ucgpUPDATE


Newsletter for Members of UCG Partnership

Issue 12, April 2009

Network House, Bradfield Close, Woking,

Surrey GU22 7RE United Kingdom

Tel: 44 870 803 0665

Fax: 44 870 803 2065

New UCG Training Course for 2009

14th – 20th September 2009

UCGP Training Course No 1/09 on UCG (Basic)

Imperial College London

We are delighted to announce a new Training Course in conjunction with the

prestigious Imperial College London.

The course will be very similar in format and content to the successful 2008 training course with

Imperial College, though as yet full programme course, accommodation options and cost have not

been completely finalised. We will inform you of these as soon as possible. The course will outline

basic UCG methodology and will be presented by a team of experts from academia and industry.

If you are interested in attending or would like more information as it becomes available please contact

denise.purssey@ucgp.com or julie.lauder@ucgp.com

UCGP 2010 International Conferences

Our last event was yet again extremely well attended and very successful (see full report in members

section). The networking was, as always, a major attraction and virtually all those present voiced their

feelings as to the need for more than one UCGP international event each year. The Advisory Council

members also feel that UCGP needs to move the conference to other locations, and with so much

happening globally, two events seem to be required. With that in mind, we are delighted to announce

our preliminary conference plans for 2010.

5th International Conference on Underground Coal Gasification,

London, 22nd – 23rd March 2010

and

UCGP International Conference, Australia

Brisbane 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 in London. So the definitive conference on

Underground Coal Gasification will once again be held at the prestigious London location, Deloitte

Auditorium, New Street Square.

UCGP International Conference on Underground Coal Gasification and

Bloodwood Creek site visit, Australia 2010.

We will be holding a second event in Brisbane in October/November 2010, date to be finalised. This

will be our first major event outside the UK. The event will include presentations and updates from

many of our Australian members as well as global updates. We will also continue the related work

from the recent Clean Coal Networking mission. An exciting key feature of the Australian 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 those who have expressed an interest in taking part in both UCGP

events but we welcome suggestions and input from members and affiliates, especially if you have

contacts who may be interested in the opportunity to provide sponsorship. If we can attract sufficient

sponsorship, both events will be free to UCGP members. A token charge may be made for networking

events. We will keep you all updated on the progress of both events.

More details will follow as soon as they become available.

It is advisable to book immediately

Numbers are limited and places are filling quickly

Please advise if you would like to take up the showcase

opportunity – free to all members

UCGP 4th International Conference success

We would like to thank all members and participants who

helped make the last conference such as success. Huge

thanks to our two main sponsors Deloitte and RBS for their

hospitality and superb facilities. We have already booked the

date for next year’s conference.

Please see conference section for more details and full

conference review in the Members News section.

Conferences and Meetings.

There has been no let up in the Partnership’s activities over

the past couple of months. HUGE meetings in Europe,

conferences in London, workshops in Delhi, presentations in

Poland and the extensive Clean Coal Networking mission to

Australia are just some of our recent activities.

Energy is still a critical priority topic for all nations and one of

the aims of the Partnership is to make sure that in 2009 we

spread awareness of UCG more than ever before. Please

read the reports of these events from the

attending officers.

Forthcoming Events

We continue to receive increasing numbers of invitations to

present at the conferences of others and give presentations

to trade associations and government bodies. We are more

than happy to do this as it spreads the word on UCG.

This year we have again been invited to organise a UCG

Workshop at the 26th Annual Pittsburgh Coal Conference. It

will take place on Monday 21st September just ahead of the

full conference programme. We are also running a UCG

Workshop at the SMi Gasification conference in London in

June. Please check the Conference pages for

details of forthcoming meetings and conferences

pertinent to UCG.

Speakers on UCG required

The UCG Partnership is increasingly being asked to provide

speakers to make presentations on UCG at conferences,

interest groups and trade associations.

We are currently seeking potential speakers to communicate

our message on every continent and in every language, as

interest in UCG is high on the agenda around the world. We

are seeking responses from members who feel they may be

able to present, or have already done so in the past. UCGP

will pick up your out-of-pocket expenses and you can promote

your organisation at the same time.

See UCGP News section for further details

New Members

UCGP warmly welcomes the following new members:

Nabarro LLP

Unconventional Energy Solutions, Australia

Drillcon Ltd, South Africa

Indochina Limited, Han Oi, Vietnam

Jade Commodities Ltd,

Clean Carbon Consulting

General Capital Group, Munich, Germany

For the complete list of articles please go to the Members’ area at: www.ucgp.com

News from around the world -

selection of articles furthering the use of UCG

Production of high value oxygen injected syngas suitable for

the production of low emission electricity, chemicals and

liquid fuels;Conversion of unmineable coal in-situ to gas

energy at an average rate of 20PJ per million tonnes in the

Surat basin. Validation of Carbon Energy's proprietary

design and economic models which can be applied to any

suitable coal seam anywhere in the world; and consistently

achieving, and exceeding, target energy content and flow

rates.Carbon Energy's Managing Director Andrew Dash said

the Company will be completing its analysis of the data

obtained during the trial phase prior to providing the results

to its two main commercial partners; Incitec Pivot and

LyondellBasell, for their assessment. It is anticipated that

once approved, further pre-feasibility studies will then be

undertaken to confirm syngas's suitability for power

generation, ammonia manufacture and methanol production.

In the meantime, the UCG syngas reactor at Bloodwood

Creek will continue to operate on air injection, with ongoing

monitoring and verification of results, while plans for

commercialization are initiated.

Linc Energy 3rd Underground Coal

Gasification (UCG) generator trial at

Chinchilla

(ABN Newswire), Mar 10, 2009

Linc Energy’s 3rd Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)

generator trial at Chinchilla began in August 2008 and has

now been operating continuously for almost seven months,

making it in its own right one of the longest-running western

world UCG trials to date.The operation is air-blown and

produces gas at a pressure of approximately 10

atmospheres. No steam or water is currently required to be

injected into the process although this can be accommodated

if required. The main objective of this trial was to

demonstrate the supply of synthesis gas of sufficient quality

and quantity for utilisation in the Gas to Liquids (GTL)

demonstration plant over a lengthy period. (A separate

update on GTL operations will be provided shortly.)During its

almost seven months of operation, the generator has

operated very stably, producing gas of consistent quantity

and quality.

Gas has been produced with a typical composition (on a

nitrogen-free basis) of H2 32%; CO 17%; and CH4 18%.

The H2/CO ratio of 1.81 is ideal for Linc Energy's GTL

process. Since commencing operation of the 3rd UCG

generator, Linc Energy has gasified approximately 2000

tonnes of coal, producing over 5 million Nm3 of synthesis

gas.The information that has been gathered from Generator

3 to date has been used to gain further understanding of the

UCG process in order to validate the technology models

being developed by Linc Energy and to enable the Company

to predict the performance of commercial scale UCG

generators whilst also enabling the operating conditions of

the generator to be effectively controlled.

Australia

MetroCoal secure rights in Surat Basin

for UCG. 29 January 2009

Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) proponent MetroCoal

has announced it had secured exclusive exploration rights

over a large tenement in the Surat Basin.

The move is a significant boost to the emerging UCG sector,

which according to the company, is estimated to be worth

billions of dollars to the Queensland economy because it

avoids the still-to-be-resolved issue of overlapping exploration

rights on tenements by UCG and Coal Seam Gas (CSG)

proponents.

MetroCoal CEO Mike O’Brien said the company has secured

the exclusive rights over a 60 km2 portion of one of its

extensive coal tenements in the Surat Basin MetroCoal now

has a Mineral Development Licence application over the

area and moved quickly to raise the exploration funds

required to begin a drilling program in the tenement in the

Wandoan area,” O’Brien said.Wandoan will be in the vicinity

of a CSG operation, providing the opportunity to prove that

both UCG and CSG can co-exist within proximity of each

other. “UCG requires considerably less land than the level

sought by the CSG operators and our footprint will have

minimal land impact,” he said.“It is estimated UCG can

produce billions in royalties for Queensland alone over the

next 20 plus years and could supply cleaner diesel, fertilizers

and transport fuels for many decades.“Australia is expected

to require 600,000 barrels of oil per day by 2014-15.

Queensland will have the opportunity to meet this domestic

demand right in its own backyard. These fuels will be of

immense strategic importance to Australia, reducing our

reliance on imported fuels and saving many billions of dollars

in foreign exchange and it should be considered a must for

Governments to develop a coal-derived clean fuel industry to

meet domestic demands

Carbon Energy successfully

completes 100 day UCG trial at its

Bloodwood Creek.

ABN Newswire, Sydney, Feb 3, 2009

Carbon Energy Limited announced today that it has

completed the 100 day Underground Coal Gasification

(UCG) trial at its Bloodwood Creek site, near Dalby in South

East Queensland. Carbon Energy has clearly demonstrated

that its UCG module can deliver commercial scale syngas

production of 1 peta joule (PJ) per annum of syngas, with the

following key outcomes: Sustained production of air injected

syngas suitable for low cost generation of power (achieved in

November 2008);

The significance to Cougar of the Government’s granting of

MDL 385 includes:-

- It allows Cougar to advance the planning and execution of

its proposed nominal 400MW power station project,

commencing with the Pilot Burn Stage later this year.

- It also permits the Company to complete the agreed

purchase from Cockatoo Coal Ltd of its remaining interest in

the UCG Designated Area at Kingaroy, which includes

MDL385.

MDL 385 is not subject to any overlying Petroleum Act

tenure, and under the Government’s recently announced

policy, will be protected for development of the Kingaroy

UCG project. “Given recent speculation on the future

prospects for UCG in the State, and the period of time

elapsing since submission of the MDL application, Cougar

views this announcement as an expression of confidence in

the Company’s capability to execute its development plan,”

Cougar’s Managing Director, Dr Len Walker, said today.

“Cougar’s past drilling programs have confirmed a JORC

compliant resource of 73 million tonnes of coal suitable for

the UCG process, which is sufficient to fuel a 400MW

combined cycle power plant for at least 30 years,” Dr Walker

said.

“We look forward to progressing all facets of this project

under the newly-granted Mineral Development Licence and

advise today that we have also completed the purchase of a

7.9 ha property within MDL 385, which provides a long-term

site office, together with core and equipment storage sheds.

“Site drilling and in-situ testing work, and the manufacture of

gas processing plant continues, with initial delivery of plant

items to the site anticipated next month.”

Carbon Energy Executes Heads of

Agreement to Acquire WA Coal

Resource and Secure Foundation Gas

Sale Agreement

Carbon Energy Limited has executed a Heads of Agreement

with Eneabba Gas Limited (ENB) and its fully-owned

subsidiary, Eneabba Mining Pty Ltd (EMPL) to acquire

EMPL’s granted coal tenements of over 1,000 km2 and

develop an Underground Coal Gasification syngas supply for

the planned ENB owned Centauri 1 Power Station near

Dongara in Western Australia.

When completed, the Heads of Agreement will result in:

1. Carbon Energy acquiring a substantial coal exploration

area in Western Australia including at least 300Mt JORC

inferred resource;

2. A long-term Gas Sale Agreement for 5.5 - 16.5 PJ per

annum of UCG syngas for the Centauri 1 Power Station; and

3. Issue of 30,000,000 fully paid Ordinary Carbon Energy

shares to Eneabba Gas Limited in exchange for the Sargon

Group of coal tenements.

Bligh Govt gives green light to

thousands of jobs

Minister for Mines and Energy Geoff Wilson has given the go

ahead for two competing industries to tap into Queensland's

rich coalfields in a move that will create thousands of jobs

across the state. Minister Wilson said State Cabinet had

approved trials - near Chinchilla and Kingaroy in southern

Queensland - of underground coal gasification, a potential

new energy source. "We've come up with a solution that

gives certainty to industry in tough times. This is about

creating jobs and keeping the economy going," Mr Wilson

said. Two industries will benefit from our decision, but the

ultimate beneficiaries will be Queensland's environment and

our economy. This will generate thousands of jobs for

workers around the state," he said. The State Government's

decision will pave the way for the joint development of coal

seam gas - a multi-billion dollar industry - and trials of

underground coal gasification. "Coal seam gas is powering

ahead in Queensland.

It's a multi-billion dollar industry. Its success is due in no

small part to our world-leading gas scheme which requires

big electricity companies to source at least 13% of their

energy from gas-fired generation. We're increasing it to 18%

by 2020. "Gas is a vital path to a cleaner energy future. It

has half the emissions of coal-fired power and it's in

abundance in the Surat Basin which is set to rival the Bowen

Basin as the state's economic powerhouse. "Our gas

scheme is an investment in people who live and work in

cities and towns like Gladstone, Miles, Chinchilla and Dalby.

It's an investment in their future," Mr Wilson said. Cabinet's

decision to progress thousands of hectares of gas acreage

towards tenure approval will give certainty to the LNG

projects. "When these projects are up and running, they will

inject billions of dollars into Queensland's economy and lead

to around 1750 jobs on site, and up to 4,000 jobs during

construction stages." Mr Wilson said three pilot projects

would also be able to tap into Queensland's rich coal

resources. ‘These pilots plan to convert coal seams into a

synthetic gas for power generation, industrial heating, diesel

fuel and ammonia," Mr Wilson said. "Underground coal

gasification is an emerging technology that's largely untested

in Australia. We're going to allow trials under strict monitoring

conditions. "They will have to meet the most stringent

environmental standards," he said.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Cougar Energy gains further green

light for underground coal gasification

project

Cougar Energy has advised that the Queensland

Government has granted the Company’s application for

Mineral Development Licence (MDL) 385, which confirms the

Government’s recently announced policy to support the

progressive development of Cougar’s Kingaroy

underground coal gasification (UCG) project.

Belarus

More efforts needed to involve investors

in field development in Belarus

National Center of Legal Information of the

Republic of Belarus 28/01/2009

Organizations of the Ministry of the Natural Resources and

Environmental Protection of Belarus should step up their

efforts to attract investors to develop deposits in Belarus,

Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection

of Belarus Leonty Khoruzhik said at a session of the

ministry, BelTA has learnt. “The geology department and our

local offices together with local executive committees should

spare no effort to find investors to develop deposits,

especially the ones for the construction industry,” the

minister underlined, in line with a programme to develop

Belarus’ own raw-material base for the metallurgic industry,

the detail exploration of the Okolovsk and preliminary

exploration of Novoselky deposits of iron ore were

completed at a quickened pace. The necessary paperwork

has been prepared to hold the competition to hand these

deposits over to concessions. “Our objective in 2009 is to

expand the number of objects in concession by adding other

deposits in order to attract foreign investment to develop

them,” the minister added.

Leonty Khoruzhik said that in general the 2008 objectives of

the national exploration programme to develop Belarus’

raw-material base were fulfilled. In 2009, the prospecting

and preliminary exploration of cement raw materials in the

Krichev, Kostyukovichi and Krasnoselsk sites are to be

completed. “We should carry out prospecting and estimate

work at Lelchitsy site, prepare it for the industrial exploitation

and simultaneously develop technologies of underground

coal gasification and fulfill a set of other

tasks to reduce the energy dependence of the state and

increase the use of our own fuel and energy resources,” the

minister added.

Canada

Alberta to be site of $30-million experiment

to turn underground coal into

syngas - The Calgary Herald, March 17, 2009


Gina Teel

Alberta will be the site of a unique $30-million demonstration

project aimed at unlocking the clean energy potential of the

province’s vast coal reserves. The province is contributing

$8.83 million toward a $30-million underground coal

gasification demonstration project that taps into coal seams

that are too deep to be mined economically — and would

otherwise sit idle — to produce clean, synthesis gas for

power generation. The demonstration project, with Calgary’s

Swan Hills Synfuels LP, is the first of its kind in North

America and, at roughly 1,400 metres below the surface, the

deepest underground coal gasification ever conducted in the

world.

“Following successful exploration, Carbon Energy will supply

UCG syngas to power the proposed Centauri 1 Power

Station, 8 kilometres east of Dongara in Western Australia,”

said Managing Director of Carbon Energy, Andrew Dash.

“Our target was to secure an additional coal resource within

Australia by the end of 2009, in line with our strategy to build

a national resource availability to support the development of

commercial energy projects, based on Carbon Energy’s

world leading UCG technology.”

“We anticipate this transaction will be unconditional by the

middle of 2009, well ahead of our target.”

“This agreement sees Carbon Energy increase its coal

resources by 45% to at least 968Mt and hold major

resources on both the East Coast and West Coast of

Australia, close to growing demand centres for both power

generation and natural gas.”

“The location of the Sargon Group of coal tenements in the

mid-west of Western Australia, are well placed for such a

development. They are adjacent to major infrastructure,

particularly the port of Geraldton and the planned deepwater

Oakajee port both of which are within 70 kilometres.”

The opportunity to bring reasonably priced power generation

to mid-west Western Australia will assist in the establishment

of iron ore mines and provide the power for the planned

Oakajee port, which will support the State Government’s

development plans for the region.

The resource is also well placed to produce synthetic natural

gas for supply to existing gas pipelines that service Perth.

“The agreement is made possible by Carbon Energy’s world

leading UCG technology and our ability to apply our

technology to any suitable coal seam anywhere in the world,”

said Managing Director Andrew Dash. “We are aiming to

replicate our Australian East Coast strategy in Western

Australia and to be a major contributor to the State’s power

and gas needs.“While Western Australia has abundant

reserves of natural gas, most of these are earmarked for

LNG production and export overseas. This has resulted in

record gas prices being achieved for domestic natural gas

sales in recent times.”“Carbon Energy has the potential to

supply an additional source of gas and power into the

Western Australian market at lower cost to industry and

mining operations. In addition, this potential new source of

energy will also improve the State’s energy security.”Under

the Heads of Agreement, ENB will work exclusively with

Carbon Energy to conduct exploration drilling, at ENB’s cost,

to indentify a coal resource of at least 300 Mt (JORC

inferred), that is suitable for UCG and to negotiate a Share

Sale Agreement and a Gas Sale Agreement to give effect to

the transaction.

Currently in the front end engineering stage, the integrated

gasification combined cycle technology (IGCC) plant would

turn sub-bituminous coal into synthesis gas and hydrogen.

The initiative is in conjunction with the Canadian Clean

Power Coalition, which is chaired by Epcor senior vicepresident,

David Lewin.

“In order to use these vast coal resources in the province,

these are the kinds of things that need to be looked at in the

early stages from a research and development point of

view,” he said of Synfuel's project.

India

Singareni to invite fresh bids for

power project

B Krishna Mohan / Chennai/ Hyderabad March

23, 2009,

State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL)

will invite fresh tenders for upgrading its 6Mw power plant to

20 Mw at Kothagudem in Khammam district of Andhra

Pradesh. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 100

crore.

Speaking to Business Standard, SCCL director (operations)

JV Dattatreyulu said the company was revising the specifications

of the project and would call for fresh tenders for the

project in a month as the earlier attempt received a

lukewarm response. Meanwhile, the company has called for

expressions of interest for forming a joint venture for an

underground coal gasification project in Andhra Pradesh. It

would take about three months for the notice inviting tenders

(NITs) to be processed.

The joint venture, among other things, would assess the

availability of underground coal that can be converted into

gas and extracted. This would involve drilling at multiple

locations and the results would be analysed to see if the

project is technically feasible. “The piloting of the project has

already begun. The challenge before us is to prove its

potential for large scale operations,” he said.

Coal India may invite tenders by June

2009

27 Mar 2009, 2139 hrs IST, Debjoy Sengupta, ET

Bureau

KOLKATA: Coal India expects to invite tenders for extracting

coal from underground mines by June 2009. It has already

concluded a few rounds of pre-NIT (notice for inviting

tenders) meetings, and has sent pre-NITs to all the nine

shortlisted parties.

“In gasification, your two best friends are pressure and

temperature, so the deeper you go, the more pressure; the

more pressure, the better gasification,” said Martin Lambert,

chief executive of the privately-held Swan Hills Synfuels.

The project also has the future potential of using the coal

seams for carbon capture and storage, the province said.

The project uses an in situ process that involves the injection

of oxygen and saline water into coal seams to convert it into

synthesis gas, which can be used as fuel for clean power

generation. Synfuel’s goal is to develop a commercial

operation, selling the syngas for clean power generation and

the captured C02 to oilfield players who can use it in

enhanced oil recovery.

The full-scale demo project is located 17 kilometres

southwest of Swan Hills, Alta. — an area rife with old

established oilfields — and will tap the Mannville coal

formation, a vast seam that runs from Grande Prairie to

Calgary. Lambert said this higher quality coal has never

before been considered to have any value, due in part to its

being out of reach. “If this project works the way we think it

will work, and the demo project will prove it, then what you’ve

done is created value in all of that coal for all Albertans,” he

said. But the greatest benefits of underground gasification is

likely environmental.

To begin with, there’s no need to surface mine the coal, as is

the case with other types of coal gasification. And as it

occurs at depths more than 1,000 meters, no fresh water is

used in the operation. “We’re going very deep underground

because then you do not worry about fresh water, because

its saline water,” said Eddy Isaacs, executive director of the

Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI), through which the

province is providing the funds. “The deeper you are the less

likely that you would harm the environment,” he added.

Isaacs said the demonstration project is a first step to testing

the technology. Though not new — underground coal

gasification has been used commercially outside of North

America for 40 years — the technology has to be tweaked

for coal types and refined for geological formations.

Doug Horner, Alberta’s minister of advanced education and

technology, said it’s important to examine better ways to

better use the province’s coal supply.

“This is another project where our province is poised to open

new markets and be a global leader in clean energy

development,” he said in a release. Lambert, however, has

no doubts the technology will work, and calls the demonstration

project “more like fine tuning the parameters.”

Synfuel has already drilled a pair of production wells and will

start producing gas in June, he said. AERI, which has an

interest in developing clean technologies and nextgeneration

technologies, is also involved in a surface coal

gasification project with Epcor for a 270-megawatt generating

station at its Genesee site, west of Edmonton.

South Africa

Sasol completes basic designs for

Secunda underground coal gasification

demo plant By: Loni Prinsloo 3rd April

2009

Coal-to-liquids (CTL) giant Sasol has completed basic

engineering designs for a demonstration-scale underground

coal gasification plant to be built on an otherwise stranded

deep coal seam near its CTL plant in Secunda. When

commissioned, the plant will be expanding the currently

envisaged UCG pilot project Sasol UCG business manager

Johan Brand comments that UCG is generally cheaper than

conventional coal mining and surface gasification methods,

owing to the fact that the coal mining and gasification is

carried out in one phase. "By the time the gas is released

from the well, the coal has already been beneficiated to such

an extent that it can directly be used in a boiler without even

treating the coal," he adds. Also, the transportation of the

gas in pipes is more efficient than by road, rail or conveyor.

UCG technology will extend the lifespan of the Secunda

complex by using coal that is difficult to mine. The technology

proved a 95% coal extraction, exceeding that of

conventional underground mining of deep seams, which has

an extraction of 37%.

Brand says that UCG provides a commercially competitive

energy supply with a decreased environmental footprint.

The method reduces the potential for soil contamination

because no handling and storage of large volumes of ash

and slag in ash dumps is required. Also, no large tracts of

land are buried under overburden rock and tailings dumps;

largely eliminating possible acid mine drainage caused by

reactions of the overburden rock with atmospheric water and

air.

Lastly, Brand says that the mining technology provides the

opportunity to extract coal that would otherwise be unmineable

as improved drilling techniques allow access to larger

coal volumes at reduced costs.

Underground Coal Gasification for

Sasol and Eskom Edited version of a

interesting article from Guanteng

Business News, 09/02/09

South Africa is endowed with about 192-billion tons of coal

reserves of which 32-billion tons are viewed as economically

extractable. Until quite recently, there was little prospect of

exploiting this pent-up energy potentialBohlweki-SSI

Environmental was appointed by Sasol as well as Eskom to

undertake Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for

these companies who are particularly interested in the

160-billion tons in resource the country has no current plans

to exploit.The technology that could potentially unlock this

potential is known as Underground Coal Gasification, or

otherwise known as “UCG” which is now been tested locally.

"With the pre-NITs sent, each CIL-subsidiary will customise

the final tenders in tune with their mines. This is expected to

take some time," said a top CIL official involved in the

process. CIL has shortlisted nine companies from about 17

who had shown interests in the initial expression of

interersts. These include Essel Mining, Reliance Infrastructure

and Essar Mining from India and Zheng Zhou Coal

Mining and Machinery Group as well as Tian Di Science &

Technology Co Ltd from China.

Walter Mining South East Asia, an Australian company, has

also been shortlisted. At the same time, Eucuirus BgT

Europe GmbH and European Ventures Ltd are from Europe.

A UK-based mining major, Walter Mining, which showed

interest in the projects, is also on the shortlist. The coal

major has decided to focus on underground mining to meet

future demand for coal. The company has identified seven

blocks for these projects for which the shortlisted private

parties will be awarded contracts. Opening up seven new

underground mines is part of CIL's plan to enhance coal

production from such mines in order to balance the supply of

coal from open cast and underground mines. Currently, coal

production is heavily skewed in favour of open cast mines.

Poland

Clean and safe energy generation in

Poland

2009-01-22

Poland could well specialise on a worldwide scale as a major

promoter in technologies of underground coal gasification,

the production of synthetic gas and liquid fuels from coal and

also a future technology consisting of the production of

hydrogen with the use of coal – such is the opinion of

Andrzej Siemaszko, director of the National Contact Point of

EU Research Programmes. Poland has two major strong

points to its benefit: thirteen years of experience in pumping

carbon dioxide underground and modelling and controlling

the process, and, huge deposits of coal, unfeasible for

mining but ideal for subterranean gasification.

Poland could lead Europe in the geological identification,

preparing and monitoring CO2 storage processes (CCS) as

well as in the yet undeveloped fields of clean coal technologies

for subterranean gasification and production of synthetic

fuels and hydrogen. Safe coal processing methods can be

used directly to modernise Polish power stations which the

European Union expects to undertake soon. Technologies

comprising the catching – i.e. gasification - combustion in

oxygen or cleaning exhaust gases are to be developed in

several EU flagship projects, with efforts to ensure that two

of those are situated in Poland (in Bełchatów and

Kędzierzyn).

It can also be used in industrial heating and even the

manufacture of hydrogen or ultra clean diesel fuel.

'Innovative' project Steve Walters, a director of Aberdeenbased

Thornton New Energy, a subsidiary of BCG Energy,

said producing electricity from gas generated underground

from coal allowed it to be processed so CO2 could be

removed, ensuring very low emissions. Mr Walters added:

"The award of the country's first UCG licence is a significant

milestone in Scotland moving towards new, cleaner forms of

electricity generation and it helps ensure that we won't have

to be too reliant on importing energy from other

countries in the future.

AnTech sets sights on clean energy

alternative

by: OilOnline Friday, January 30, 2009

AnTech Ltd is exploring alternative sources of clean energy,

particularly underground coal gasification (UCG).

The Role of Drilling and Well CompletionRecently, Toni

Miszewski, Managing Director of AnTech, presented a

session entitled "Drilling processes for UCG: coiled tubing

drilling and well completion" at the Underground Coal

Gasification training conference sponsored by the UCG

Partnership in association with Imperial College London. The

week-long event, which was limited to just 25 participants,

took place at Imperial College London, and was attended by

individuals from a range of disciplines and industries.

The Clean Energy Alternative

According to Miszewski, operating costs and the amount of

capital required to carry out UCG is potentially much lower

than traditional extraction methods. "Because less human

interaction is required to carry out the process, it means that

health and safety levels are higher," said Miszewski.

“AnTech COLTÔ BHA Offers Drilling Accuracy Required for

UCGHow does AnTech's downhole technology fit into the

picture. The CRIP method, which has undergone extensive

testing in European and American coal seams, lends itself

particularly well to the use of AnTech's COLT, the

company's award-winning bottom hole assembly. This

approach creates dedicated inseam boreholes using drilling

and completion technology adapted from the oil and gas

industry. Because the COLT is compact and easy to control,

it can be manoeuvred in such a way that accurate drilling of

the inseam borehole is achieved, effectively and economically.

Coupled with the reduced cost of UCG, using the

COLT to drill the borehole seams makes the solution

commercially viable. A further benefit of using the COLT is

that rapid build rates and extremely quick set-up mean that

the overall cost of the UCG operation could be further

reduced.

Call for UCG Drilling PartnersAnTech is currently conducting

a search for companies interested in the possibility of using

the COLT to carry out field tests or for commercial operations.

Given the renewed enthusiasm and range of research

trials carried out around the world in Asia Pacific, Europe

and North America, AnTech is keen to work in cooperation

with a forward-thinking partner to take the UCG process to

the next level.

Although the EIAs to be undertaken for the Sasol and Eskom

UCG projects will provide confirmation on the possible

negative environmental impacts associated with UCG [i.e.

noise levels, air pollution, the effects on soil (i.e. subsidence)

and water, loss of captured Co2 through fissures in the earth

surface etc], the following were identified and assumed as

environmental advantages associated with this coal recovery

method:

No above-ground scarring of the earth; It extends the

lifespan of the complex by using coal that is difficult to

mine;The UCG technology proved a 95% coal extraction and

far exceeds that of conventional mining (the current

extraction percentage is 37%)It is a commercially competitive

energy supply;No handling and storage of large volumes of

ash and slag in ash dumps is required, that are exposed to

ash leaching, and have the potential to cause soil

contamination;Decrease in environmental footprint (i.e. no

large tracks of land are not buried under overburden rock

and tailings dumps and their would be no acid mine drainage

caused by reactions of the overburden rock with atmospheric

water and air);There are numerous usages of the gas (e.g.

gas turbines for electricity generation, fuel gas, raw gas etc;

and There is reduced coal wastage / increased efficiencyThe

climate imperative

The other big assumption is that UCG offers a coal based

solution that is climate friendly. At present, more than 70% of

South African energy comes from coal, and Bohlweki-SSI is

of the view that this technology may become very important

in future when calculating the cost associated with carbondioxide

emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

UCG could be an attractive choice for companies to obtain

carbon credits. It further provides the opportunity to extract

coal that would otherwise be un-minable as improved drilling

techniques now allow for access to larger coal volumes at

reduced cost. At this stage, it is perceived to have a lower

environmental impact than other mining or coal utilisation

processes. This will however be confirmed by the environmental

assessments to be undertaken by Bohlweki-SSI and

its team of specialists.

UK

First clean coal to be extracted - Coal

is converted into gas while still underground

New "clean" technology is to

be used to extract coal from massive

untapped seams under Fife and the

Firth of Forth for the first time.

Thornton New Energy has been granted the UK's first

licence from the Coal Authority to use a process

called underground coal gasification (UCG).

The firm plans to drill into coalfields and convert coal into

combustible gas while it is still underground.

The gas can then be used for electricity generation.

The report recommends more detailed geological, chemical

and engineering studies that identify the optimal Indiana

sites and also recommends that state officials initiate

discussions for developing a pilot plant by establishing

“cooperative agreements” with organizations and companies

having expertise in the process, including Lawrence

Livermore National Laboratory, Ergo Exergy Technologies

Inc. and Linc Energy.

New Life for Coal Gasification

Energy secretary reconsiders Bushera

decision to kill clean-coal project.

Jeffrey Johnston March 16, 2009

ENERGY SECRETARY Steven Chu is reviewing a Bush

Administration decision to cancel a large-scale, clean-coal

gasification project because of anticipated cost overruns, an

aide told C&EN last week.FutureGen was to have been a

carbon capture and sequestration project that would

generate electricity by burning synthetic fuel formulated at a

coal gasification pilot plant. It would have pulled out 90% of

the carbon dioxide generated and injected the greenhouse

gas underground near the plant.

The Department of Energy has built two similar "integrated

gasification combined cycle" (IGCC) projects, but this one

would have been the largest at 275 MW and the only one to

capture and inject CO2. It had been set for construction in

Mattoon, Ill., when it was cancelled and the money was set

aside for a larger number of smaller but similar projects.’Chu

believes FutureGen has merit, and he is personally

reviewing it to see if there are modifications that can be

made to improve it and lower its costs," says Stephanie

Mueller, Chu's press secretary. Chu will also meet soon with

an industry consortium that would have built the plant, she

adds.Many in Congress applauded the possible reversal,

particularly those from the Illinois delegation, which had

strongly objected to the cancellation.

Also last week, FutureGen was the subject of a March 11

hearing before the House Science & Technology Subcommittee

on Energy & Environment. The subcommittee took up

two reports that are highly critical of the Bush

Administration's decision. A Government Accountability

Office report (GAO-09-465T) charges that the DOE cost

overrun projections used to justify FutureGen's cancellation

were wrong. GAO's Mark Gaffigan told the subcommittee

that rather than being $900 million over budget, FutureGen's

cost overrun would be $300 million over budget. Originally,

the project was expected to cost around $950 million,

three-quarters of which was to be paid by taxpayers.

Gaffigan stressed the project's importance to continued use

of coal and noted that some $3.4 billion in the Obama

Administration's stimulus package is set aside for fossil

energy R&D, which could have significant influence on Chu's

FutureGen decision. A second report by subcommittee staff

blasted Bush's DOE, charging it had manipulated documents

to justify its decision to kill FutureGen.

USA

Report pinpoints promising sites in

five southwestern Indiana counties for

UCG Purdue University News Service by Emil

Venere, March 4, 2009

A new report pinpoints promising sites in five south-western

Indiana counties for underground operations that can convert

coal into a gas for electricity generation, production of

chemicals, and plastics and fuels for cars, trucks and aircraft.

Researchers from Purdue University and the Indiana

Geological Survey prepared the report, which will be

presented to the advisory panel of the Indiana Center for

Coal Technology Research. The center is part of the Energy

Center in Purdue’s Discovery Park.

The report identifies the best sites for the underground coal

gasification operations using criteria established by Arvind

Varma, Purdue’s R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor

of Chemical Engineering and Head of the School of

Chemical Engineering, and former research scientist Evgeny

Shafirovich, currently assistant research professor at the

University of Texas at El Paso.Varma and Shafirovich

established seven primary criteria, including two major

requirements: the coal deposit should be at least 1 meter

and preferably 2 meters thick, and it should be located at

least 60 meters underground.

The Indiana sites are located in the south-western portion of

the state in two large coal deposits, the Springfield and

Seelyville coal beds” Indiana has seven major coal seams,

but only these two have the largest coal reserves and are

sufficiently thick for underground gasification,” Varma said.

“The coal in these two seams represents nearly 50 percent

of all the coal in the state, and a good fraction of it satisfies

our criteria for underground gasification.”Indiana possesses

deep stores of coal that would be ideal for underground coal

gasification but are otherwise uneconomical to mine, he said.

Another advantage of underground coal gasification is that it

would enable the state to more efficiently capture and store -

or sequester - carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

The report identifies nine “promising zones” in the two seams

for potential operations in Knox, Gibson, Vanderburgh,

Warrick and Posey counties. A follow-up study is required to

provide more detailed information about the sites and to

perform geological, chemical and engineering evaluations,

Varma said.

The report was written by Varma, Shafirovich and Indiana

Geological Survey geologists Maria Mastalerz, Agnieszka

Drobniak and John Rupp.

A pilot plant is planned in Wyoming, with Australia-based

Linc Energy Ltd. expected to break ground in the fourth

quarter of 2009. The company aims to produce a minimum

of 40,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel from its initial

commercial operations.

Linc Energy's technical team continues to work on many

innovative ways to handle the unique challenges to be

confronted in the Red River Delta Area. The Company sees

this as an opportunity to develop portable, skid-mounted

production units that will provide Linc Energy with a set of

tools to routinely and cost effectively undertake trial UCG

projects in any location in the future.It is intended that Stage

1 of the program that includes sixty days of gas production

will be completed within twelve months. The purpose of this

stage is to determine the suitability of the Red River Delta

coal for underground gasification. If successful, the companies

will move into Stage 2 of the program; being the

development of a commercial UCG field to provide syngas

for much needed power generation in Vietnam.

CCS News

New era for fossil fuels as first carbon

capturing power plant begins work

French power station, leading the way in the world's sluggish

move towards using environmentally vital CCS technology.

The world's first retrofit of a power plant with Carbon Capture

and Storage technology will begin operating this month in

the south of France. At a power plant at Lacq, energy

company Total has upgraded an existing gas-fired boiler

with CCS technology – a crucial step towards reducing

carbon emissions from fossil-fuel power plants worldwide.

With renewable energy sources a long way from covering

the world's increasing demand for energy, many experts

believe that developing reliable technology to allow countries

to burn fossil fuels without releasing dangerous amounts of

CO2 into the atmosphere is essential to avoid the worst

impacts of climate change. Experts welcomed Total's

achievement but added that it highlighted how Britain was

being left behind in the development of an important

technology to head off climate change.

"CCS remains the most important initiative that needs to be

implemented both here and around the world in reducing

emissions from coal, gas and oil-fired power stations," said

Environment Agency chairman Chris Smith.

"[But this project] re-emphasises the importance of making

sure that Britain takes an early opportunity to put itself in the

lead worldwide in taking the technology forward.” Stuart

Haszeldine, professor of geology and an expert in CCS at

the University of Edinburgh, was more scathing. "The UK

has been first to stoke up interest in CCS, in the 1990s. But

since then, CCS has not received any significant government

support to make any real projects happen."

The 60m euro Lacq project will transport and store 60,000

tonnes of carbon dioxide every year in the nearby depleted

gas field at Rousse – once the biggest onshore natural gas

field in Europe, but which is now almost empty. It is the first

to link together all parts of the carbon capture chain from

burning natural gas to isolating CO2 from flue gases and

burying it underground.

Uzbekistan

Linc Energy holds a majority interest

in Yerostigaz,

Linc Energy now holds a 74% majority interest in Yerostigaz,

a joint stock company located in Angren, Uzbekistan.

Yerostigaz has operated continually since 1961, producing

Syngas for use in the Angren Power Station.The Yerostigaz

UCG operations were commissioned in 1961 and by the end

of 1965 it was producing approximately 160,000 m3 of gas

an hour (i.e. in less than 4 years the production capacity of

1.4 billion m3 of gas per year was achieved). All gas

produced was supplied to the Angren Power Station.

Currently Yerostigaz is meeting its production targets by

producing and delivering 1 million m3 of UCG syngas per

day, equating to 30 million m3 of UCG syngas per month for

the Angren Power Station. Linc Energy is also pleased to

announce that in a report prepared in February 2009 by the

Uzbekistan Cabinet Ministers to their President, it was noted

that Yerostigaz was the best performing coal company in

Uzbekistan. We are very pleased with the progress being

made by the team at Yerostigaz and are looking forward to

even greater progress in the future. Linc Energy is planning

to assist Yerostigaz further over the coming months by

working on a number of improvements including the

replacement of the existing original air compressors with

more modern and efficient plant and the improvement and

replacement of some of the drilling equipment and procedures,

which Linc Energy believes will add significantly to the

overall profitability of Yerostigaz.

Vietnam

Site selected for Vietnam UCG trial

project

Work continues to progress on the Vietnam UCG trial project

previously announced, a collaboration between VINACOMIN

(Vietnamese State Owned Corporation), Marubeni Coal Pty

Ltd (Japanese Private Equity Company) and Linc Energy.

The site for the trial has now been selected and is approximately

60 kilometres southeast of Hanoi within the Red River

Delta, with easy access to a region that is increasingly

energy hungry.

Talks to finalise the ultimate contractual details and

commencement for Stage 1 of the program are near

conclusion. There are only minor issues left to resolve and it

is anticipated that the final contracts will be signed in the

coming weeks.

Philippe Paelinck of Alstom, the engineeering company that

designed and built the CCS equipment at Lacq, said the

experiment was an important milestone. "We first proved the

feasibility of retrofitting an installation to carbon capture and

storage, but also this will be the first demonstration in

Europe of CCS with [existing] integrated CO2 pipeline

transportation and storage." De Marliave said Total chose to

test oxyfuel because it could potentially save costs in future.

"Our calculations showed that, with oxycombustion in that

type of application, you could reduce the cost of capture –

which is a large part of the cost of the CCS chain – around

two-thirds of the cost roughly. For just capture, existing post

combustion technologies would cost you something like 70

euros per tonne of CO2. Oxycombustion could reduce this to

35 euros per tonne."

Despite that, he said Total was still open to the investigating

the other types of CCS technology, both pre- and postcombustion.

"We are not set on one technology. We

selected oxycombusiton for the pilot but it doesn't mean that

we are not very much interested in post-combustion as well."

Plans for government-funded CCS demonstration plants

across Europe have been moving slowly. The EU wants 12

demonstration plants in operation next decade and has

reserved 300m carbon credits from the next stage of the

European emissions trading scheme to help fund the

technology. In January, the European Commission proposed

earmarking €1.25bn to kickstart carbon capture and storage

(CCS) at 11 coal-fired plants across Europe, including four in

Britain: the Kingsnorth plant in Kent, Longannet in Fife,

Tilbury in Essex and Hatfield in Yorkshire would share

€250m under the two-year scheme.

15 April 2009

LAUNCH OF THE GLOBAL CARBON

CAPTURE AND STORAGE INSTITUTE

On 15 April, at the inaugural meeting of foundation members

in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Rudd formally

launched the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.

The Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute is being

established by the Australian Government to accelerate

information sharing and the global deployment of carbon

capture and storage (CCS) technology. The Institute will

help shape an international solution to climate change

through research, the dissemination of information and by

building momentum for the G8 goal of 20 large scale CCS

demonstration projects globally by 2020. The Institute has

received strong and widespread international support with

85 bodies, including 16 national Governments and more

than 40 major companies, signing on as foundation

members and collaborating participants. More members are

expected to join by 1 July 2009 when the Institute will

become a separate legal entity. The Government appointed

Mr Nick Otter as interim CEO and recently appointed Mr

James D. Wolfensohn to the position of Chair of the

Institute’s International Advisory Panel. For more information,

including a list of members and participants, visit the

Prime Minister’s website at

http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Release/2009/me

dia_release_0913.cfm

Reusing an existing pipeline that has been transporting

natural gas from Rousse to Lacq for 50 years, Total

engineers plan to push the carbon dioxide from the power

plant in the other direction, injecting the gas into the Rousse

reservoir at a depth of around 4,500m. The Lacq project will

run for two years, after which engineers will monitor the

Rousse gas field to demonstrate that the carbon dioxide

remains safely trapped inside.

Last year, the Schwarze Pumpe power station in north

Germany became the first demonstration experiment to build

a 12MW fossil fuel-fired boiler from scratch with full CCS – it

will bury 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year 3,000m below the

surface of the depleted Altmark gas field.

Despite agreement from almost all sides that CCS must be

made commercial if the world can ever hope to meet its

carbon-reduction targets, a full-scale system remains years

away, largely because of the costs involved in its development.

As a result, many leading power companies have

been reluctant to fund CCS individually, arguing that

governments should also shoulder some of the financial

risks.

The UK government wants to fund a single demonstration

plant using post-combustion capture technology and is

running a competition to decide which new power station will

get the go-ahead. Within the next few weeks, ministers are

expected to announce proposals on how to fund further CCS

projects in the UK beyond the competition.

But the British government's procrastination has forced many

CCS projects planned in the past decade to be abandoned

or moved abroad. These include BP's plans to build a carbon

capture plant at Peterhead and Centrica's Eston Grange

project.

Haszledine also criticised the lack of research effort in the

UK, saying just over £6m has been spent on CCS research

in the UK in the past decade compared with $2bn to date in

Canada, and annual spends of around £40m in Norway and

several hundreds of millions of dollars in Australia. New CCS

demonstration projects are due to start operating later this

year in the United States and Australia.

At Lacq, Total has fitted one of the plant's 30MW gas-fired

boilers with oxyfuel technology, where the fossil fuel is

burned in an atmosphere enriched with oxygen. The

resulting exhaust gas is then composed almost entirely of

carbon dioxide and water vapour, which can be easily

separated and stored.

"Total needs to master this new technology," said Luc de

Marliave, climate change coordinator at the energy

company. "Oxycombustion had never been tested at this

scale in such an integrated CCS scheme."

April

European Economic Congress 2009, Katowice,

Session on Clean Coal technologies

Michael Green is a panel member

Coal Research Forum Meeting,

22nd April, Houldsworth Building, Leeds University

Kenneth Fergusson presenting

May

Third EU - South Africa Working Group on Coal Meeting

5th & 6th May Pretoria, South Africa

Julie Lauder presenting

ACI Carbon Capture and Storage Conference

13th & 14th May Berlin, Germany

http://www.acius.net/wiki.aspx/Conferences/Upcoming?view=overview&id=121

June

SMi Conference

London 17th -18th June

UCGP will be holding a UCG Workshop at this event led by Dr. Michael Green,

any members interested in attending or presenting please let us know.

Julie Lauder presenting - Kenneth Fergusson Chairing

All UCGP Members receive a substantial discount on attendance fees

http://www.smi-online.co.uk/events/overview.asp?is=5&ref=3044

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/content.cfm?NavId=8523&Language=Engl

26th Annual Pittsburgh Coal Conference

Westin Convention Centre, Pittsburgh, PA. USA

21st – 24th September

UCGP will be running a half day UCG tutorial ahead of the main conference.

Rohan Courtney Chairing and presenting, Julie Lauder presenting

http://www.engr.pitt.edu/pcc/2009conf.html

October

ICCS&T

Cape Town, South Africa 26th 29th Oct 09,

http://www.iccst.info/live/index.php

2010

5th UCGP International Conference & Workshop

London 22nd- 23rd March 2010

UCGP International Conference, Australia

October/November 2010.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

UCGP NEWS

High Importance:

Australia Launches Global CCS Institute – UCGP Foundation Member.

As reported in the last newsletter, UCGP has become a Foundation Member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute

(GCCSI) which was launched last November. As GCCSI, is headquartered in Canberra, Rohan Courtney took the opportunity to

visit the GCCSI team when he was in Australia recently. The Australian Prime Minister, The Hon Kevin Rudd, formally

announced the establishment of the Institute in April 2009, and announced the foundation members. UCGP Advisory Council

member, Dr Cliff Mallett of Carbon Energy will attend the first meeting as the UCGP representative. The launch has attracted

major energy industry names as foundation members including: Alstom, Shell, Mitsubishi Corporation, Xstrata Coal, Anglo-

American, Rio Tinto, Schlumberger and The Climate Group. UCGP is proud to have been give foundation member status of

GCCSI and hopes that all members will support and engage with this initiative which is vital to the future of the fossil fuel

industry. We heartily thank Cliff for his support and representation.

UCGP Advisory Council and Research Group

Since the initial meetings of both groups in London in February this year, both have been active in their support of UCG and the

Partnership. The Research Group has joined forces to push an EU funded UCG training scheme and many members are

working together on collaborative studies and research.The Advisory Council has supported the extended events schedule and

all members have been proactive in promoting UCG in their geographical regions.

Meeting of the UCGP Research Group 9th February 2009

The Research Group held its first meeting prior to the UCG Conference in London. 12 invited members attended from UK,

Russia, Australia, Poland, Slovakia and The Netherlands. A full discussion of the future research needs took place, and areas

identified for collaborative programmes, of which the key topics were UCG with CO2 capture and storage, UCG with enhanced

coal bed methane, and environmental impact assessment. Several research networks are being created amongst partners in

Eastern Europe and academic institutions, with the aim of developing collaborative programmes in the areas of interest. Efforts

will be made to ensure that the networks embrace European needs and those of all others that are interested. The development

and exchange of personnel with UCG interests will be stimulated. An application for funding for personal exchanges and training

will be sought through the EU Marie Curie programme. Full minutes of the meeting are available on the UCGP website.

Meeting of the UCGP Advisory Council 9th February 2009

The initial Advisory Council meeting was chaired by Rohan Courtney and attended by representatives from Australia, South

Africa, Europe and Indonesia.

Julie Lauder outlined the current plans of the Partnership and asked the Council for advice and support in achieving increased

membership, expansion of training, workshops and conferences, speakers at other conferences, research activities, industry

best practice, increased links with other organisations, articles and press publications. The website needs updating and plans to

provide full information on all members by the introduction of a membership directory. The Council discussed a number of

matters and the following is a summary of the decisions made:

Increased membership could best be achieved by occasionally holding the conference outside the UK

The Australian Gold Coast was mentioned as a possible location for a conference in 2010 or 2011, Cliff Mallett agreed to assist

with the planning of this potential conference. South Africa and China were suggested as possible locations in 2012 or 2013.

Also, late March was offered as a better date in the year for the London conference which could be held every two years. In all

cases site visits should be incorporated where possible, and a conference dinner held.

Each Advisory Council member outside the UK would become the link person with other UCGP members for their region This

would facilitate better communication and assist in our efforts to provide speakers at local conferences where members would be

asked to represent the Partnership. It was further agreed that we would look to expand the training courses and workshops in

other locations, which the council supporting. The next UK Course has been fixed for the week beginning 14 September 09 at

Imperial College, London. It was hoped to add another course a different location this year and Advisory Council members were

requested to suggest locations, hosts and partners, and information about possible links with Universities and other energy/coal

groups with whom UCGP could have reciprocal arrangements.

We need to redesign the website so that it becomes more of an information base for governments and regulators to understand

best practice in UCG and provide more reference materials, on a completely unbiased basis, relating to environmental, technical,

planning and value issues. On the subject of best practice the Council agreed that it should be the aim of the Partnership to

strive for best practice amongst its members. How this should be achieved will be the subject of further discussion. The Council

fully supported the idea of a Research Group for UCGP and noted the main topic of discussion was likely to be CCS. It was felt

that the operators should dictate the subjects rather than the researchers.

The Council supported the plan by management to convert UCG Partnership Limited to a Registered Charity.

It was agreed that the members of the Council would serve for a three year term and then offer themselves for re-election or

stand down as they chose. Each member of the Council will be asked to determine the term of their first period of office – one,

two or three years – so that elections could be held annually from next year and we could achieve a situation where not every

member of the Council would be up for election at the end of the three year period

UCGP hopes to change legal status to a charity

With the support of the Advisory Council the UCG Partnership is researching a change in its status from a limited company to a

UK Registered Charity. We are delighted to have the assistance and help of the legal firm Nabarro LLP who have joined us as a

Founding Member. Nabarro has kindly agreed to undertake this work on a pro bono basis and we will update all members on

progress.

UCGP Event Reports

4th UCGP International Conference and Workshop on Underground Coal

Gasi cation. 10th- 11th February 2009

More than 120 delegates registered for the two-day UCG Workshop and Conference. The Workshop was hosted by Deloitte at

their new Auditorium in New Street Square, London and the conference day was at RBS, Bishopsgate. The programme featured

a variety of key speakers and presentations from around the globe: Russia Australia, Portugal, Slovakia, Germany, Poland and

the UK. Senior Delegates from 35 nations participated in our most ambitious conference programme to date. The Workshop day

was exceptionally well chaired by UCGP’s Kenneth Fergusson. His summing up of the day was well rounded, informative and

thought provoking and a true reflection of the varied content and topics. Many interesting questions were raised throughout the

day, especially in relation to patents. Delegates were also glad to make full use of the networking opportunities during the

breaks. Presentations included: CCS, from Schlumberger, C02 Storage in coal seams, UCG research in Slovakia, Coal Deposits

in Slovakia, and the Potential for UCG in Wales, Mathematical modelling, Energy Patents, and UCG Drilling Techniques.

The conference day led to further full and informed presentations, the highlights being an exceptional and well received keynote

address by Milton Catelin of the WCI and the Bloodwood Creek report by Carbon Energy. Other presentations included The

Russian Experience by Prof. Kreynin of Gazprom, Cougar Energy overview of UCG by Len Walker, an update of the work at

Angren and UCG in Central Asia by Bruce Gaston, Project HUGE by Jan Ragout, UCG in Poland by Prof. Jan Palarski, a UCG

Overview and worldwide activity by Dr Michael Green, plus updates on the UCG Partnership and our plans for the coming year.

The overall information sharing and networking surpassed all our previous events to the extent that we have, as mentioned

previously, decided to hold two events in 2010.

Please log into the members section of the website for conferences, 4th UCGP Conference and

Workshop, to view all the presentations, speaker biographies and attendees list.

HUGE Meeting 26-27th Katowice, February 2009

The six-monthly meeting of the HUGE project (Hydrogen from Underground Gasification Europe) was held in Katowice to review

progress and visit the site for practical work. Surface tests on a block of coal have been made and preparations are in hand to

undertake an in-situ experiment in shallow coal, with the aim of maximising hydrogen production. Supporting modelling and

simulation work is underway. Presentations on the project were made at both the Pittsburgh Coal Conference (Oct 08) and the

4th International UCG Conference in London (Feb 09) of the UCG Partnership. Plans are in hand to run a workshop on HUGE at

the next UCGP London conference (March 2010).

EU India Working Group on Coal

Workshop on Underground Coal gasi cation, New Delhi 13th – 14th March 2009

A 2 day workshop on Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) was held in New Delhi, India, under the auspices of the EU-India

Working Group on Coal. The workshop was Co-Chaired by Dr Rajiv Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal and Dr Derek

Taylor, Adviser Security of Supply and Energy Markets, Directorate General for Energy and Transport, European Commission.

The main aim of the workshop was to address known factors related to UCG in India and to inform of advances that would assist

with commercial viability for UCG in India The workshop programme was carefully structured to reflect existing understanding

and knowledge of UCG in India and to promote the current levels of research, development and collaborative work recently

undertaken in Europe and how this has answered many of the lingering concerns of UCG technology.

The meeting attracted nearly 40 interested participants made up of senior personnel from leading India Coal and Energy

companies. All of the attendees were very familiar with the UCG process and the many advantages UCG technology has to offer

but were seeking solutions to technical, economical and regulatory issues. The workshop programme included technical

presentations on UCG including: the history of development; science & technology; technology advances; current industry

practices, environmental issues, site selection criteria and analytical and predictive processes. The amount of gas produced;

costs of UCG plants and infrastructure and skill requirements were the main topics, along with models, economics, and

challenges. In addition, the workshop highlighted the work of the UCG Partnership and the pivotal role it plays in promoting UCG

technology around the world and the possibilities for collaborative work to accelerate the implementation of UCG in India.

The Workshop presenters were:

Ms Julie Lauder, UCG Partnership Ltd. – History of UCG, the potential for UCG in India, the UCG

Partnership

Gerardo Gonzalez, Newcastle University – How UCG with CCS works, the benefits, financial costs

Prof Jan Palarski, Silesian Technical University - UCG in Poland – Research, Progress and opportunities.

Mr. Peter Jackson, IMC Geophysics International - Site Evaluation for UCG, Remote Monitoring of

UCG Processes Underground

Dr Stefan Krause, Keele University - Hydrogeology, Groundwater Contamination and Risk Assessment,

Hydrological Modelling

The five person team of European presenters actively encouraged pertinent questions and comments throughout the whole

event, which made for a highly interactive and extremely informative two days, with excellent and open exchange of knowledge,

opinions and ideas.

Main technical issues raised included: site selection criteria; groundwater contamination and monitoring and control of what is

happening underground.This workshop managed to address many of the previously held concerns and assisted in raising the

levels of interest and also the endeavours of pursuing the commercial potential for UCG in this region. India needs to be involved

with the exchange of information, to help in actively pursuing this cutting edge technology. The presenters acknowledged that

they would be happy to help in this and the idea of a collaborative pilot study in India should be pursued with vigour.

Several of the attendees also made reference to joining the UCG Partnership to further their relationships with UCG technical

specialists. All the presenters were in agreement that the exercise had been an informative and enjoyable experience and one

they would be happy to repeat

The closing remarks by the Co- Chairs highlighted that the workshop had indeed been an overwhelming success and that during

the two day event and networking dinner many professional relationships had been made and that it was no longer a question of

if - but when UCG would become part of the future energy mix in India. To view the workshop presentations please go to the

members section of the UCGP website: conferences, EU India Working Group on Coal UCG Workshop

UK Clean Coal Technologies Networking Mission to Australia – March 2009

Attended by Rohan Courtney

A ten member UK mission to Australia was organised by the British High Commission in Canberra to network with and exchange

information on advancement in clean coal technologies and in particular carbon capture and storage and ways to eliminate or

minimise carbon emissions. We visited CSIRO’s Energy Centre in Newcastle and the Priority Research Centre for Energy at

Newcastle University and the CSIRO/Delta Post combustion capture pilot at Munmorah Power Plant. In Brisbane we toured

QCAT and the Centre for Low Emission Technology (cLET), attended and presented at a specially organised “United

Kingdom/Australia Clean Coal Technologies Symposium” hosted by the British High Commission and the Queensland Department

of Mines and Energy. On the last official day we attended the “c LET-UQ-UK Research Forum on Clean Coal Technologies”

at the University of Queensland. Professor Peter Styles of Keele University and I accepted Cliff Mallett’s kind invitation to

tour Carbon Energy’s UCG plant in Bloodwood Creek and three of us went on to Melbourne to visit the Co2CRC Carbon Capture

laboratories at the University of Melbourne including a briefing on the Otway Project. Prior to the start of the Mission I had visited

the GCCSI team at the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism in Canberra. The UCG (underground coal gasification)

Partnership is a founder member of GCCSI.

This was a hectic visit with 55 presentations packed into 5 days in four different locations. The Mission was made up of three

Professors and four Lecturers/Researchers of UK Universities, the senior portfolio manager of EPSRC (UK Research Council)

and the strategy manager of the UK Energy Technologies Institute, Queensland has made considerable advances in underground

coal gasification which is my area of interest.

What did we learn? Australia is clearly at the forefront of research and development in clean coal technologies and we were all

very impressed with the volume and advancement of a host of work in post combustion capture and low emission technologies

ranging from monitoring storage of Co2 to experiments in dealing with Co2 at source and public perceptions. We each gave

presentations on work being undertaken in the UK and it was very clear to all of us, both hosts and visitors, that this initiative, so

well organised by Lindsay Morgan of the British High Commission, should be a pre-curser to a more formal and on-going jointly

financed research and development activity which should not only include academia from both countries but also government

and industry.

Our hosts were very willing to share information and knowledge and each of us have made a considerable number of new

contacts as a result of this visit. Although we cannot match the excellent weather or provide such lovely ocean views, we look

forward to a return match in the UK.

Join the UCG Partnership Today

Membership Fees

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 no charge

Some of the bene ts 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

Contact Us:

Network House,

Bradfield Close,

Woking,

Surrey

GU22 7RE

United Kingdom

Tel: 44 870 803 0665

Fax: 44 870 803 2065

Email :info@ucgp.com

www.ucgp.com