Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 1, 1990 TAG: 9005010164
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: BRISTOL LENGTH: Medium
Michael R. McElwrath, the department's principal deputy assistant secretary for fossil energy, told a congressional subcommittee at an energy research and development field hearing in Bristol that proposed clean-air legislation will help create those technologies.
He said the national energy strategy now being worked out includes the goal of limiting dependence on oil imports that will mean increasing the use of coal as an energy source. Coal, which already generates more than half the nation's electricity, will help the nation maintain its competitive edge in the energy field, he said.
With continued research, this country can maintain its leadership with coal as an energy source "perhaps well into even the 23rd century," he said. "We've got plenty of coal . . . to make it go two to three centuries down the road."
Rep. Marilyn Lloyd, D-Tenn., chairman of the subcommittee on Energy Research and Development, said the Soviet bloc breakup offers new opportunities for the United States to export both its coal and its technologies. One example is a recent agreement to retrofit a coal-fired power plant in Poland to reduce its air pollution.
"We do have things in place to become a new economic leader," she said. "The United States is driving the train and refueling it with coal, and we're ahead."
McElwrath said new export opportunities could boost U.S. coal trade by 40 percent by the end of the decade, with the most rapid growth in trade with developing countries. "Those countries will be looking for small packaged coal-burning systems," he said.
Continued research and development can help coal move into areas now dominated by oil and natural gas, he said. The price of synthetic coal-derived fuels has dropped from $70 to $35 per barrel since the 1970s, and could go as low as $25 to $30 in five years which would make it almost competitive with gasoline. "That's what our goal is at this point."
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, urged McElwrath to keep low-sulphur coals, like those produced in Southwest Virginia, in mind when planning Energy Department strategies. Most of them now seem aimed at benefiting high-sulphur coal producers, he said.
McElwrath said the programs would benefit both high- and low-sulphur coal producers. "Even low-sulphur coal-burners will need new and cleaner technologies," he said, under upcoming amendments to the Clean Air Act.
Richard A. Wolfe, president of Coal Technology Corp. in Bristol, said the Southwest Virginia company is the first in the country to offer the public a coal-powered gasoline and diesel fuel.
The fuel is a mix of liquid coal and oil, and five sales outlets for it have been opened since September. Another is under way in Russell County.
The corporation, with funding assistance from the Department of Energy, is building a $1.7 million gasification plant to demonstrate the technology for extracting liquids and leaving a solid residue that can be upgraded to a coke for use in steel-making.
Wolfe said the demonstration plant should be ready by August. Once its technology is tested and proved, the corporation will be ready to scale up to a commercial-size plant.
Roe-Hoan Yoon, with Virginia Tech's department of mining and minerals, said the Energy Department had funded some basic research at Tech leading to the development of what is called the microbubble floatation process of coal cleaning, for which a patent was recently approved.
Yoon said he felt technology should aim at removing as much sulphur as possible at the mine site rather than when the coal is burned. He said delivery of the Tech cleaning system was scheduled for a West Virginia plant this week, and other countries - Sweden, Finland, Australia, Korea, China and Japan - are interested in seeing how it works.
Kenneth R. Price, general manager of the Virginia Division of Island Creek Corp. and chairman of the Virginia Coal Council, said continued federal support for coal research and development is critical to preserve the economy of Southwest Virginia, but also because the nation should use its major energy source as much as possible.
Coal accounts for 24 percent of U.S. energy consumption and 57 percent of the energy used to produce electricity, he said. People are unaware that coal is the backbone of the U.S. power generation system, he said, but the power market accounts for 86 percent of all coal consumed in this country "and our home electric bills are among the cheapest in the developed world."
Research promises technologies to clean coal to prevent such problems as acid rain, he said. Some have the potential of removing as much as 90 percent of coal sulphur and 99 percent of its ash to produce "super-clean" coal, he said.
Clean coal technologies are the key to achieving emission reductions and cost-effective electricity generation, he said. They will also reduce the need for relying on foreign resources for U.S. energy needs.
by CNB