CIRI's coal plan pairs 'promising' technologies

Cook Inlet Region Inc. announced plans Friday to tap into rich coal reserves on land it owns on the western side of Cook Inlet, without mining the coal. CIRI proposes to use a process called underground coal gasification to turn a coal seam into synthetic gas. Pressed to the surface, the syn gas would go through another process that siphons out carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide gas, widely believed to contribute to global warming when released by power plants and other sources, would be sold to oil companies for use in enhanced oil recovery.

According to some analyses, the combination of the two technologies -- underground coal gasification with pre-combustion carbon capture -- could be the perfect pairing. If developed successfully, the two together could net the energy value of coal, but without the emissions and other environmental issues that have given coal a bad reputation.

CIRI has secured Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a technical consultant for the project, according to the corporation's project manager, Ethan Schutt. A contract is also in the works with a commercial partner, Laurus Energy, a development affiliate of Ergo Exergy. Those key relationships could bring CIRI the technical expertise it candidly acknowledges is lacking within its own ranks.

While underground coal gasification is being used in a handful of places worldwide, four more proposed projects in North America -- excluding CIRI's -- want to use the two technologies in tandem. Laurus Energy is involved in two of those.

Last month the nonprofit advocacy group Clean Air Task Force issued a report urging more federal investment in technologies that minimize carbon emissions from coal. Among the technologies identified in the report is underground coal gasification.

Dr. S. Julio Friedmann of Lawrence Livermore wrote in that report that "UCG offers a promising method of increasing the availability of coal as an energy resource, while substantially reducing the pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with coal use." The extraction technique is also attractive as "potentially the lowest cost path to carbon capture and storage for coal," he wrote.

Friedmann is also the lead author of an article in the online journal Energy Procedia that assesses the combined technologies. The two work best together where underground coal reserves are found close to places where captured carbon can be used and sequestered -- sites such as CIRI's property near Cook Inlet oil fields. The combination may also prove more economical, as capturing carbon before combusting coal in a power plant costs less. Friedmann's work also points out that underground coal gasification could produce synthetic gas for half to a quarter of the cost of surface gasifiers.

Despite the promise, Friedmann urges caution. While technically proven, the technology requires expertise across the fields of chemical engineering, drilling and geosciences.

CIRI faces estimated costs of about $150 million to build a 100-megawatt power plant; roughly $50 million for underground coal gasification infrastructure; and about $50 million for carbon capture. All the work would be done on land CIRI owns about 25 miles inland from Beluga on the west side of Cook Inlet. Pending results of several drilling programs to better define the project, CIRI has said it hopes to start applying for regulatory permits by the end of 2010, and could begin commercial operations in early 2014.

Contact Rena Delbridge at rena_alaskadispatch.com.