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New life for coal?: Local officials say president's alternative energy plan could be good for Southern Illinois

BY NICOLE SACK
THE SOUTHERN

Thursday, February 2, 2006 6:40 AM CST

The coal industry was listening carefully as President Bush discussed clean-coal technology and alternative fuels during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

"To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest in more zero-emission coal-fired plants," Bush said as he unveiled the Advanced Energy Initiative to increase clean-energy research at the Department of Energy by 22 percent.

What does that mean for Southern Illinois?

John Mead, director of the Coal Research Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said while there has always been an interest in new energy technologies, the president's comments have added a new era of anticipation among those in the local coal community.

"It is realistic," Mead said of a 2025 benchmark set forth by Bush. "But it will take investment. We will need to overcome the financing and the market-risk barriers that have existed in the past. Having a federal effort in that area will make a big difference."

Mead said the technology exists to gasify coal to create synthetic natural gas, liquid transportation fuel, electricity and to make chemical feedstock to use in a variety of products. However, to build the new, zero-emission power plants to create coal-energy products will take more than science - it's going to take massive investments, he said.

"These will be state-of-the-art facilities that are very expensive. They can be a billion dollars or much more," Mead said. "And without a pre-existing model, the financing community looks at these projects as a huge risk."

Mead said governmental muscle and money are needed to overcome the roadblocks that have hampered the development of domestic energy solutions.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello said the president's outline is very exciting for Southern Illinois and the coal industry, but the scope of his vision will be dictated by the budget proposal that will be delivered to Congress in the next few weeks.

"Oftentimes presidents have these laundry lists of proposals, but when it comes time for funding - we do not see the money to implement these programs," Costello said. "I am excited that the president has said we are going to move to energy independence and clean-coal tech and zero-emission power plants - but now he has to follow through and provide the funding."

Costello, D-Belleville, said it is too early to place a dollar figure to the funding needed for Bush's ambitious plan, but "It would take a substantial commitment on behalf of the government and the private sector."

Bush also discussed changing the way Americans power automobiles, saying "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world."

Bush called for additional research for producing ethanol from corn, wood chips, stalks and switch grass. He said the goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years and to replace more than 75 percent of Middle Eastern oil imports by 2025.

"By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past," Bush said.

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus said while the president had a strong statement about the nation's energy habits, those comments were correct.

"It is amazing how far we have come and now we have to push forward," Shimkus said.

"We know the problems it causes us, in the ways we have to deal with foreign countries; it hurts us in our trade deficit. A huge part of our trade deficit is the fact that we import so much crude oil. The question is how to get out of that mess," Shimkus said.

Shimkus said one of many options is the production and use of ethanol and soy diesel. The second way is to implement coal-to-liquid technologies. One such example is the Fisher Tropsch process of reforming natural gas into carbon monoxide and hydrogen and using this gas to manufacture liquid fuels and chemicals. The Fisher Tropsch process has been in commercial use for more than 50 years.

"It is amazing how far we've come," Shimkus said. "But we must continue to push forward."

nicole.sack@thesouthern.com

(618) 529-5454 ext. 5816