More research needed on coal

Most Americans probably have heard the estimate that the United States has enough coal to meet our energy needs for another 250 years.

But the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, cannot confirm that. The council has conducted research on coal reserves and has concluded, according to a recent report, that “there is enough coal at current rates of consumption to meet anticipated needs through 2030, and probably enough for 100 years. However, it is not possible to confirm the oft-quoted assertion that there is a sufficient supply for the next 250 years.”

Obviously, that gap of a century and a half is important to Americans. More needs to be known about U.S. coal reserves about their quality and the difficulty of extracting them.

It is especially important for Tri-State Area. Baard Energy’s proposed $5 billion coal to liquid gasification plant in Columbiana County is so big it will certainly have an impact across a large region.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has started a series of public hearings on the project. This is the latest step toward construction beginning next year.

The lack of environmental opposition to the project was encouraging. There was a brief objection from a member of the Sierra Club questioning the cleanliness of the coal to fuel process, but many among the 400 or so in attendance spoke enthusiastically about the plant.

Vancouver, Wash., based Baard plans to build the plant on 300 acres in Yellow Creek Township near Wellsville.

Those who spoke in favor of the plant can see beyond the hundreds it will employ. Converting 7 million tons of coal per year to 35,000 barrels of ultra-clean diesel and jet fuel per day, then shipping that to customers will mean many more support jobs.

They see beyond the thousands of temporary construction jobs it will produce. They see the 24/7 operation of receiving coal locally and from Ohio River barges and via the Norfolk/Southern Railroad as an economic engine. They see the engineers, operators and plant managers.

The Gasification Technologies Council, created in 1995 and based in Arlington, Va., claims, “Gasification offers the cleanest, most efficient method available to produce synthesis gas (also known as syngas) from low or negative value carbon-based feedstocks such as coal, petroleum coke, high-sulfur fuel oil or materials that would otherwise be disposed of as waste. The gas can be used in place of natural gas to generate electricity, or as a basic raw material to produce chemicals and liquid fuels.”

It’s but one solution among a variety to the nation’s energy needs. Coal, too, will run out one day, be it 100 years or 250 years from today.

The gasification plant is a potentially important economic booster for a region sorely in need of its “next big thing” in employment.

But, as is the case with fighting over how many years of oil reserves may still exist in the U.S., be it in Montana or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, there will come a day when the supply will run out.

The nation needs to continue research and development into what to do when the oil, and later the coal, becomes too expensive or too unavailable.

A century ago, electrification wasn’t universal in the U.S. The nation worked at it and developed a variety of ways to fuel its power plants in the ensuing years.

Research and development must be constant.

Baard is a welcome economic relief with great potential, but it’s only the “next big thing.” Work has to continue on the big thing that comes afterward.