Coal industry joins Canadians

In five to seven years, the Canadian Clean Power Coalition, made up of 10 energy producers and researchers, aims to build such a coal-fired demonstration power plant in Canada.

The goal is a technology that can be used across the industry with lower-grade coals, said Bob Stobbs of SaskPower in Regina, Saskatchewan, the coalition's executive director.

"We have to move into the testing-by-doing stage," Stobbs said. "We can't keep studying this to death."

North Dakota's coal industry is cooperating because Canada and North Dakota share large lignite reserves.

North Dakota also is interested in the chance that coal gasification will be used as the means of capturing carbon dioxide to prevent emissions.

Since 2003, three shipments of North Dakota lignite have been sent to an Alabama plant where different types of gasification are tested, said Steve Van Dyke of Bismarck. Van Dyke is a spokesman for Partners for Affordable Energy, a regional coalition promoting coal-based electricity.

Researchers have found that North Dakota lignite is highly reactive to gasification, he said. "That's because it's a young coal, and it just seems to gasify better."

Basin Electric Cooperative of Bismarck runs a coal gasification plant at Beulah and hopes to share its research with the CCPC, said Daryl Hill of Basin Electric.

"We view this as mutually beneficial. We can learn from our Canadian friends," Hill said. "The best way to learn about what's going to work best with North Dakota lignite is by sharing information. By working together, we can enhance the use of lignite in the region."

The Canadian coalition is examining two other options for capturing carbon dioxide along with gasification.