UK receives money for coal research

By Chris Robbins

Congress is giving a financial boost to research applying coal as a transportation fuel.

On Oct. 28, U.S. Reps. Geoff Davis and Hal Rogers announced they would be giving $2 million in coal-to-liquid research grant money to the UK Center for Applied Energy Research.

“In this time of economic hardship, investing in new energy technology is one of the smartest things we can do to spur our recovery,”   Davis, R-Ky., said in a news release.

The research funded by the grant would obtain equipment and personnel for a refinery to convert solid coal and biomass products to liquids like diesel and aviation fuel.

“This funding is for us to continue work on a processing and development unit that will allow us to make significant amounts of materials and then process them into fuel to use in engines and factories,” said Rodney Andrews, director of the CAER.

Andrews said the 2010 fiscal year appropriation is for a continuation of work funded by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which looked at using the coal reserves in the Illinois basing (which includes parts of western Kentucky) as a strategic fuel source.

The fuels would have military and civilian applications. One goal of the appropriation would be to provide an alternative to petroleum as a military fuel, according to the appropriation.

The research also has the potential to provide a plentiful domestic fuel source and reduce the energy dependence of the U.S. on energy-producing states, Andrews said. The products from coal-to-liquid processes can be used to improve technology already in use today, he said.

“We need to make a more concerted effort to wean ourselves from the stronghold of unfriendly foreign countries and utilize the abundant resources here on American soil,” Rogers, R-Ky, said in a news release.

“Right now we are at the whim of global demand,” Andrews said. “Overall (coal-to-liquid) could help lower the cost of fuel and it would certainly help with availability.”

The CAER is studying how to make the process of liquifying coal cleaner and more efficient. Andrews said the center combines coal and biomass to make fuels that combusts less carbon when burned. Carbon dioxide, the byproduct of carbon combustion, is the largest contributor to the man-made global warming phenomenon.

The CAER was founded in 1975. The center has contributed to research on topics such as alternative energy, ways to make fossil fuel combustion more environmentally friendly and uses for the byproducts of coal combustion, according to its Web site.