Editor’s Note: As part of the Coalblog’s continuing commitment to bringing you new and innovative editorial and ideas, I have invited Walter James O’Brien to expand on his recent American Coal magazine article, “Carbon Compliance Using the Carnegie Model.” In this short update, O’Brien considers how the coal industry can use CO2 to promote industrial development. Please feel free to comment and suggest other means of making CO2 pay.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced that $1 billion in stimulus funding was being targeted to restart the stalled FutureGen project.

This infusion of tax dollars will provide breathing room for the FutureGen project. Originally, FutureGen was to build a state of the art IGCC facility in Mattoon, IL. Synthetic natural gas from the facility would then be used to power a combined cycle generation plant. CO2 remaining after the gasification process would have been captured and stored underground in favorable Illinois geological sinks. Deep geology beneath the Meredosia site will not allow for carbon storage, however. Therefore, the Mattoon site is still being targeted for the physical sequestration of the CO2. A pipeline is expected to be built to transfer it from the Meredosia site.

A new study just released by ACCCE demonstrates that the coal industry and clean coal technologies could provide many thousands of new jobs for American workers. This would be a huge boon to the economy as we rebuild our way out of the recession.

The deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies at advanced coal facilities would create or support more than 150,000 jobs nationally, according to a study released today by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). The study done for ACCCE by BBC Research & Consulting found that 1.7 million job years1 of labor would be created through the construction of 124 new advanced coal facilities by 2025.

Industry ad campaigns recognized in NY Times article.

The tireless efforts at educating the elected officials and the public are beginning to make a difference.

Terms like “clean coal” are becoming common parlance and the current administration is openly supporting the development of clean coal technologies.

The Odessa Development Corporation recently approved the funding for a 400-megawatt coal gasification plant, as well as the purchase of 600 acres on which the plant will be sited.

Reports indicate that the plant will capture 90% of its CO₂ emissions. That CO₂ will then be used for enhanced oil recovery in the Permian Basin.

As part of of the agreement, Summit Power Group, Inc. (the plant operator), agreed to create “125 jobs with a total annual payroll of $5 million” and make “reasonable efforts” to present bids to local contractors and “employ Odessa residents.”

Scientists at Industrial Technologies describe how they are building “industrial blood” as a means of capturing CO₂ from flue gas. They are developing a system that mimics the ability of blood to remove CO₂ from the body using carbolic anhydrase to create bicarbonate ions, which are then released from the lungs using a reaction (involving zinc, amino acids, and hydroxyl ion).

The just released 2009 National Coal Council Report, “LOW-CARBON COAL: MEETING U.S. ENERGY, EMPLOYMENT AND CO2 EMISSION GOALS WITH 21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGIES” is a treasure trove of information and updates on the state of the North American Coal Industry and coal-based energy.

The study reviews essential low-carbon energy options like CCS and how they can be (and are being) implemented. Also considered are costs and timelines for commercial development of CCS, how existing generation assets can be retrofitted with CCS and other efficiency improving upgrades, specific technologies for the capture and storage of CO₂, as well as coal beneficiation, and underground coal gasification . The study also tackles the legal and regulatory issues that must be addressed to ensure CCS can move forward and then considers the role of the United States as a technology leader in the development and deployment of clean coal technologies.

America’s Power has an excellent resource on clean coal technology and research across the U.S. available.

If you need information on the over $12 billion in CCS & CCT installations and research that’s going on across 43 states, head to the America’s Power website to learn more.

Ralph Hillman, Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association discusses Australian efforts to implement carbon capture and storage (CCS), the recent Senate vote on the ETS, and the COP15 conference in Copenhagen.

Coalblog readers:

Please note the following invitation from WVU and DOE to those who are interested in exploring coal and CCS collaborative possibilities with China.

Dear Colleague:

We cordially invite you to attend the 2009 US-China Coal Conversion and Carbon Management Workshop, December 2-4, 2009 in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. The event is hosted by the US-China Energy Center and the National Research Center for Coal and Energy of West Virginia University and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The 2009 US-China Coal Conversion and Carbon Management Workshop is an activity under Annex II-A to the protocol on cooperation in the field of fossil energy technology development and utilization between the Department of Energy of the United States of America and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China.