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By: Julia Goad, Staff Writer See more articles by Julia Goad Published: 04/25/2008

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WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — The progress of the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority’s coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuel plant project seems favorable, as long as crude oil costs more than $50 per barrel.

The redevelopment authority received the latest report of the progress being made toward the coal-to-liquid fuel plant project at a meeting held last week. The plant would convert lo-quality coal, which has historically been unusable and unprofitable to mine, into diesel fuel.

Research has shown that diesel produced at a coal-toliquid plant would be a profitable alternative fuel as long as the price of crude oil is at or above $50 per barrel, officials said.

Randy Harris, director of the authority’s Project Development team, said plans are underway to conduct tests to determine whether coal-to-liquid emissions are environmentally acceptable.

“After this testing, we’ll have certification that our fuel will work in over-theroad trucks, in heavy equipment, in underground equipment and train engines,” he said. “As far as we know, no one else is doing this anywhere in the country. This will be the newest data, and will probably be quoted in journals for the next four to five years.

Several companies, West Virginia University and the state of West Virginia, are participating in the project. Harris said Rentech, a leading fuel technology and development company, will pay for the tests and provide the ultra-low diesel with the same specifications as fuel produced by coal-to-liquid.

He said the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the West Virginia Mine Safety Office would participate in the testing process to ensure that coal-to-liquid fuel is safe for underground use.

“Arch Coal is going to put some of the fuel into a piece of surface equipment used at one of its mines and use it for a month or two. That will ensure we have actual field experience as well,” Harris added. “Walker Equipment is going to use CTL diesel in one of their equipment trucks that has the same engine used in their 18-wheeler tractor trailers for two months as well.”

Harris said Norfolk and Southern Railway is testing train engines in order to make purchase decisions for the future of their railroad. He said the railroad company would be testing the synthetic fuel.

There are only two mobile emissions testing units certified by the Enviromental Protection Agency in the country, and one of them, located at West Virginia University, will be used in the testing.

According to Harris, the Air Force is interested in using synthetic diesel fuel on a larger scale than previous planned.

Mingo County Redevelopment said they feel they cannot overemphasize the importance of this project.

“We are at a time when energy is the issue,” Redevelopment Board Chairman Terry Sammons said. “It's a global issue. To position ourselves in such a way that we can be a key player, to contribute to the economy, to help the defense of our country, it’s a win-win situation.”

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