Ohio governor: State's test well getting attention

The technology has attracted at least three companies.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The state's planned testing of a new way to get rid of pollutants in Ohio's high-sulfur coal is attracting interest from potential new businesses and hopefully will help the state's coal industry, Gov. Ted Strickland said Friday.
Strickland, who pledged during his campaign last year to promote the use of new energy technologies, said he authorized the use of 2.3 million to dig a test well thousands of feet into the ground to see if burying pollutants extracted from coal is a feasible way of disposing of carbon dioxide. That and other byproducts from burning coal at electric power plants is also a major contributor to air pollution and is blamed for trapping warm air, contributing to global warming.
Companies interested
Interest in the technology has attracted the attention of at least three companies thinking of spending a combined 5 billion to 6 billion on facilities in Ohio, Strickland said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"I think it would be a wonderful boost to Ohio's coal industry. One of the companies I have talked to is desirous of high-sulfur coal," Strickland said. "These are cutting-edge technologies -- technologies that were not available to us in an economically feasible manner just a short time ago."
Development officials are concerned that new, tougher federal emission rules are on the way. If new ways of removing coal pollutants can be found, power plants could continue using Ohio's high-sulfur coal, Strickland said.
The only company interested in Ohio that Strickland identified was Baard Energy, a Vancouver, Wash.-based business that develops coal-to-liquids projects that produce synthetic transportation fuels. A telephone message seeking comment was left at the company.
A company like Baard coming in would create about 200 jobs in coal-rich Appalachia, said Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association, which represents about 40 coal-producing companies.
"The amount of tons they would consume at that facility would translate into more than one-fifth of Ohio's current production capacity," Carey said.
Lost plant
The test well resulted from Ohio losing out in 2006 on a plant to be funded in part by the federal government to remove harmful pollutants from coal, including carbon dioxide, sulfur, mercury and other elements, the burn what's left to create electric power.
"Coal gasification with carbon capturing storage is so important. It's a one-two punch," said Jack Shaner, a lobbyist for the nonprofit Ohio Environmental Council. "It significantly reduces the solid material that's left over."
Strickland said the state will use the technical knowledge amassed when trying to win the FutureGen coal gasification plant and 1.25 million set aside for the project to help with the test well in Tuscarawas County in Northeast Ohio, Strickland said. The rest of the money for the project comes from federal grants to the Ohio Coal Development Office.
The well would hold carbon dioxide removed from coal at plants like the FutureGen.
"The FutureGen project was a worthy effort, and while we weren't selected, we learned a lot," Strickland said. "This is part of Ohio's energy development future."
The site where the test well will be drilled is the same place rejected for the FutureGen plant.
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