Conference OKs coal title except Clean Air Coal

Conference OKs coal title except Clean Air Coal

Washington (Platts)--20Jul2005

The House and Senate conference members working to complete a comprehensive
energy bill before their August break Tuesday agreed to much of the coal title
except provisions on the Clean Air Coal program.

The conference, led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe
Barton, R-Texas, is expected to consider provisions to that program before it
finishes its work next week. "We'll get there," Barton said. 

Provisions in the coal title of the bill, H.R. 6, include authorization at the
Dept. of Energy of $200-mil/yr between 2006-2014 for various activities that
meet criteria under the department's Clean Coal Power Initiative. The bill
also directs the Energy secretary to set "periodic milestones" to be achieved
by coal gasification projects by 2020. They include removal of at least 99%
sulfur dioxide, 95% reductions in mercury emissions and specific thermal
efficiency levels.

The title also allows the secretary to provide loan guarantees -- subject to
availability -- for projects generating power from coal at less than 7,000
Btu/lb that use advanced integrated gasification combined-cycle technology and
also employ wind or other renewable energy sources, reduce and potentially
sequester carbon dioxide emissions and provide "a ready source of hydrogen for
near-site fuel cell demonstrations."

This story was originally published in Platts Coal Trader
http://www.coaltrader.platts.com

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