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View Full Version : Queensland playing the green vote or genuine concern?


Sparty
07-27-2010, 12:21 PM
Queensland suspends syngas approvals until 2012 on pollution fear

(http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews.aspx?xmlpath=RSSFeed/HeadlineNews/NaturalGas/8946287.xml) Melbourne (Platts)--27Jul2010/618 am EDT/1018 GMT (http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews.aspx?xmlpath=RSSFeed/HeadlineNews/NaturalGas/8946287.xml)

The Australian state of Queensland on Tuesday said it would not approve
any underground coal gasification proposals in the state until three current
pilot projects were completed in 2012 and a decision had been made about the
long-term environmental feasibility of the industry.

"We make no apologies for putting the safety of the community and the
environment first and that is why we are taking the steps to ensure this new
technology can operate with Queensland's strict environmental guidelines
before its future in our state is determined," the state's Natural Resources
Minister Stephen Robertson said in a statement.

"An exploration permit is no guarantee to a mining permit. They can look
for coal but they have no rights to take it out of the ground."

Local explorer Red River Resources Limited recently announced that it was
farming in to two coal tenements near Cougar Energy's Kingaroy UCG pilot
plant, with a view to UCG exploitation.

Only three companies had registered as required under the state
government's February 2009 UCG rules that govern UCG development, Robertson
said. "Red River Resources did not, and has not formally registered any
interest in UCG," he said.

Cougar Energy's UCG pilot plant was shut indefinitely by the state
government on July 16, after the company advised that water quality tests had
detected benzene and toluene in groundwater monitoring bores close to the
plant.

Further testing has not detected unsafe levels of any chemicals, but a
community meeting will be held in the township of Kingaroy later Tuesday to
address residents' fears.

Cougar commenced production of syngas at the pilot plant in March, which
targets using syngas to run a 400 MW power station providing electricity to
400,000 homes by 2015. But production had been halted since well blockages
were detected in April and re-ignition had been scheduled for end-July.

The company said the project would remain under review until the
environmental evaluation process was completed. It has laid off staff and
suspended trading in its shares while it holds talks with financiers and
investors.

The operators of the two other trial UCG projects in the state, Carbon
Energy and Linc Energy, say their pilot projects remain unaffected.

Carbon said commissioning of its UCG-fired 5 MW Bloodwood Creek power
project remained on schedule for completion in September and a 20 MW power
station remained under development.

The company has been producing syngas at a 1 Pj/year pilot facility since
January 2009.

Linc Energy's pilot UCG generator 4 has been operating for 120 days and
remains in operation. The next phase of its pilot project, UCG generator 5,
targets providing 15 Pj/year of UCG gas to generate up to 250 MW of
electricity, the company said.

Underground coal gasification converts coal into a combustible gas that
can be used to fuel a gas turbine or as a chemical feedstock. It can exploit
coal resources that are traditionally uneconomic to extract or inaccessible.

The "coal gas" produced, known as synthesis gas or syngas, is a mixture
of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, carbon dioxide and higher hydrocarbons
and has a much lower cost per unit of energy than natural gas.
--Wendy Wells, [email protected]

Make no mistake about it... this is a Labor led Green snatch for votes based on a "fear and smear" campaign that will cost Qld billions of dollars.

zhxia
08-18-2010, 03:17 AM
"An exploration permit is no guarantee to a mining permit. They can look
for coal but they have no rights to take it out of the ground."
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