ST. LOUIS, July 23 (UPI) -- St. Louis-based Peabody Energy announced an agreement with ConocoPhillips to develop a coal-to-substitute natural gas plant.
The commercial scale plant, to be built near a mine mouth where coal reserves are easily accessible, will use ConocoPhillips E-GAS technology. Once operational, it's expected to produce between 50 billion and 70 billion cubic feet of substitute natural gas from more than 3.5 million tons of coal.
"Our agreement with ConocoPhillips combines the strength of global industry leaders and proven technology that further demonstrates coal's ability to build energy reliability, security and price stability," said Gregory Boyce, president and chief executive officer of Peabody. "The energy value in Peabody's vast coal reserve base exceeds the energy in the oil and gas reserves in the Continental United States, offering strategic advantages for coal-to-gas projects and other Btu conversion projects."
Preliminary work is expected to be completed by early 2008, and the plant will be carbon-capture ready. The National Coal Council has called for 15 percent of annual U.S. natural gas consumption to come from coal. The E-GAS process converts coal to a clean synthesis gas through a gasification process.
"This project, as currently envisioned, would be designed to deliver over 1.5 trillion cubic feet of SNG in its first 30 years of operation from proven, domestic coal reserves. It also offers an excellent opportunity to use our company's project management capabilities, manufacturing expertise and advanced technology to help increase the supply of alternative fuels," said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips.
