Random Update On the Lignite (Coal) To Natural Gas Story In North Dakota -- February 7, 2016

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Even as western North Dakota watches nervously while its once-booming oil industry wallows in the doldrums, a massive construction project centered around coal is quietly hitting its stride.

A $500 million urea fertilizer plant that will take 750 workers to build and 60 employees to operate can’t take up all the slack let loose in the Oil Patch, but it is providing a pretty good economic spin all its own.

The plant is under construction north of Beulah, adjacent to Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s synfuels plant, which through the wizardry of chemistry turns black lignite into natural gas.

The new plant will combine some of the carbon dioxide and ammonia created in that liquification process to make dry urea pellets used as fertilizer in the production of wheat, soybeans and corn.

By the way, did you all notice the interesting data point at this post, posted yesterday? It's the second linked story at that post: 

Less than 0.1 percent of global production has been halted to date even though 3.5 percent of global supply is currently cash negative.

I focused on the first data point: that "less than 0.1% of global production has been halted ..." That data point alone is quite incredible, I think. Less than 0.1% of global oil has been halted due to the Saudi Surge/Slump.

But last night after going through the blog looking for typographical errors, I saw that I had missed the big story: "... only 3.5% of global supply is currently cash negative." 

US Switching From Coal To Natural Gas -- Market Realist -- November 11, 2014

Still catching up. From the other day. Market Realist is reporting, part 4: why the switch to natural gas.

Part 3: why you should care about Obama's war on coal.

A seven-part series.

**************************

Miscellaneous Wind Stories

North Dakota presses on. This is kind of cool -- it's a great story for those who like this sort of stuff. The good news? Hillary, Barry, and Pocahantas will all say "they didn't build that." The Dickinson Press is reporting:

A North Dakota wind farm proposed in the migration route of an endangered bird has been revived after the developer unsuccessfully sued Xcel Energy for pulling out of the project in 2011.

San Diego-based EDF Renewable Energy first proposed the 100-turbine, 150-megawatt Merricourt Project in 2008.

The wind farm would straddle southeastern North Dakota’s McIntosh and Dickey counties and produce enough renewable energy to power 43,500 homes, the company said.

Xcel Energy Inc. signed a $380 million deal to purchase the wind power and assets from EDF, formerly known as enXco.

But Minneapolis-based Xcel terminated the contract after EDF failed to secure a site permit from state regulators by March 31, 2011. The delay was blamed in part on concerns raised by federal officials about the potential effects on the endangered whooping crane and threatened piping plover.

By the way, that "piping plover"? It's one of the poster birds for the environmentalists. Even the folks in Massachusetts are starting to say that if the piping plover cannot recover after 50 years of humans protecting it, it wasn't meant to be.

**********************************

Obama's Failing Solar Farm

On Life Support
Feds Could Help

SBYNEWS is reporting:

Obama gave the California-based Ivanpah Solar Electric Power Plant $1.6 billion of your tax dollars already claiming that it would bring a thousand jobs and power to millions of people. 

But the plant is still failing financially and now is demanding another $539 million taxpayer bailout to keep it afloat. 

Like all of Obama’s so-called “green energy” projects, this is a massive failure and a giant waste of tax money. 

After already receiving a controversial $1.6 billion construction loan from U.S. taxpayers, the wealthy investors of a California solar power plant now want a $539 million federal grant to pay off their federal loan. 

"Wealthy" investors? I hope they are wealthy; that's what investing is all about. And if the federal government is offering grants, they should take it.

I'm sort of a spectator in all of this, but I do pay high electric rates in Texas through NRG:

The Ivanpah solar electric generating plant is owned by Google and renewable energy giant NRG, which are responsible for paying off their federal loan. If approved by the U.S. Treasury, the two corporations will not use their own money, but taxpayer cash to pay off 30 percent of the cost of their plant, but taxpayers will receive none of the millions in revenues the plant will generate over the next 30 years. 

In the big scheme of things, it matters not to me.  But if the grant helps hold down my utility costs, I say, "go for it."

China To Build One of Country's Largest Coal-to-Natural Gas Projects

Earlier this year MDW noted, from Reuters:

The Alberta government said on Monday it canceled C$285 million ($278 million) in funding for a carbon-capture project tied to a proposed synthetic natural gas plant, the second withdrawal of such an environmental initiative in less than a year.

Alberta said the privately held company planning the project, Swan Hills Synfuels, has delayed it because lower-than-expected North American gas prices have made producing coal-to-gas fuel uneconomical.

In China, it is a different story. China announced that it will be building a huge, $11 billion, coal-to-gas facility. Reuters is reporting:

China's state energy giant Sinopec Group envisages investing 70 billion yuan ($11.3 billion) to build the country's largest coal-to-gas project in 8-10 years to meet a rising demand for natural gas, a newspaper said on Sunday. 

Coal-to-gas production facilities in Zhundong in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang will have annual production capacity of 8 billion cubic metres of gas (bcm) .... Coal extracted from two mines in Zhundong will be used to feed coal-to-gas production facilities nearby, the daily said. The coal mines have annual production capacity of 15 million tonnes each. 

Something tells me Sinopec will have no trouble with the permitting process. The CO2 emissions, I imaging, will flow eastward over Portland, OR.

Coal-To-Liquid Fuel Plant Backers Asking For Fifth Extension

Updates

December 14, 2012: the Industrial Commission grants a fifth extension. 

Original Post

Link here to The Bismarck Tribune.

Backers of a proposed coal-to-liquid fuel plant in western North Dakota will ask for a fifth extension of state aid to study the project, .....

Dallas-based North American Coal Corp. spokesman David Straley told The Associated Press that developers will ask for another extension before year's end. Developers still need favorable coal legislation and a clear U.S. energy policy for the $4 billion project to move forward, he said. [Like that's going to happen.]

North American Coal and Headwaters Inc. of South Jordan, Utah, formed American Lignite Energy LLC in 2007 to oversee construction and operation of the plant. A site for the factory has not been announced.

The state Industrial Commission in 2007 committed up to $10 million in state aid from coal tax collections to determine the project's potential.

Though no site has been announced, the individual who sent me the link said the plant would be west of South Heart, North Dakota.