Local officials look to coal gasification to curb rising energy costs
Published Thursday, June 5, 2008
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Stumble It!Rapidly rising energy costs have been draining millions from the Fairbanks economy, causing local officials to look to a coal gasification plant for relief.
“The rising cost of energy has taken $300 million from our economy in the last three years,” said Steve Lundgren, Fairbanks Economic Development Corp. board chairman. That figure came out of the FEDC’s recent Cost of Energy report. Lundgren, speaking at the corporation’s annual investors’ luncheon Wednesday, urged Fairbanks to find ways to solve energy problems quickly. A coal gasification plant, which is under study now by the FEDC, could provide an oil alternative while potentially solidifying the continued presence of the area’s top economic sector — the military.
The Air Force is increasingly concerned about energy costs and plans to move toward synthetic fuels, Lundgren said. Synthetic fuels can be made through coal gasification and are considered increasingly economical as oil prices skyrocket. A recent decision in Washington, D.C., allows the Air Force to enter into 10-year instead of five-year commitments for synthetic fuels, a step that could in turn further the FEDC’s gasification proposal.
Lundgren and other speakers encouraged audience members to focus on lessening the area’s economic reliance on the military and other government sectors while building a stronger private sector that can stand on its own, whatever the future holds.
“The cost of energy is crippling those efforts to move forward,” FEDC President Jim Dodson said. “Unless we solve the liquid fuel issue, we’re not solving Fairbanks’ problem.”
The possibility of new natural gas pipelines is positive, he said, but won’t be a real answer.
“We’re not going to have gas soon enough to keep Fairbanks from changing significantly,” he projected. Instead, Dodson said, Fairbanks must focus on energy conservation, development of a coal-to-liquids gasification plant and alternatives such as the Susitna Hydroelectric Project.
Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker provided the luncheon’s keynote address on the state of the economy and echoed Lundgren’s chief concern about rising costs of fueling cars, heat spaces and power lights.
“We have an energy crisis,” Whitaker said. “It is an emergency.”
Fairbanks can’t count on state or federal government for solutions and should develop its own long-term solutions for reliable energy, he added.
“We are not Alaska’s second city,” he said. “We are Fairbanks, Alaska, and proud of it. We’ll take care of ourselves.”
Whitaker set forth three major goals to build a better economy. Fairbanks must organize now, before the next round of base closures, to ensure military installations remain, he said.
“If we don’t take preemptive action now, Eielson Air Force Base will be on that list,” Whitaker said. “That would undermine our economic capability for decades.”
He urged his audience to consider the potential for Fort Wainwright to end up on a closure list at some point.
“I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but just think about that,” he said.
The community must, he said, also stand behind the University of Alaska Fairbanks as the state’s primary campus. Finally, with such uncertainty in energy costs and the military, Fairbanks must shore up private industry by setting high standards and taking control of the future, he said.
Contact staff writer Rena Delbridge at 459-7518.
Community Discussion
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Ft. Wainwright already uses coal for basewide electric generation and heats the entire base off the steam generated from the power plant. I support alternative ideas, but not for the wrong reasons.
Good for Whitaker. He gets it. I like that he is thinking about what will happen to the military with rising fuel costs. There is only so much money in the defense budget. With soaring fuel costs the USAF is- without significantly increased funding- going to have to scale back, and that means closing bases. If a base is closed in Alaska I can guarantee that Eielson will be closed before Elmendorf AFB. USAF has a lot of contingency planning going on- and I can guarantee that among those plans are recommendations for base closures. It is politics that determines how many bases the Air Force has and not necessarily Air Force policy. So the Air Force has more expensive bases to operate than it needs right now.
I really like the idea of getting more hydroelectric up and running. If the Interior had inexpensive hydroelectric electricity then folks could heat with electric heat and the air here would be a LOT cleaner. The idea that everyone will be burning wood this winter is going to destroy the air quality here.
So how quick can the Susitna hydroelectric project be up and running?
Kudos to Mayor Whitaker for thinking outside the energy box. We are sitting on so much alternative energy, which includes coal, nuclear, wind, tidal, and hydro, that we all of our state could be energy independent by 2025.
I hope that Fairbanks can think outside of Fairbanks so that all communities benefit from the development of these alternatives. We have tons of coal all over the state of Alaska in Bristol Bay, Kotzebue, the North Slope, Beluga, Chickaloon, and many other locations. Mine mouth coal fired generators are feasible and could be the bridge alternative we need to get our villages off of diesel as we look forward to developing alternative from clean sources. I hope that Fairbanks can get the Healy coal fired plant going soon along with hydro development.
If the state had an Energy Policy and Plan, we could all be working together to beat down high energy costs, create more jobs for all Alaskans, energize our economy all across the state, add value to all of our natural resources BEFORE exporting them, and guaranteeing a prosperous future for ourselves and our children's children.
See this DOE website for environmental and efficiency benefits of coal gasification over burning coal directly:
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/po...
AKhusky- Thank you! Very informative link.
Did we not build a power plant in Healey with just such "new" technology? REMEMBER RAMPART we will not build hydro power as long as the tree huggers are permited to buy the votes.... Why are we still putting up with FDA, they should all be looking for a job. Just DAM IT....
I am sure that synfuels has progressed a lot since the 1980's when I was working on a couple of pilot projects. We were chasing federal money at that time and got cut off by Reaganomics-synfuels should pay their own way.
South Africa has successfully operated SASOL for decades, and should be considered as the best demonstration of the technology. The plant is immense and is placed on a very large coal field.
Alaska has a lot of low grade coal that may work well for this. Unortunately it is located in places that are hard to ge permit for-Alaska.
I am glad someone mentioned the Fort Wainright plant. The Aurora Energy Plant and the University Plant have the same mission and are well designed and operated.
Alaska has a lot of energy resources and they should be developed. Just remember theat the HCCP plant in Healy was hard to permit, and even harder to operate.
Some how I'm just not getting a lot of comfort from knowing that the Borough is involved in all this. None at all.
My concern with the three coal-fired power plants in the Fairbanks area is the harmful contaminants contained in the emissions(mercury, radioactive isotopes, fine particulates, etc.) that are delivered into the most densely populated region of the interior, especially during cold weather.
Another interesting link is:
http://www.ultracleanfuels.com/
How will this new plant spewing toxic waste into my air make energy more affordable? Will the Borough or FEDC be selling this new fuel at lower than market rates to us lowly citizens or just satisfying a tiny fraction of the fuel needs of the Air Force and Army? DOD is already the largest single user of oil in the world.
I'd love a gas line to come by the hood but will it give us cheap gas like Anchorage now enjoys or will the price go up just like all the natural gas in the world is headed?
Seems to me we are only experiencing a price shock right now based on the coming of Peak Oil. It's the higher prices that make all these projects even thinkable. Don't think for a minute that any part of the energy industry is doing anything but looking to make more money and as world-wide production of conventional oil declines some of these "new" technologies become viable money makers.
The tar sands in Alberta are only worth dealing with now because the price of oil is up so high. If it ever dropped to say $40 again (not too likely I'd say) Ft. McMoney would soon be Ft. McEmpty.
Also, don't forget, there will be a peak in natural gas, a peak in uranium and even a peak in coal!
So, once again, the cheapest energy you'll ever buy is the energy you don't have to buy in the first place. Repetition aids retention....
The state is watching out for our best interests, why wouldnt they help us? Dont they have a contingency plan all these years, some one did not know the supply and demand of availability of petroleum in alaska and how it will effect alaskans.
Whoa, for those who spent billions without a satisfying alternative idea to cover cost of rising fuel prices for last thirty years.
What is wrong with all yous politicians? Eh, geez go make good decisions for our luxury to live comfortably in alaska's winter
The big question is how much will this cost and is there enough population to absorb the cost without having to pay high rates. Sin gas plants are extremely expense, a plant needed for Fairbanks could cost well over 4 billion dollars.
Fairbanks and the North Star Borough is a small sub arctic community with two roads in and out to the south and one road to the north. We are at the end of the rail line for the US. We do not have a large consumer base. We do not have a port. The population of Anchorage is 3 to almost 4 times larger then Fairbanks. Matsu has exceeded Fairbanks population. The majority of the States population lives within the Anchorage area. Anchorage has a port,railroad and major international airport. There is the ability to receive and ship goods three ways and the population base to buy large volume of goods. They have wind and water as a means to develop energy alternatives. 25 million has been given to build a wind farm on Fire Island. We need to stop comparing this area with Anchorage, it is like apples and oranges. There is no way this area will ever be able to consume like the Anchorage area. The life style in the two communities will never be the same, but isn't that why we live in this area. Dobson and Whitaker will be long gone before anything happens, this is just a let's look busy as if we are doing something game that high paid government people like to do. Bread and Circus.
Here's alink to alternative heating sources for home and industry--wood gasification, wood pellets, etc.
http://www.ahona.com/products.html
AKhusky, good site. I need something that is economical that will get more BTU's out of my existing fireplace. Everything I have found so far. such as "CetralBoiler" is not pratical on my small lot in town, and is not in my price range. I would be dead before I break even. I have been looking for idea's for several months now with no luck. I plan on going to the Energy Fair if they ever have one in Fairbanks, but I doubt if they will have what I will be looking for. If anyone has any idea's, I could sure use a few good links to energy saving site's that deal with wood burning fireplaces. I have Natural Gas now and it is breaking my bank account.
Exactly Griffin, and we can see from Alaskan59 that the price is certainly not set here so we're just along for the ride if we continue our oily and gaseous ways.
Well, I suppose Fairbanksans could all build themselves wood-powered motorhomes and drive down the Alcan past all of the gasline construction road-work on our way to Costa Rica just to get away from this madness..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgL0Ie4z...
closer to home...
http://www.angtl.com/
does anybody know why silveradogreenfuel website is shut down??
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&n...
does anybody know somebody at their business office here in Fairbanks?
..
Using microwaves for high-efficiency coal gasification...
http://www.globalresourcecorp.com/Engine...
Download and listen to the last third of this radio show...
http://archives.warpradio.com/btr/BigBiz...
....flash/rumble
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