Mercury Mining

Utility Company Agrees To Clean Up Coal Plants

A second utility serving Illinois has struck a deal with the Blagojevich administration calling for drastic cuts in mercury emissions from its coal-fired plants. Houston-based Dynegy agreed Monday to go beyond federal regulations and cut mercury emissions 90 percent by 2015. Federal rules would require a 70 percent reduction by 2018. Dynegy has also... 

Consol Energy Receives 11-Year Coal Supply Contract From PPL; Financial Terms Undisclosed

Coal miner Consol Energy Inc. on Wednesday said it received an 11-year contract from PPL Corp., parent company to Pennsylvania utility PPL Electric Utilities. Financial terms were not disclosed, although Allentown, Pa.-based PPL said the contract is for coal at “current forward prices.” The contract calls for Pittsburgh-based Consol Energy... 

Chemical plant switching from gas to coal

In the wake of higher natural gas prices, a chemical plant in Chaplin says it will switch to coal to power its manufacturing process. The Saskatchewan Minerals plant plans to spend $25 million on an upgrade, which plant officials say should be completed by September 2007. While cheaper than natural gas, coal is also a dirtier fuel. However, the plant... 

Witnesses urge Pa. to put stricter curbs on coal-fired mercury pollution

Pennsylvania should enact a state plan forcing coal-fired power plants to cut mercury emissions 90 percent by 2015, rather than adopt less stringent rules favored by the Bush administration, witnesses told a public hearing yesterday. All but one of 30 speakers who addressed the state’s Environmental Quality Board sitting in Norristown sharply... 

Crystal River coal plant among nations dirtiest

For the third year in a row, Progress Energy’s coal-burning plant in Crystal River has been named among the dirtiest power plants in the nation in a report issued Thursday by the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project in Washington, D.C. Crystal River, which has four coal units in addition to a nuclear power generator, ranked among the top... 

Coal-fired S.D. power plants price escalates

The largest power plant in South Dakota history, a proposal already under fire from environmental advocates for using coal instead of wind, would be 50 percent more expensive than previously estimated, according to utility executives. Otter Tail Power Co. officials told Minnesota regulators last week that the price of building the coal-burning Big Stone... 

EnviRes sees bright future for ESL coal gasification project

The future home of EnviRes LLC doesn’t look like much of a launch pad for an energy revolution. The 20-acre swath of East St. Louis jutting into Sauget is bounded by a Mississippi River levee, railroad tracks and the Diamond Cabaret topless nightclub. But a Kentucky coal baron wants to bet big that the experimental coal gasification technology... 

West Hawk Tests Coal-to-Gas with LURGI SA Pty Limited

West Hawk Development Corporation (TSX VENTURE: WHD)(FWB: H5N) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the advancement of both social processes and technical evaluation for its Mackenzie Valley Coal-to-Gas Project in Northwest Territories, Canada. Successful, preliminary meetings with Elders and Business Executives followed by public meetings... 

Contract awarded for Trimble County coal plant

Mitsui Babcock Energy Ltd. has won a $100 million contract to build a clean-coal power plant in Kentucky. The West Sussex, England-based company, which has its American headquarters in Atlanta, is partnering with the No. 1 power-plant builder the United States, Bechtel Group, to build the $1-billion-plus facility, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle,... 

Clean coal project eyes S. Dakota

Frustrating Wyoming energy officials, Basin Electric Power Cooperative announced Friday it will team up with GE Energy and Bechtel Power to consider developing a coal gasification power plant in South Dakota. North Dakota-based Basin Electric is in the permitting process for its 385-megawatt Dry Fork Station — a traditional pulverized coal power...