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For Immediate
Release
Contact:
Corey Henry
(202) 463-9789
Sept. 5, 2007
Coal-to-Liquids
Coalition members detail benefits of coal-based fuels; urge more federal
research and development support at House subcommittee hearing
Washington, D.C. – Members
of the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition today detailed the numerous economic,
energy and environmental benefits America stands to
gain by expediting the production of clean, domestic coal-to-liquid (CTL)
transportation fuels at a hearing of the House Science and Technology
Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. During the hearing, coalition
members also proposed steps Congress must take in order to accelerate
domestic CTL production and help industry advance development of new CTL
technologies.
Noting that America currently
relies on imports for 65 percent of its fuel needs, Dr. Robert Freerks,
director of product development for Rentech, Inc., testified that the U.S.
“cannot achieve energy independence without utilization of its many
diverse natural resources.” Freerks told the subcommittee that
the benefits from CTL fuels in terms of U.S. energy
security, balance of payments and an associated increase in jobs “will
be substantial and obvious.”
Freerks detailed the Air
Force’s extensive interest in using CTL fuels, highlighting the Air
Force’s goal of certifying CTL fuels for use in its entire fleet of
aircraft by 2011, and noted that efforts to expand CTL use in the
commercial aviation sector are advancing.
Regarding the
environmental performance of CTL fuels, Freerks testified that Rentech is
committed to developing and deploying advanced technologies to capture and
store carbon dioxide emissions. He explained how the company’s
plans for using captured carbon dioxide in enhanced oil recovery operations
are designed to maximize output at near-depleted domestic oil fields.
John Ward,
vice president of marketing and government affairs for Headwaters Inc.,
testified that “fuels produced by coal-to-liquid processes are
exceptionally clean when compared to today’s petroleum-derived
transportation fuels,” adding that CTL fuels “contain
substantially no sulfur and also exhibit lower particulate and carbon
monoxide emissions” and contribute less to the formation of nitrogen
oxides than petroleum derived fuels, as well as being readily
biodegradable.
Freerks and Ward called
on the subcommittee to promote domestic CTL fuel production by embracing a
number of incentives designed to expedite new technology development and
shield domestic CTL producers from price manipulation undertaken by foreign
energy cartels for the sole purpose of undercutting a competing fuel
source. Among the provisions the subcommittee was urged to support
were:
·
Increased funding for research and development
efforts, including ways to further improve the environmental performance of
CTL fuels by expanding the methods of carbon capture and storage beyond
currently available opportunities;
·
Providing regulatory certainty with respect to
underground carbon dioxide storage;
·
Granting the Department of Defense the authority to
negotiate long-term, fixed-price CTL fuel supply contracts;
·
Establishing a “price collar” program that
protects domestic CTL producers from sudden price drops; and
·
Extending the existing CTL excise tax credit, set to
expire in the fall of 2009, to 2020.
A complete copy of Dr. Robert
Freerks’ testimony is available at:
http://www.futurecoalfuels.org/documents/090407_rentech.pdf.
A complete copy of John Ward’s
testimony is available at:
http://www.futurecoalfuels.org/documents/090407_ward.pdf.
Testimony from all witnesses and opening statements by subcommittee members is available at:
http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=1947.
For more information on the
Coal-to-Liquids Coalition, visit the coalition’s web site at: www.futurecoalfuels.org.
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