According to the report, the point at which coal gasification became economically viable was oil reaching $60 per barrel.  Today, oil is over $140 per barrel and rising, so the economics for such one or more coal gasification plants are present.  See the report at http://www.energy.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/7D2F37F4-6A79-4A9B-9B07-EE3DDCAB3A0B/0/HB299ReportCTLSNGTechnologiesFinishedWorkProduct.pdf

This non-biological generation theory of oil is contrary to the traditional belief that oil is the result of decay of organisms that lived and died millions of years ago.  According to the bio-generation- theory, oil was created millions of years ago during relatively brief periods of global warming under highly fortuitous circumstances.  This traditional theory of petroleum formation connects oil with the process of sedimentation. And, indeed, nearly all of the oil that has been discovered over the past century-and-a-half is associated with sedimentary rocks.  The vast majority of scientists and petroleum industrial giants line up on the side of the biotic theory to explain how oil is created.

However, some Russian scientists and a small handful Western scientists, among them the late Cornell University physicist Thomas Gold—think the traditional view of how oil was created is pure poppycock advanced by the petrochemical industry and those interested in advancing the fear within the public that we are running out of oil.  In short, the idea that our planet is running out of oil is advocated by those in our society motivated by a desire to run up the price per barrel of oil.

Thomas Gold’s book, The Deep Hot Biosphere (1998), created a great deal of controversy among readers on the questions of how oil was created and whether we are truly running out of it.  In his book, Gold argues that hydrocarbons existed at the time of the solar system’s formation, and are known to be abundant on other planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and some of their moons) — even through scientists believe no life flourished on these plants or moons in the past.  

Gold advanced the theory that oil is created independent of any decay of living organisms.  Gold believed there are nearly limitless pools of liquid primordial hydrocarbons at great depths on Earth.  Moreover, primordial pools of hydrocarbons in the mantle of the earth slowly replenish the reservoirs that conventional oil drillers tap.

Gold is not alone on this subject.  According to J.F. Kennedy of Gas Resources Corporation, the modern Russian-Ukrainian theory of deep, abiotic petroleum origins recognizes that petroleum is a primordial material of deep origin which has been erupted into the crust of the Earth.  Kennedy believes petroleum is not a “fossil fuel” and has no intrinsic connection with dead alga, dinosaurs, or any other biological detritus.  

In February2003 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced FutureGen, a $1 billion initiative to create a coal-based power plant focused on demonstrating a revolutionary clean coal technology that would produce hydrogen and electricity and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The FutureGen project was initiated in response to the National Energy Policy of May 2001, which emphasized the need for diverse and secure energy sources that could largely be provided by America’s most abundant domestic energy resource, coal.  

The commercial-scale plant will prove the technical and economic feasibility of producing low-cost electricity and hydrogen from coal while nearly eliminating emissions. It will also support testing and commercialization of technologies focused on generating clean power, capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide, and producing hydrogen.  In December 2007, Mattoon Township, Coles County, Illinois northwest of Mattoon, Illinois was chosen as the site for the plant.

DOE partnered with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance, Inc, a consortium of some of the largest coal producers and users in the world on the FutureGen project.  For five years, DOE touted this effort, and their work with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance, as the most promising path towards energy from coal that would meet the challenge of reducing carbon emissions.

However, in January 2008, the Secretary of Energy shocked the nation when he announced that DOE was withdrawing from this project. On January 29, 2008, DOE announced it was withdrawing funding from FutureGen, effectively terminating the project. Illinois lawmakers claim funding was canceled after Illinois was chosen over Texas as the final site

The reasons for DOE’s stunning decision were never made known.  The House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight asked for documents regarding DOE’s sudden and unexpected decision.  According to its website, the House Committee originally asked for DOE decision documents on FutureGen since April 2, 2008.

DOE refused to provide certain documents to the Committee on the grounds of executive privilege.  This morning, White House Counsel allowed Committee staff to review the withheld materials. Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Subcommittee Chairman Miller determined that three of the documents withheld from the Committee were important enough to seek a subpoena authorization from the Members. These documents included:

• a briefing memorandum for the White House National Economic Counsel (NEC) produced on December 13, 2007 by DOE staff that laid out the reasons for terminating the FutureGen project and restructuring the program;
• talking points crafted by DOE staff for Secretary Bodman to participate in an NEC meeting on December 14, 2007; and
• e-mail traffic between a White House staffer and Energy Deputy Secretary Clay Sell and Undersecretary Bud Albright regarding costs on the project.

Faced with the prospect of a Committee subpoena, the White House and DOE pledged to provide these materials to the Committee within a matter of days.  The promise to provide the documents from White House Counsel to Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller (D-NC) averted a subpoena being authorized for the materials. For more background on this issue, go to: http://democrats.science.house.gov/Media/File/Commdocs/markups/2008/Oversight/june26/Subpoena_Memo.pdf

Apparently, someone has mended the political and financial fences on DOE’s multi-billion dollar project.  On June 24, 2008, DOE issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to invest in DOE’s “restructured FutureGen” program.  Having averted a House Committee’s subpoena, DOE’s clean coal project is apparently back on line.

The report is from a division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a leading North American financial institution providing a full menu of financial services to more than nine million clients, including retail and small business banking clients as well as corporate and institutional clients. 

The purchase price to be paid for the assets is $40 million, comprised of $24 million in cash and $16 million in either cash or newly issued common stock of James River Coal Company.

Once the regulations were promulgated, EPA was almost immediately sued by a number of states located downwind from coal-fired utility plants.  Faced with a challenge to EPA’s obvious gerrymandering of the mercury emissions rule, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the mercury air emissions rule. The February 2008 appellate court’s easy to read opinion is at: http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200802/05-1097a.pdf

U.S. EPA has not yet promulgated a new administrative rule on mercury emissions from coal-fired electric generating plants.  EPA’s obfuscation in promulgating proper regulations to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired utility plants is both perplexing and puzzling.  Reducing exposure to mercury deposition is a national priority according to EPA Headquarters because of mercury’s long-term toxic effects on human health and the environment. 

According to EPA,’s website, exposure to wildlife and humans is primarily through the aquatic food chain where mercury bio-accumulates by up to factors of a million. The primary source of mercury to sensitive aquatic ecosystems is via atmospheric transport and deposition. The EPA Mercury Report states that “of the estimated 144 Megagrams of mercury emitted annually in to the atmosphere by anthropogenic sources in the United States, approximately 87% is from combustion point sources and 10% from manufacturing point sources. Four specific source categories account for approximately 80% of the total anthropogenic emissions: coal-fired utility boilers, municipal waste combustion, commercial/industrial boilers, and medical waste incinerators.

Crude oil is the world’s most actively traded commodity.  The NYMEX Division light, sweet crude oil futures contract is the world’s most liquid forum for crude oil trading, as well as the world’s largest-volume futures contract trading on a physical commodity. Because of its excellent liquidity and price transparency, the contract is used as a principal international pricing benchmark.

CIGS technology uses thin-film solar cell technology.  Thin film CIGS solar energy cells are much lighter and thinner than silicon panels.  Thin-film solar cells also have the advantage that they could be arranged on a flexible backing, suitable for the tops and sides of buildings, tinted windows, and other surfaces. According to experts, CIGS can be sprayed onto foil, plastic or glass or incorporated into cement and other building materials. If all goes as planned, an entire exterior of a house or building could become one large solar generator.  Let’s all hope and pray for the success of this joint project between the Japanese and American companies.