Mar 27 - Bismarck Tribune

With large stores of coal in North Dakota and Montana, Democratic lawmakers from these neighboring states are teaming up in search of ways to make the industry environmentally friendly.

Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., see further research into carbon dioxide sequestration technology as a key to allowing the coal industry to contribute to the nation's energy needs in an environmentally friendly way.

Dorgan and Tester held a Senate Energy Subcommittee hearing at Bismarck State College on Wednesday to investigate the sequestration research issue.

Dorgan said it's a crucial question because coal is the nation's most abundant energy resource, meaning it will be included in any version of our energy future.

"The question isn't whether we use coal, it's how we use coal," he said.

Citing the global warming effects of carbon dioxide emissions, Tester said it's crucial that we figure out a way to burn it that "doesn't put us out of business as people."

"It can be a win-win-win," he said. "But we need more research, and we need more people at the table, and we need to figure out how to do this thing right."

Dorgan and Tester took testimony from eight panelists who are working on the problem from the federal government, private industry, regional carbon reduction partnerships and the state governments of North Dakota and Montana.

Most research into carbon sequestration technologies is being done in some form of partnership between the public and private sectors. Research efforts taking place at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, universities and companies have the goal of finding a technology that is scientifically effective enough to meet the scale of the problem and cost effective enough to be economically viable.

Scott Klara, director of coal and power research and development for the National Energy Technology Laboratory, said "widespread deployment" will likely happen by 2020. The pace could be increased if more money is devoted to research, he said.

But even if the technology becomes cheap enough to be viable, it will still add an extra cost to each ton of coal produced, meaning subsidies may be necessary, Klara said.

Representatives of the utility industry say the implementation side may require additional effort even if a viable technology is discovered.

Gordon Criswell, manager of PPL Montana in Billings, said he'd like to see industry and the government work together to build a test-case carbon sequestering power plant that would reveal what scale the technology can be used on and how much it will actually cost.

Gary Loop, COO of the Dakota Gasification Co., said cost could be the make-or-break aspect of any new sequestration technology. He said it would likely be feasible for industry at the low-end cost estimate of $10 per ton but not at the high estimate of $60 per ton.

The geography and geology of finding places to safely sequester the carbon once it has been captured are less of an issue, at least in western North Dakota.

"It looks like there's enough space in the region to sequester the CO2 from burning all the coal (in the ground)," he said.

Wednesday's hearing was held in Bismarck to address an issue that is especially impacting this region. It has all the importance of a regular Senate hearing held in Washington, D.C.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@bismarcktribune.com.)

(c) 2008 Bismarck Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.