holes were wireline logged for density and gamma.
This relatively widely spaced drilling is the first step towards
establishing a UCG resource. The Juandah MDLA 406 60km
tenement area near Wandoan has an exploration target
of between 125 Mt and 155 Mt within the initial area of drilling.
This target could be capable of supporting a coal gas-to-liquids
(GTL) plant producing 20,000 barrels of liquid fuels per day for
more than 20 years and is expected to increase as the drilling
program expands. Drilling targeted the Macalister Seams as the
main priority. Initial results confirm that the Macalister seams are
continuous across the MDLA area with working sections between
3.0mand 12.02m in thickness. The Kogan seam, stratigraphically
located above the Macalister seam, has also been intersected in
a number of holes and may provide an additional resource.
Jobs boom in SW Qld energy sector
Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:23am AEST
There are more jobs than people available in Queensland’s
booming energy sector in the Surat Basin in the state’s southern
inland. Coal seam gas, underground coal gasification projects
and open-cut coal mining are being developed across the region
from Toowoomba and Dalby out to Roma, Moonie and Chinchilla.
Dalby Regional Mayor Ray Brown says there is no reason for
anyone to be unemployed.”I think anybody who lives in this
area at the moment that doesn’t have a job really doesn’t want
a job because the papers are still full of vacancies,” he said.”I
know most of the coal seam gas producers are still looking for
staff here, some of them qualified staff but a lot of them are just
minimal qualifications. “It’s such a major growth region here at the
moment.”
East Coast Minerals arrives in the underground coal
gasification sector
Proactiveinvestors.com15.05.09
An option to acquire 51% of Energy Future has been exercised
by East Coast Minerals dealing shareholders of ECM into the fast
moving Underground Coal Gasification sector and a new value
adding platform for growth.
ECM will issue 1,000,000 East Coast shares to the principals
of Energy Future and the obligation for East Coast to fund $1.5
million of Energy Future’s costs.
Energy Future has applications for mineral exploration licences
over an off shore area of 6,000 km2 that stretches from Wollongong
to Newcastle. In 1981 the Coal Strategy Division of
the Department of Mineral Resources, Sydney estimated that
this area could contain up to 28 billion tonnes of coal down to a
depth of 600 metres assuming conventional mining techniques.
The company said, “this offshore opportunity has the potential to
supply more energy than all of the known Queensland coal seam
gas production combined.”
Access to required technology and UCG expertise to move to
production is crucial and here Energy Future has an MOU to
enter into a partnership with a world leader in gas to liquids
technology, Energy Technology Partners, which will licence
Energy Future with their Fischer Tropsch technology exclusively
for Australia and Raven Ridge Resources, a firm that has a large
number of successful UCG trials to its name around the world.
It is understood that both Energy Technology Partners and Raven
Ridge Resources will acquire as part of the transaction a significant
equity interest in Energy Future via a joint venture vehicle,
InSitu Energy.
Ultra Clean Fuel Potential for Northern Territory
Boarder Coal Seams
Brr.com.au 9th June 2009
Vast potential resources of coal described as a viable Exploration
Target in an area of the Simpson Desert straddling the South
Australian-Northern Territory border could yield a major source
of highly marketable “ultra-clean” middle distillate fuels through
modern underground coal gasification technologies, according to
an independent report by Mulready Consulting Services.
The report, prepared for Perth-based Central Petroleum Limited
estimates that a “best” case recoverable prospective resource
of 1.25 trillion barrels of liquid petroleum products produced by
“syngas” in a Gas to Liquids (GTL) process may be possible
from Central’s tenements, which cover a large portion of the
Pedirka Basin. Central said the findings added weight to its goal
to develop a large-scale GTL processing plant in Alice Springs,
to produce “ultra-clean” diesel, jet fuel or naphtha for a global
market driven by the trend to more energy-efficient vehicles.
“The recent emergence of sophisticated Underground Coal
Gasification (UCG) and GTL technologies in Australia is paving
the way for us to possibly unlock a huge unutilised potential
resource in Central Australia, and create a UCG/GTL operation of
major national significance,” Central Petroleum’s Managing Director,
Mr John Heugh, said.
Today’s report follows Central’s announcement earlier this year of
a one-trillion-tonne plus black coal Exploration Target at between
200 and 1,000 metres depth within the Early Permian Purni Formation
of the Pedirka Basin, including significant coal thicknesses
of well over 100 metres of cumulative coal seams. “The Mulready
report estimates that the “best” case (mid-case) syngas prospective
resource which may be available via UCG processes in
our Pedirka Basin petroleum acreage could produce about 1.25
trillion barrels of liquid gas in a GTL plant or plants, which would
be sufficient to fuel a 140,000 barrel-a-day gas-to-liquids plant for
about 27,000 years,” Mr Heugh said. “The UCG technology has
not been proven at large commercial scale in the west however
and the Exploration Target remains just that until more wells are
drilled.” “In this era of growing energy efficiency and the desire
for ever cleaner fuels, liquid hydrocarbons are commanding a
premium over gas and are much simpler to transport and easy to
sell not only for transport and electricity, but for the manufacture
of chemicals, solvents, fertilizers, and numerous other consumer
products. “We are looking at the findings of this report alongside
our pre-feasibility study into the potential for a large-scale GTL
plant, which we believe could attract commercial interest from
one of the larger global petroleum corporations,” Mr Heugh said.
“With global markets of clean liquid petroleum products growing
by the day, and the potential for our domestic market to also grow
rapidly if gas sales prices rise, we believe there is a huge market
for these products and certainly these factors may be enough to
justify construction of a GTL plant or plants if such resources are
eventually defined by further drilling.” “Our early drilling results
also suggest that the coals in the Pedirka Basin have reasonably
fit for purpose qualities and adequate macro and micro permeability,
which are fundamental parameters for UCG production,”
he said.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s untapped coal potential - Solution to
energy crisis?
Mark Muller with Roger Moody
THE Bangladesh Ministry of Power and Energy recently asserted
that the country must more than double delivered power within
the next five years (from around 4,000 MW to 9,000 MW per day).
With the installation and operation of four new coal-fired power
stations, it is claimed that the current daily gap between generation
and demand would be reduced to 1,500 MW.
According to Bangladesh’s National Energy Policy 2004 total coal
reserves are 2,527 million tonnes, contained in four fields: Barapukuria
with around 300 million tonnes; Phulbari with 400 million
tonnes; Jamalganj containing 1,000 million tons, and 450 million
tonnes at Khalaspir. Of these resources, 492 million tonnes are
estimated to be recoverable by mining.
The mining recovery estimate seems highly optimistic. Mark
Muller, as an experienced mining geophysicist, recently carried
out an independent technical review of Bangladesh’s coal
reserves. Based on existing surveys, he concluded that they
amount to between 3,200 and 4,700 million tonnes, using the
most optimistic figures found. Bangladesh’s only operating
coalmine, at Barapukuria, has so far delivered less than 3 million
tonnes. This is despite the 1992 projection that it would be able to
produce 60 million tonnes.
The Phulbari open-cast project is beset by heated debate over its
likely impacts on local communities, its dependence on a foreign
company, and by major doubts about its economic viability This
leaves the hardly-investigated Khalaspir field, and Jamalganj,
cited by the ministry as potentially the largest source of coal,
comprising more than a third of the country’s “cache.” However,
research now strongly suggests that the majority of the Jamalganj
resource is too deep to be mined: 96% of it is deeper than
700 m.
Research has identified two potential sources of coal-generated
energy that have four significant virtues. They are comparatively
cheap, can deliver power to nearby power stations, are relatively
clean in terms of pollution emissions; and they don’t necessitate
the disturbances of land and people that are associated with
conventional mining. Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and Underground
Coal Gasification (UCG) -- have already proved viable in several
countries, including the USA, Canada, China, Australia, South
Africa and Uzbekistan, with pilot projects now underway in the
UK, Spain and Belgium.
We don’t claim that CBM and UCG will solve all Bangladesh’s
energy problems; nor that they are “trouble free.” They can have
adverse impacts on land and water, interrupt agriculture, and be
unsightly. Yet the energy return from UCG can be as high as 75%
of that delivered directly by coal. Coal-seams not accessible by
mining are well within reach of both CBM and UCG, and can add
significantly to the recoverable resource. Their surface impact,
and that on hydrology, is significantly lower than with mining. Loss
of valuable agricultural land is greatly reduced. The need for solid
waste-rock and coal-ash management on the surface is entirely
removed. There is no subsidence risk at all for CBM, and little for
deep-seam UCG.
Apart from two studies -- one carried out by M.B. Imam, M.
Rahman, and S.H. Akhter in 2002 at Jamalganj; and the other at
Barapukuria by M.R. Islam and D. Hayashi in 2008 -- no concerted
investigation has yet been undertaken into the potential of
these two technologies for Bangladesh. Nor -- despite the Asian
Development Bank recently listing CBM as a “clean development”
mechanism -- are these methods currently being considered as
part of the country’s future “energy mix.”
Canada
Nordic Oil and Gas to apply to build underground coal
gasification project
The Canadian Press, 02.07.09
Nordic Oil & Gas Ltd and partner Western Warner Oils Ltd. said
they plan to apply to the province of Alberta for permits to build
an underground coal gasification project at a
Drumheller, Alta. property. The companies are making preparations
to submit an application for what would be the second
such UCG project in Canada, Nordic chairman and CEO Donald
Benson said in a statement. Coal gasification involves injecting
oxygen and saline water into the deeply buried coal to turn it into
synthesis gas. “The basic UCG process involves drilling two wells
into the coal - one for injection of the oxidants (water/air or water/
oxygen mixtures), and another some distance away to bring the
product gas to the surface,” Benson said. “The technique offers
an alternative to conventional coal mining methods.” In March,
the Alberta government announced it will provide $8.83 million to
Swan Hills Synfuels of Calgary towards a $30-million project near
Swan Hills in north-central Alberta. The Alberta government says
that will be the deepest underground coal gasification conducted
in the world - more than 1,000 metres below the surface.
It’s hoped the project will eventually lead to using the coal seams
to capture and store carbon dioxide, which is pumped into the
ground to help push oil out of aging reserves. The gas can be
used as fuel for clean power generation, further processed into
gas for home heating, or for other products like hydrogen, methanol
or transportation fuels. Underground coal gasification does
not use fresh water in its operation and is significantly different
than other processes, such as those used in oil sands development.
It’s used at depths where conventional coal mining is not
economic or currently possible. Copyright © 2009 The Canadian
Press. All rights reserved.
Clean coal? Go underground, Alberta
by Thomas Homer-Dixon and Julio Friedmann, Toronto Globe and
Mail. May 4, 2009
Alberta appears to be in a box - an energy box - that constrains
policy options in every direction. The province’s wealth is critically
tied to exploitation of its vast hydrocarbon resources. But faced
with declining reserves of conventional oil and natural gas, it has
been forced to turn increasingly to the tar sands, which pack a
huge carbon punch. And in a warming world, carbon is seen as a
menace. The strategy could severely crimp Alberta’s ability to sell
energy at home and abroad, even make it a pariah.
There is an alternative: coal.
What? Impossible, you say - measured in carbon emitted per unit
of usable energy generated, coal is as dirty as the tar sands, or
even dirtier.
Coal’s many problems are well known. They start with the damage
caused by mining. Mountaintops are sliced off in coal-rich
zones in the United States. And burning it creates pollution
from sulphur, ash and heavy metals. Although we can sequester
coal’s greenhouse-gas emissions underground with a technology
called carbon capture and storage, it sharply boosts costs.
But can we get coal’s energy without the carbon, ash and ruined
landscapes? Yes - if we don’t mine it. Engineers have long known
how to gasify coal above ground - turn it into syngas, a mixture
of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The same
is accomplished with underground coal gasification,
but without the mining or the gasifier machinery. Air or oxygen
is injected into wells that penetrate a deep coal seam, where
controlled partial combustion drives gasification. The gases are
brought to the surface, leaving behind many of the objectionable
components, including roughly half the coal’s sulphur, ash,
tar, mercury and arsenic. On the surface, this operation looks
like nothing more than a network of wellheads and pipes. But
the huge quantities of gas produced can either be burned to
generate electricity on site or piped off to make hydrogen, heat or
synthetic fuels.
UCG uses an inaccessible, dirty resource for largely clean energy.
It allows us to reach coal seams that are too deep for conventional
mining, effectively tripling or even quadrupling Canada’s
reserves. It’s also relatively cheap - under ideal conditions, UCG
syngas costs as little as $1 per million BTU. More realistically, the
technology can produce raw syngas deliverable to most markets
at less than $3 per million BTU. By contrast, Alberta and U.S.
natural gas traded between $7 and $11 per million BTU in 2008
and early 2009.
Because the price is low, it becomes cost-effective to couple
UCG with sequestration technology. The carbon content of UCG
syngas is similar to that of burned coal. If Canada’s deep seams
were developed without sequestration, their emissions could
exceed those of the tar sands. But UCG’s carbon footprint could
easily be less than that of a single natural gas plant if combined
with partial or complete sequestration programs. All commercial
projects proposed for the U.S. and Canada will capture and
sequester most or all of the carbon dioxide they produce. The
decarbonized syngas, in turn, could be used to produce power or
low-carbon fuels. Several countries have already deployed and
even commercialized UCG. Most such projects were built in the
Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s and in the U.S. after
the oil shocks of the 1970s and early 1980s. But the later flood
of low-cost natural gas undermined these projects’ economic
viability. Nonetheless, one plant in Uzbekistan has burned UCG
syngas continuously since 1959. Today, commercial projects are
ramping up in Australia and China.
www.homerdixon.com
China
China Outpaces U.S. in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants
By KEITH BRADSHER Published: May 10, 2009
China’s frenetic construction of coal-fired power plants has raised
worries around the world about the effect on climate change.
China now uses more coal than the United States, Europe and
Japan combined, making it the world’s largest emitter of gases
that are warming the planet.
But largely missing in the hand-wringing is this: China has
emerged in the past two years as the world’s leading builder of
more efficient, less polluting coal power plants, mastering the
technology and driving down the cost.
While the United States is still debating whether to build a more
efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot
steam, China has begun building such plants at a rate of one a
month.
While the United States is still debating whether to build a more
efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot
steam, China has begun building such plants at a rate of one a
month.
Linc Energy ends talks with Yanzhou over sale
By Elizabeth Fry in Sydney June 24 2009 06:44
Linc Energy revealed on Wednesday it had ended talks over the
sale of its Queensland coal assets with China’s Yanzhou Coal
Mining after the two sides failed to agree a deal. Peter Bond, chief
executive of Linc, said negotiations over the assets were taking
far too long, undermining confidence in the sale process.
Linc has hired UBS to start a formal sale process of its Emerald,
Galilee and Pentland coal tenements in Queensland, which
analysts have estimated could be worth in excess of A$1bn
(US$800m).
Yanzhou is the latest in a long line of Chinese suitors to consider
buying Australian mining assets – not all of which have been successful.
However, Oz Minerals shareholders recently accepted an
offer from Minmetals to purchase the company’s mining assets
after the Chinese group raised its offer in a pre-emptive move to
head off opposition. Brian Flannery, managing director of Felix
Resources, said the company was in discussion with a number
of people about buying coal and a few of them had expressed
interest in taking an equity position.
Felix’s shares have more than doubled to A$13 on the back of
takeover speculation that Yanzhou would launch a A$3bn-plus
take-over bid – after a previous attempt to engage with the
company in December was unsuccessful. It is understood that
Yanzhou executives returned to Australia two weeks ago to reexamine
the miner’s assets. Xstrata Coal is also understood to
have looked at Felix. The London-listed miner said on Wednesday
it would not comment on speculation. Analysts said a tie-up with
Xstrata made sense for Felix because the groups’ operations
were adjacent and Felix had port allocation in place courtesy of
the new 30m tonnes per annum-coal port being built at Newcastle
by Xstrata and BHP Billiton.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
India
Cleaning Up Coal
SAUMIL SHARMA, Tehelka Magazine, Apr 25, 2009
Current energy consumption levels in India are heavily dependent
on conventional coal mining, making it the most important energy
source in India. About 70 percent of total electricity generation
in India uses coal. It is also the most carbon-intensive fuel. The
sector, therefore, continues to bear the blame for the maximum
emission of greenhouse gases and for polluting water under and
over the surface.
While it is hard to replace the need for coal, it is possible to
develop and promote alternative technologies to produce cleaner
fuel from the abundant coal deposits in the country. A good beginning
is already on the cards, with power sector reform initiating
the new paradigm of extracting fuel in ways other than conventional
coal mining.
A US firm specialising in technical expertise and management of
an alternative coal extraction process — Underground Gasification
of Coal (UCG) — has now proposed a pilot project in
Jharkhand. Negotiations between a set of companies under the
banner Clean Coal Resources (CCR) and the Jharkhand Government
are set to start soon after the Lok Sabha elections are
over. The two parties will be looking to work out the operational
details of the proposed project and a possible collaboration with
the public sector, Coal India Limited, or its subsidiaries.Graham
Chapman, CEO of Clean Coal Ltd, strategic alliance partner of
CCR, says: “We have identified our target countries by assessing
the prevalence of coal resources that are difficult to mine and
a requirement for power, which India meets.”After negotiating a
workable project and successful testing of the pilot phase, CCR
will move to commercial installation, generating enough syngas
for supporting gas-fired power plants generating 300- 400MW of
electricity. An estimated 46 percent of the coal deposits in India
are concentrated in the Damodar river basin in Jharkhand, making
it an attractive location for such an initiative.
The state also offers a commercially viable market for syngas
because it has many coal-fired power plants in the same belt. The
technique has been incorporated in the research and development
phase by Indian energy firms like Reliance Industries
Limited (RIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). India
has about 51.8 billion tons of estimated available coal reserves
for UCG, which make this alternative technology investment in
India commercially attractive in the long term.
As a part of the Indian alternative energy policy, Indo Australian
collaboration in UCG was announced in January 2009 and coal
blocks in India are being allotted for UCG pilot and commercial
projects to foreign and Indian companies.
Coal regulatory authority up and running in 100 days
Nandini Goswami / DNA, June 25, 2009
Kolkata: The coal ministry, in a fast track development, will institutionalise
a coal regulatory authority in 100 days’ time.
This seems to be a precursor to bigger changes, including private
participation in coal mining, expected in the industry in the next
few months.
Sriprakash Jaiswal, minister of state for coal, said, “This is one of
the top priority areas, along with some other issues for the coal
industry.” It is also part of the T S Shankar Committee recommendations
on coal sector reforms that the ministry is implementing
in phases.
Currently, coal mining in India is restricted to private players only
for captive use. If the sector is opened up in a major way, competition
among mining companies will increase and a regulator will
be needed. Jaiswal, who was in Kolkata on Wednesday, came
down heavily on project delays and said over 80% of the coal
blocks allotted by the ministry for end use by captive industries
have not started production.
“There are a number of coal blocks that have been allotted but
production has not yet begun. Out of estimated reserves of 40
billion tonnes given to 190 allottees, only 13 blocks are in production.
Almost 3-4 years have passed and mining has not started
in these areas. This cannot go on. There has to be a solution to
issues on land acquisition and compensation,” the minister said.
He said he will talk to the chief ministers and governors of states
and “decide on a fast track system”. “Environmental clearance is
also a crucial issue. We have decided that the central clearance
should come within six months for any project. Even the states
should fix up a time, take a clear stand and say a yes or no,”
Jaiswal said.
The minister and his officials will be visiting the entire coal belt
and the subsidiaries of Coal India over the next few days.
As part of its 100-day agenda, the ministry will bring in, for the
first time, competitive bidding for coal blocks and latest technology
for underground coal gasification. Jaiswal said the target for
coal production in the year will be decided after the rainy season
as output during this time is generally lower. The minister will
be reviewing all the subsidiaries of Coal India separately. While
admitting an increase in domestic coal prices was imminent, he
did not elaborate on the matter. Jaiswal ruled out any immediate
price increase and said, “My immediate concern is increasing
coal production and there is no question of price increase now. It
will be done when it will be required.”
Jaiswal said the Union government was not against disinvestment
of 5-10% but shares would be allotted to employees and people
who have given their land. The ministry, however, has not taken
any in-principle decision to go in for disinvestment.
Note: chapter 5 of the action report.
Publishing guidelines for Underground Coal gasification projects
Government has notified coal gasification (both surface and underground)
as end use under captive mining policy for allotment
of blocks to potential entrepreneurs. This being a new activity/
technology, Operational guidelines are required to be framed for
proper exploitation. Keeping this in view, it is proposed to bring
out appropriate guidelines for implementing underground coal
gasification projects in the country.
Ireland
New drill in exploration sector as firms go in search of
less risky opportunities
A lack of appropriate financing and major discounting has left the
Irish oil exploration sector gasping for air, writes John Reynolds,
Irish Independent Sunday June 21 2009
Budgets have been compounded by the gap that has opened up
between the projected costs of developing a field -- especially
offshore, where operating a rig can cost €500,000 a day -- and
the potential payoff, which isn’t as great now that the oil price has
fallen from its previous high. Any investor or potential new entrant
might therefore think twice before they sink a few holes -- and
perhaps tens of millions of euros -- anywhere near our shores,
particularly when they could be getting a more lucrative piece of
the action.
Opportunities exist during every downturn, however, and another
small exploration company believes it may have found one off the
coast of Dublin.
O’Leary managing director of VP Power will know later this year
whether he has been proved right.A team of geologists and
geophysicists recently spent six weeks conducting a seismic
exploration of the Kish basin, where he believes that underground
coal gasification (UCG) technology can be deployed to pump gas
from a huge billion-tonne coal seam. Raglan Capital is believed
to be raising money for the firm, and O’Leary claims the board’s
combined experience means it is well-versed in the highs and
lows of the exploration sector. “The way I see it, the oil price is
at around $70 at the moment, up from its low of $38 a barrel. So
in that respect it’s risen. It’s forecast to rise further by Christmas,
which I would see as helpful.”He’s also adamant that there is
something of an upside to what seems to be a wider downturn in
the sector. “We’re finding that the market for equipment such as
drilling rigs has collapsed. They’re readily available and the cost
of hiring one is considerably lower than it was.
“O’Leary anticipates capital expenditure of about €3m, and his
project, the later stages of which may involve Bord Gais, will only
be commercially feasible as long as the oil price stays above $35
per barrel. Although the technology that VP’s project would involve
is relatively ancient -- Dublin’s old Ringsend gasworks used
to heat up coal to produce ‘town gas’ when it was in operation
-- many countries with large coal deposits, such as China, South
Africa and India have recently invested billions in UCG plants,
recognising that the technology is cleaner than mining a coal
seam and then burning the coal.
USA
Linc Energy Signs Contract With GasTech Inc To Acquire
Powder River Basin Coal Tenements In The USA
Brisbane, May 14, 2009 (ABN Newswire)
Linc Energy has announced that it has signed a purchase agreement
to acquire a 100% interest in 92,059 acres of coal tenement
lease areas in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming USA from
GasTech Inc, a company based in Casper Wyoming.
The 92,059 acres being acquired have a coal deposit exploration
target range of 7 to 8 billion metric tonnes (non-JORC Code
standard) based on existing drilling data.
The Powder River Basin is the largest coal producing region in
the United States with current production from surface mines
representing over 45% of the total US production. The area being
acquired by Linc Energy contains multiple subituminous coal
seams ranging from 6 to 15 metres thick and occurring at depths
in excess of 150 metres, making them excellent targets for Underground
Coal Gasification (UCG) operations.
Linc has agreed to pay US$5 million for the purchase of the
GasTech coal tenements. This agreement follows the Letter of
Intent between Linc Energy and GasTech which was announced
on 3rd December 2008 and completes the first phase of the
proposed GasTech purchase, with the remaining area subject to
subject to a further transaction pending resolution of pre-emptive
rights held by a major petroleum company.The relevant coal
tenements are now subject to the satisfactory completion of Linc
Energy’s remaining due diligence enquiries, with settlement of
the transaction expected in approximately 60 days. Immediately
after settlement Linc will commence the permit and approval
process required in order to undertake a UCG pilot programme to
produce syngas, which it has committed to completing within 24
months of the acquisition.
Vietnam
Vietnam Min: Gazprom to Supply Coal Gasification
Technology
By Vu Trong Khanh, Dow Jones Newswires, 15.05.09. Copyright
(c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
HANOI - (Dow Jones) - Russia’s OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS)
signed an agreement to supply its underground coal-gasification
technology to Vietnam, Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environment said. The agreement was signed in Hanoi with
Vietnam’s Dong Duong Co., the ministry said in a statement.
Dong Duong will use the technology for gas production in the
Red River coal basin in northern part of the country, it added.
The ministry said it supports the idea of using Gazprom’s gasification
technology to extract gas from the Red River coal basin as
it is environmental friendly. Details about the agreement weren’t
provided.
Below are two articles that offer food for
thought
A Microbe That Could Keep Coal in the Ground
By Chris Morrison
June 29th, 2009 Bnet
Craig Venter already famous as the first person to completely
map his own DNA now claims to be working with British oil giant
BP on bacteria that can break down coal into methane, making
it cleaner and removing the need for mining. Using modified
bacteria, coal miners could presumably just “infect” a coal seam,
harvesting the resulting natural gas as it seeped upward through
the ground.
Venter announced his discovery of the coal-eating bacteria this
weekend, and the Times of London, along with other sources,
promptly reported it as something entirely new. Like most things
under the sun, it’s not. A startup called Luca Technologies,
for instance, was funded with $76 million last year for the same
idea, though the specific bacteria Luca uses are probably
different.
The bacterial approach itself is only part of a larger concept
called “underground coal gasification” (UGC). Companies and
governments around the world are looking at UGC as a way to
avoid sending miners underground, which often results in deaths.
UGC can’t come fast enough for places like Utah, for instance,
where a mining accident two years ago left nine dead and is today
leading to tougher, more expensive regulation on the industry.
The more typical method of UGC, is creating a controlled burn
along a coal seam, allowing a utility to harvest heat energy and
methane without ever extracting the coal. Projects of this sort are
further along than using microorganisms to break down the coal.
Neither method is well tested, so for the moment we’re still mining
and burning coal the usual way. The technology for doing that,
from boring holes and collecting the coal to transporting to coalburning
plants, has been perfected over decades, so it’s not likely
that UGC will be a competitor on price alone for some time. Later,
the balance may shift toward UGC. Using microbes is promising
because it’s possible that the bacteria in question are already
well-optimized by nature to convert coal to methane. It’s not clear
where all naturally-occurring natural gas comes from, but at least
some might be the remnants of coal eaten by microorganisms.
Assuming that process could be sped up a bit, coal miners could
have a cheap new extraction method on hand.The question is
how long it will take. My guess is that UGC will become important
sooner rather than later. Pressure from environmentalists to stop
building traditional coal-burning plants is growing, and new technologies
like carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) will only
raise prices for coal plants. Coal itself, on the other hand, won’t
change: Environmentalists can’t force its energy potential to go
away. All that’s needed is a new way to tap into that value.
China recruits algae to combat climate
change
Chinese firm behind ambitious plan to breed microalgae
in greenhouse with the potential to absorb
carbon emissions
Sunday, 28 June 2009
The garish gunk coursing through a greenhouse filled with transparent
pipes appears to belong on the set of a particularly slimy
episode of Star Trek. Multiplying rapidly as it flows through tubes,
stacked 14 high in four long rows, the organism thickens and
darkens like the bioweapon of a deranged scientist. But this is not
a science fiction horror story, it is one of humankind’s most ambitious
attempts to recruit algae in the fight against climate change.
Developed by a groundbreaking Chinese firm, ENN, the greenhouse
is a bioreactor that breeds microalgae, one of the fastest
growing organisms on the planet, with carbon captured from gasified
coal.
Algae may be the answer. The organism can absorb carbon far
more quickly than trees, foreign experts are enthusiastic. “Algae
biofuels and sequestration are being tried in a bunch of places,
but never with such an innovative energy mix,” said Deborah
Seligsohn, of the World Resources Institute, who visited ENN recently
with a group of international energy executives. “It is really
interesting and ambitious.”
Researchers at the algae greenhouse plan to scale up the trial
to a 100 hectare (247 acre) site over the next three years. If it
proves commercially feasible, coal plants around the world could
one day be flanked by carbon-cleaning algae greenhouses or
ponds.
“Algae’s promise is that its population can double every few
hours. It makes far more efficient use of sunlight than plants,” said
Zhu Zhenqi, a senior advisor on the project. “The biology has
been proven in the lab. The challenge now is an engineering
one: We need to increase production and reduce cost. If we can
solve this challenge, we can deal with carbon.” The algae must be
harvested every day. Extracting the oily components and removing
the water is expensive and energy intensive.
ENN is experimenting with different algae to find a hybrid that has
an ideal balance of oil content and growth speed. It is testing cultivation
techniques using varying temperatures and acidity levels.
Algae tests are also being carried out at the University of Ohio. In
Japan, algae is farmed at sea where it absorbs carbon from the
air. Elsewhere carbon is sprayed or bubbled into algae ponds. But
ENN is focusing on a direct approach.
“Here we can control it, like in a reactor,” said Gu Junjie, a senior
advisor. “Theoretically we can absorb 100% of carbon dioxide
emissions through a mix of microalgae and chemical fixing with
hydrogen.” The advanced algae, solar and coal gasification
technology is the latest stage in the rise of ENN, which has been
spectacular even by modern Chinese standards. The private
company now employs about 20,000 people, and owns a golf
course and hotel near its headquarters in Hebei province, where
a new research campus is under construction.
In the short term, ENN’s advanced underground coal gasification
technology is likely to prove more significant than its algae work.
This technique enables extraction of fuel from small, difficult-toaccess
coal seams, and could double the world’s current coal
reserves. It also avoids the release of the pollutants sulphur
dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
ENN executives have talked to the US department of energy
about joint research, a sign that the transfer of low-carbon technologies
is no longer a one-way street from west to east.
Recognising the continued role of the fossil fuel in China, the
European Commission proposed a plan this week to co-finance
a demonstration coal plant that aims to have near zero emissions
through the use of carbon capture and storage technology.
If members states and the European parliament agree on the
€50m plan, the facility would be operational by 2020.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2009
Eating carbon - a type of rock with a voracious
appetite for carbon dioxide
From The Economist print edition
ONE way of helping to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere is to pump the gas into underground caverns or
old oil fields. But there is also a rock that is happy to gobble it up,
and according to the latest research its appetite for the greenhouse
gas is not only massive but could also be increased by a
little human intervention.
The rock is peridotite, which is one of the main rocks in the upper
mantle, an area that provides a girth below the Earth’s crust. The
rock occurs some 20km or more down, although in areas where
plate tectonics have forced up some of the mantle, peridotite
reaches the surface.This happens in part of the Omani desert
Geologists have long known that when peridotite is exposed to
the air it can react quickly with carbon dioxide to form carbonates
like limestone or marble. Some people have looked at the idea
of grinding up peridotite and using it to soak up emissions from
power stations, but the process turns out to be expensive, partly
because of the costs of transporting all the rock. The transportation
would also create emissions. though an alternative: w2ould
be to pump the gas from places where it is produced and into
underground strata of peridotite.
Peridotite absorbs tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide
a year, far more than anyone had thought. By drilling and fracturing
the rock they believe they can start a process to increase the
absorption rate by 100,000 times or more. They estimate this
would allow the Omani outcrop, which extends down some 5km,
alone to absorb some 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year,
which is a substantial part of the annual 30 billion or so tonnes of
the gas that humans send into the atmosphere, mostly by burning
fossil fuels.
With such rocks situated in an area of the world where an
increasing amount of energy is produced and consumed, it potentially
provides a convenient carbon sink for the region’s energy
industry. Peridotite can also be found at the surface in other parts
of the world, including some Pacific islands, along the coasts of
Greece and Croatia, and in smaller deposits in America. Nor is
it the only rock with carbon-eating potential. The researchers are
now looking at volcanic basalt in a new project in Iceland.
CCS News
Global CCS Institute launch - L’Aquila, Italy 9th July
A very public and strong statement of support was delivered by
the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama,
at the international launch of the Global CCS Institute at the G8
meeting held in L’Aquila, Italy today.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, launched the Global
CCS Institute at a special briefing session during the G8 meeting,
hosted by the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
With growing worldwide interest in CCS, international media
focused on the new Global CCS Institute and our role in accelerating
the commercial deployment of CCS and its valuable
contribution in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Details of the launch including the official media release and
promotional footage from the event are available on our website
at www.globasccsinstitute.com.
Carbon Capture Center coming to Wilsonville by Cassandra
Mickens (Contact)
Shelby County Reporter
May 27, 2009
WILSONVILLE —Southern Co., the parent company of Alabama
Power, announced Wednesday it will manage and operate the
U.S. Department of Energy’s new National Carbon Capture
Center at the Power Systems Development Facility in Wilsonville.
The center, a partnership between DOE and leading energy companies,
will focus on researching and developing technologies
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-based electricity
generation, said Randall Rush, Southern Co. general manager of
gasification technology.
“Over half of the electricity in America and in the world is produced
by coal, and it’s extremely important for we as a world to
find more cost effective ways to control carbon emissions,” Rush
said at an afternoon press conference. “Here we will evaluate
chemical and engineering processes to capture carbon dioxide
when you take coal and turn it into electricity.”
The center will work with scientists and technology developers
from government, industry and universities to create the next
generation of enhanced carbon capture technologies. Existing
facilities at the PSDF will be modified to conduct the pre-combustion
carbon dioxide component of the project. New facilities to
conduct post-combustion testing will be at the nearby Alabama
Power Gaston Plant, also in Wilsonville. The five-year project is
expected to create or sustain nearly 170 jobs, according to a
DOE news release.
By conducting analyses in a power plant setting, the center will
provide meaningful performance data under real operating conditions
to enable scale-up of the technologies, said David Ratcliffe,
Southern Co. president and CEO. “This center will serve as a
crucial bridge that takes emerging carbon capture technology
from the laboratory to commercial demonstration,” Ratcliffe said.
“The National Carbon Capture Center, along with other research
initiatives under way across the country, will play a major role in
ensuring that the United States can continue to utilize coal resources
in a cleaner, economical way.” Southern Co. also recently
announced plans to build a demonstration facility to capture
carbon dioxide emissions from Alabama Power’s Plant Barry near
Mobile. Beginning in 2011, between 100,000 and 150,000 tons of
carbon dioxide per year would be transported by a pipeline from
the plant and stored underground at a site about 10 miles from
the plant. The center in Wilsonville, expected to be fully operational
by 2010, is the first of its kind in the world, Rush said.
Vattenfall applies for permission to store CO2 underground
in North Jutland29 June 2009:
Vattenfall has applied to the Danish Energy Agency today for
permission to establish a CO2 store underground in Denmark.
The application relates to the Vedsted structure in Jammerbugt
Municipality – an area that has previously been investigated thoroughly
in connection with oil exploration. Preliminary geological
surveys in 2008 indicated that the structure is suitable for storing
CO2 at a depth of 1000-2000 metres.
“We want to have a decision from the authorities about whether
a permit to store CO2 can be obtained and – if so – under what
conditions,” says Erland Christensen, Head of Vattenfall, Nordic
Heat. Vattenfall plans to conduct a number of new seismic
surveys of the area in 2010. The surveys had been scheduled
for 2009, but were postponed so as to allow for extended local
dialogue. Erland Christensen emphasises that safety is crucial,
this will include a comprehensive environmental impact assessment
(EIA), which will involve a public consultation, among other
things. Furthermore, the final permit presupposes that the case
has been submitted to the Energy Policy Committee of the Danish
Parliament. “The target in North Jutland is a climate-positive
solution that, on the whole, will ‘tap’ half a million tonnes of CO2
from the atmosphere every year. We will achieve this by combining
CO2 storage with using climate-neutral biomass as fuel,” says
Erland Christensen. The solution is planned to be put into operation
by the end of 2014.
Breaking the Climate Deadlock
The ‘Breaking the Climate Deadlock’ initiative, co-sponsored by
former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and The Climate Group
policy think-tank, released a new report focusing on ‘Technologies
for a Low Carbon Future’. The report has been released to
coincide with the start of the meeting of G8 leaders in Italy and
to encourage the development of technology roadmaps ahead of
this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. WCI
Chief Executive Milton Catelin has played an important role on
the advisory group to the initiative.
The report examines the mitigation potential of a range of technologies
in power, transport, buildings and industry, and the contributions
they can make by 2020 and 2050. The 17 technologies
covered by the report include CCS for fossil fuels and industry,
nuclear, biofuels, energy efficiency measures and the full suite of
renewable sources.
The full report, which includes an annex detailing current status
and abatement potential for each technology, can be downloaded
from http://www.theclimategroup.org/news_and_events/breaking_
the_climate_deadlock_technology_report/.
U.S. gives up to $408 million to “clean coal” projects
Reuters, July 1 2009
The U.S. Energy Department has said it will provide up to $408
million in funding for two projects aimed at developing advanced
clean coal technologies. The department said it will provide up to
$308 million to Hydrogen Energy International LLC in California
and up to $100 million to Basin Electric Power Cooperative in
North Dakota as part of the department’s Clean Coal Power Initiative.
This is the third round of funding from the program, which
was created to increase investment in low-emission coal technology
through a cost-sharing partnership between the federal
government and private industry. The program was allocated an
additional $800 billion under the U.S. economic stimulus package
passed this year.
EU mulls €7 billion subsidy for carbon capture
Euroactive, 7th July 09
The European Commission has estimated that up to €7 billion
could be made available to fund CCS technology from the EU’s
emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). Meanwhile, renewables
projects would get around €5 billion. The assessment is based
on projects that have been presented to the Commission so far.
The new entrants reserve is intended to pay for the incremental
investments that utilities make in CO2 capture facilities, or for setting
up renewable energy projects that are not yet commercially
viable. As the ETS puts a price on CO2, the free allowances thus
become direct subsidies to industries, provided that they share
their knowledge with new businesses to get pioneering technologies
off the ground on a commercial scale.
Alberta to back three carbon capture projects
Reuters, Tue Jun 30, 2009
The Alberta Government has said it will support three CCS
projects from a C$2 billion ($1.7 billion) fund set aside last year
as the province looks to cut emissions from coal-fired power
plants and oil sands projects. The province said it expects to
provide up to C$100 million this year for design and engineering
work on the three proposals, selected after a year-long competition,
and expects to have letters of intent signed with the backers
next month. The three projects being backed by Alberta include
carbon capture and storage at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Scotford
oil sands upgrader; a carbon-capture facility at a power plant
owned by Epcor, Edmonton, Alberta’s municipally owned utility
and backed by Enbridge Inc; and a project to take carbon dioxide
from an Agrium Inc fertilizer plant as well as a planned upgrader
and ship it by pipeline to oilfields, where it will be used to boost
output.
The province said in a release it expects the three projects to
achieve annual carbon dioxide reductions by 2015 equivalent to
taking about a million vehicles off the road.
Australia announces May Budget
Earlier this week the Australian Government announced its May
2009 budget. As part of the budget, details of a new Clean Energy
Initiative (CEI) were outlined. The CEI has been developed to
support the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), which
will seek to implement a cap-and-trade system in Australia.
The CEI is made up of three components; a CCS Flagships
Programme, Solar Flagships Programme, and plans for a new
“Renewables Australia” body. The CCS Flagships Programme will
see the government provide A$2.425 billion worth of funding over
9 years, with a target of creating 1000MW of low emission fossil
fuel generation from 2 to 4 projects demonstrating the full range
of capture and storage technologies.
The Australian CCS flagship projects will contribute to the global
portfolio of projects supported by the Global Carbon Capture
and Storage Institute (GCCSI). It is hoped that the development
of these flagship projects will aid the transition to a low-carbon
economy not only in Australia but worldwide, through the sharing
of economic and technical learning.
The projects deemed eligible for funding will be determined in
early 2010 and it is hoped that construction will begin in 2012
with commissioning from 2015. Projects are expected to be on
an industrial scale and to make a significant contribution to the
1000MW target. Coal gasification, post-combustion capture and
oxyfuel will all be considered as suitable capture technologies.
Further details of the legislation connected to the CCS Flagships
Programme are expected to be released in the coming months.
Cleaner Coal in China
WCI, April 2008
The International Energy Agency has just released a new report
entitled ‘Cleaner Coal in China’. The report is designed to provide
policy advice in a number of key areas of China’s coal sector in
order to help improve resource recovery, mine safety, environmental
performance and economic efficiency. The report has
been simultaneously released in English and Chinese.
IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka noted that China’s coal
currently provides the world’s economy with more energy than
Middle Eastern oil, and the report serves as a timely reminder
that it is in everyone’s interests to deal with the environmental
impacts of coal use on this kind of scale through the development
and deployment of clean coal technologies. Full details of the
report can be found at http://www.iea.org/w/bookshop/b.aspx.
Events
2009
September
COAL-GEN Europe
Silesia, Katowice, Poland, 1st – 3rd September
UCGP Members receive a 20% discount on registration fees
http://cge09.events.pennnet.com/fl/index.cfm
26th Annual Pittsburgh Coal Conference
Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
20th – 23rd September
UCGP will be running a one day UCG tutorial
on the 20th September.
Rohan Courtney and Julie Lauder presenting
http://www.engr.pitt.edu/pcc/ugctutorial.html
October
Global UCG Summit
Meridian Piccadilly, London, 5th and 6th October 2009
Post-event Workshops: 7th October 2009
Julie Lauder will present and run a UCGP Workshop
UCGP Members receive a 10% discount on registration fees
http://www.iqpc.com/Event.aspx?id=194306
UCGP Visit to Australia
26th October- 6th November
Julie Lauder will be visiting the Brisbane area for two weeks
to meet with interested parties and members to begin work on
the forthcoming UCG Australia Conference 2010 and to attract
new UCGP members.. Please contact Julie should you wish to
arrange a meeting or have suggestions or contacts that you feel
would benefit either the partnership and/or the event.
julie.lauder@ucgp.com
IEA, International Conference on Coal Science &
Technology (ICCS&T)
Cape Town, South Africa 26th 29th Oct 09,
http://www.iccst.info/live/index.php
2010
March
5th UCGP International Conference & Workshop
London 23rd - 24th March 2010
October/November
1st UCGP International Conference, Brisbane, Australia
October/November 2010.
ucgp News
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 Partnership. 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 to change legal status to a charity
As we reported in the last Newsletter, the UCG Partnership with the support of the Advisory Council has been looking at changing its
status to a UK Registered Charity. We are delighted to have the assistance and help of the legal firm Nabarro LLP who have joined us a
Founding Member and kindly agreed to undertake this work on a pro bono basis. A new company has been formed, limited by guarantee
and without shares, named UCG Association. So far most of the legal documentation has been completed and all the necessary forms
signed by the new Trustees:
Rohan Courtney OBE, Clean Coal Ltd (Chairman)
Kenneth Fergusson, UCG Partnership
Dr Michael Green, UCG Engineering
Don Kinnersley, Deloitte
Dr Cliff Mallett, Carbon Energy
Prof. Peter Styles, Keele University
UCGP Research Group
Due to growing work commitments, Dr Michael Green will be temporarily stepping down as Chair of the Research Group.
Prof Peter Styles, who has been working closely with other research members on several EU funding initiatives for UCG will take over as
Acting Chair of the group. Email contact: Prof. Styles: p.styles@keele.ac.uk
UCG Reserves Initiative
Those of you involved with raising commercial interest and attracting investment will no doubt be familiar with the need to supply would be
investors with information as to how much Syngas can be produced from coal deposits using UCG and what valuation can and should be
placed on the coal resources. In most countries there exists a valuation framework for coal deposits that enable valuations of a resource,
however, these vary dependent on location, JORC in Australia, is a good example.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 put in place a reliable standard method of valuation
on any potential UCG resource. If you have any information, research or wish to share comment or knowledge please let us know as
we are keen to obtain any information that may assist. The findings will be made available to members and there will of course be scope
for discussions and further input. This is a new initiative, again developed by levels of enquiry.
Chairman of the working group: Ray Pilcher email: pilcher@ravenridge.com
UCGP Notice Board on Website
The website continues to evolve and we have now added a UCGP Notice board. This is due to the increasing number of enquiries and
questions from members that come into the centre. The notice board will allow you to contact all members with questions, information,
share research or offer advice - please do make use of this, If you wish to keep your enquiry confidential it can be placed on the notice
board by the centre as a general enquiry, but do please use this as a valuable tool to keep in touch with each other.
UCG Freelance Writers
We have been contacted by Suzanne McElligott, from Carbon Energy Research Res. (CERR) who previously worked with Gasification
News and has in the past attended and reviewed many of our events, so is very familiar with UCG. They are offering a service that may be
of interest to members.The contract energy writers at Carbon Energy Research Res. (CERR) can help you get your message across.
Our contract writers/researchers, who have more than 75 years of combined energy experience, are some of the very few who have
written extensively about Underground Coal Gasification. Whether it is informational packets regarding the process, the state of the
industry or your project, CERR is the right team to help you get the word out. Please contact Suzanne McElligott at 1-(703) 865-4099
or send us an email at: info@CarbonEnergyResearch.com. You can always visit our website at: CarbonEnergyResearch.com for
more information about us. If you have written an article, paper, presented or come across an article of interest please do share it.
UCGP Event Reports
Coal Research Forum Meeting
22nd April, Houldsworth Building, Leeds University
Kenneth Fergusson reports meeting had about 35 attendees, several of whom were Leeds students, so our target audience was perhaps 25
strong. My UCGP presentation was well received and prompted several pertinent questions. Grant Budge, who presented on progress of the UK
Hatfield project reported that they have now selected GE gas turbines for Hatfield, because only GE would offer a design to burn natural gas as
a CCGT at start-up and later switch to IGCC gas from their Shell gasifiers. I noted this as a major point for future UCG presentations in UK,
and elsewhere because, while we have always said that a coal-fed IGCC could later switch to very similar UCG gas, the Hatfield contract
shows that it is possible to convert a CCGT to burn UCG gas. While it may need a turbine change on an existing plant, it would appear
that a new plant could be built to facilitate such a switch. So we, UCGP, should have no reservations at more gas-fired CCGT’s being built
in the next few years, if we make the representations that they could later be switched to UCG, which can be easily CO2-stripped, and
would thus give them cheap CCS, and a domestic, lower-cost fuel.
3rd South Africa-EU Working Group on Coal Meeting
5th – 6th May 2009, Pretoria, South Africa
Julie Lauder and Rohan Courtney both presented papers to this meeting attended by senior representatives of the European Commission,
Department of Minerals and Energy, South Africa and energy businesses from both South Africa and the EU. UCGP is a member
of the EC Coal Working party and have previously attended Bilaterals for EU- China, EU-India and EU-South Africa. The two day agenda
covered South African energy plans and the current position on Petroleum, Coal, Nuclear, Renewable Energy, Climate Change and
energy efficiency initiatives. UCG continues to climb up the agenda at these meetings and in addition to our own presentations. Eskom
gave an update on their current UCG project, which is going to plan. EU representatives included visiting senior personnel from AFD,
Areva, Alstom Power, Babcock, BP, Schlumberger, Shell, Siemens, Total, Tucottbus and the Zero-Emission Platform. South African representatives
included Anglo Coal, Eskom, Exxaro, Saneri and Sasol. Future bi-laterial meetings are planned and we continue to forge firm
relationships with leading SA energy organisations and government departments.
Whilst in South Africa we visited the Sasol visitor site in Sasolburg, accompanied by the Head of Delegation, Dr. Derek Taylor. 20 senior
members of the Sasol team attended a four hour workshop on UCG. Dr Taylor presented an EU overview of carbon emissions limits and
controls and how the EU hope to work with SA to help achieve the global reductions required by 2015.
We also took the opportunity to meet up with UCGP members based in the region, MegChem, who had just returned from a visit to Chinchilla,
Analytika Holdings, who are busy in Botswana promoting UCG and Drillcom, who are actively promoting the partnership and trying
to engage with others to join us and further UCG in South Africa.
SMi Gasification Conference
London 17th -18th June – UCG Half Day Workshop 16th June.
The half Day workshop, whilst excellent in content had a very disappointing number of attendees. The programme had been structured to
give an overview of UCG - technology, history, applications, Geology, Drilling. The competent team led by Julie Lauder included, Shaun
Lavis, Clean Coal, Peter Sallans, Unconventional Energy and Bob Godbolt, Scientific Drilling. (All presentations will be available to
members on the UCGP website) UCGP would like to extend their sincere thanks to all the presenters for their support, technical expertise
and enthusiasm. This two day conference had a wide range of gasification topics and UCG was well represented with presentations from
Alan Borrowman and Steve Walters - BCG Energy, this was an overview of various legislative and planning requirements associated with
implementing a UCG project, plus the information and requirements to engage interest and investment. Cliff Mallett - Carbon Energy presented
on the progress, expansion and successful trials at Bloodwood Creek and Len Walker - Cougar Energy on Kingaroy and Cougars
expansion plans.
Julie Lauder presented on the issues concerning the Public Perceptions of UCG and Clean Coal. This was a timely topic as most of the
previous presenters had expressed how public opposition was hindering both progress and investment in projects this also included new
public concerns where many are not allowing any seismic surveys in their areas, in case carbon could be stored under their homes! Judith
Shapiro, from the CCSA, presented on the issues of informing the public of CCS, which also faces opposition. A lively panel discussion on
public perceptions then followed. Though no finite conclusion was reached it was certainly identified that there needs to be a concerted
move to engage and inform the public on Clean Coal and CCS. Another presentation of note was research into UCG/CCS given by
Univ.-Prof Dr. Dr. h. c. Rafig Azzam, Head of Department, Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, RWTH Aachen University. They have a
dedicated team who are researching this topic - well worth a look. http://www.co2sinus.org/index_en.html. Overall the conference offered
an opportunity to engage with many, previously unfamiliar with UCG, who realized felt they had products, services and skills which could
be used in the UCG industry of the future. Other presenters included: RWE, Nuon, Mann, Jacobs, Prozap,
Progressive Energy.
Some of the benefits of Membership
· A network of contacts of individuals, companies and public organizations 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 through email, website and seminars, and access to an
inter-active website.
· Public and independent information service on UCG and representation at the highest level
· Early advice and “clearing house” for UCG on nancial and technical aspects of UCG projects,
through contacts with energy companies, banking and project nance specialists
· Feasibility studies, collaborative development and other study programmes on UCG
· Tailored support from UCG Partnership for seminars, training courses, work shops (at additional cost)
· Listings of member companies through consultancy les and website exposure
Membership Fees:
Free Conference Places Annual Membership Fee
Founder Members - Unlimited negotiable
Academic Members - Two places £1,000 + VAT
General Members (100 + employees) - Six places £5,000 + VAT
(50 – 100 employees) - Four places £3,000 + VAT
(20 – 50 employees) - Three places £2,000 + VAT
(10 - 20 employees) - Two places £1,500 + VAT
(Individual or less than 10 employees) - One place £750 + VAT
Reciprocal - One place nil
Contact Us:
Elizabeth House,
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Surrey
GU21 5AS
Tel: 44 870 803 0665
Fax: 44 870 803 2065
From 1st August, new contact numbers
Phone: +44 (0)1252 661978
Fax: +44 (0)1483 851170
Email :info@ucgp.com
www.ucgp.com
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