Appropriations bill includes $10 million for liquid coal project
Published Thursday, September 11, 2008
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!WASHINGTON — A Senate subcommittee on Wednesday approved a measure backed by the U.S. Air Force to study putting a coal-to-liquids fuel production facility at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks.
The $10 million in funding was part of a $488 billion draft defense spending bill for fiscal year 2009 passed out of the Senate Appropriation defense subcommittee.
Money for the liquid coal project was placed in the defense bill by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who said it would help the military meet its goal of reducing its dependence on foreign oil.
The measure would spur development of diesel and jet fuel from the coal deposits around Healy that could be used to power the aviation fleet at Eielson and fill the gas tanks of the Stryker Brigade at nearby Fort Wainwright.
The facility as proposed would be capable of producing up to 40,000 barrels of coal-to-liquid fuel per day.
Stevens said the liquid coal would offset some of the $12.5 million the Air Force spent on jet fuel at Eielson last year.
Excess fuel could be sold into the local aviation and transportation market, he added.
At an alternative energy summit in Fairbanks in July, the estimated cost of constructing the facility was between $3.5 billion to $6 billion, depending on its size.
Stevens office said it did not have a cost estimate for the plant, but acknowledged it would be expensive.
The bill must still be reconciled in conference with the House version, which includes the same amount of overall funding, but allocates it differently.
The House appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to meet next week.
“I don’t know if it’s going to survive, but it’s a start,” Stevens said.
It’s uncertain whether Congress will be able to complete work on the spending bill before the end of the pre-election session.
Stevens envisions the liquid coal plant as a joint project involving federal, state and private investment. Under the plan, the Alaska Railroad would transport coal from Healy to Eielson.
The project would eventually require the railroad to lay new track between Healy and Delta Junction, Stevens said.
The facility would be the first commercial-scale operation at a U.S. military base of the Fischer-Tropsch process, developed by German scientists in the 1920s to convert coal to liquid fuel. The process is considered cost prohibitive compared to refining crude oil.
There is renewed support for the process with oil prices hovering around $100 per barrel.
Environmental groups oppose coal-to-liquid production as dirty and contributing to global warming.
There is also opposition in Fairbanks among those who think the project could dampen support for a natural gas pipeline.
Stevens said the plant would include a process to capture the carbon-dioxide and sequester it to reduce environmental concerns.
The project is important to the Interior as a way to protect Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright from future base consolidation and closure rounds, Stevens said.
“Unless we can guarantee the military that they are going to have an inexpensive supply of fuel, those bases are in danger,” said Stevens, who placed a marker in the bill directing the money specifically to Eielson. “We barely survived the last one, as far as Eielson is concerned.”
The legislation also would double the military’s five-year leasing authority, allowing it to enter into a long-term supply agreement with the Usibelli coal mine.
Stevens put together the defense spending bill with the help of his longtime friend Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.
Inouye, chairman of the defense subcommittee, has stood by Stevens, who remains active on the full appropriations committee despite having to surrender his ranking-member status on the subcommittee after being indicted for allegedly lying on his financial disclosure forms.
Stevens says he expects to be exonerated of all the charges at his trial, which starts in two weeks.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
Wonder how far this earmark will go before it is killed. Long way from sub committee to being signed in as part of the budget. How long will Eilson be around if the Democrats take the election.
How much pipe would 10 mil buy and how far would it reach fron the slope?
This is the kind of "alternative energy" project that we, the USA need to be pursuing in a big way, not just the Air Force. A much better idea than T. Boone's wind and natural gas powered car nonsense. There is a LOT of coal in Alaska, Montana and other states. Every barrel of diesel and heating oil made from coal is a barrel we don't have to buy from thugs and dictators. Want to cause regime change in Iran and Russia without war? Drop the price of oil. Of course "environmental groups" oppose this. They are BANANA's - Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere. Windmills? Can't build transmission lines because it might 'harm the environment' or the windmills themselves would spoil Ted Kennedy's view.
There have been ongoing studies into coal liquifaction and coal gasification for over 30 years, but there is still no economical way to convert coal to either oil or gas. If you want a good example of a coal liquifaction failure, you need to look no further than the Healy Clean Coal Project. T. Boone Pickett's plan is far from nonsense. Wind farms are already a reality for many states in the lower 48, especially California where wind farms, combinded with solar farms have helped stem their energy crisis. In addition, gas powered vehicles have been a reality for decades and currently most of the major metropolitan areas in the lower 48 have had all there buses converted to natural gas. The converion is cheap and effective. An additional plus is the tree huggers are already on board and nobody except Massachusets really cares about Ted Kennedy's view.
I wonder if Senator Stevens got approval from our maverick anti-earmark Governor before inserting this in the appropriations bill? The national media is going to feast on this. She will be publicly embarrassed and forced to request it's removal. It might get very interesting watching our pork-daddy and our newly self acclaimed pork hater work through this without it becoming a huge embarrassment to the McCain campaign. I wonder if Sen. Stevens did this on purpose. It's no secret that he and Gov. Palin don't get along too famously.
Coal to Gas is the dirties process know to modern man!Check out South Africa's history? There is not even a "third world" country that will allow one to be built on their land! So build it in the interior of
Alaska, makes a lot of sense,ha? If you must, build it at Healy & save the expense of moving the coal & the profit to the Rail Road.
MIT - $10 milion is just to cover the study that Federal procurement rules require. $10 milion would not about cover the fixed costs to order the pipe. It will not cover the material costs of the pipe or its istallation.
Fairbanks99 - Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is used by many fleet operators becuase the its cost is about 40% ($2.04 equivalent gallon of gasoline) of gasoline and diesel fuels. Also, CNG cars made by Ford will also run on Gasoline if the CNG tank is empty. Engins that run on CNG will start in the coldest temperatuers found on Earth (down to minus 100oF) CNG engines have veery low maintnance costs compaired to Gasoline & Diesel engines.
Icerider & Woodman - Be advised thar Hitler was able to fight WW-II for many years because the Germans developed the coal to oil proces that converted the large coal deposits in Germany to diesel & gasoline fuels when the alies stoped the inportation of crude oil to Germasny. South Aferica has cut its dependance on imported oil because they have German designed and constructed coal to oil plants that produce oil for about $40/bbl.
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.