West Virginia Invests $10 Million in Coal and Biomass Hydrogen Plant
The State of West Virginia is backing the construction of a coal and biomass-based hydrogen production and carbon capture facility.
Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) announced its subsidiary Maintaineer C2H had signed a funding agreement of up to $10m from West Virginia’s Department of Economic Development to develop the facility using its BrightLoop™ technology.
Image: Fidelis New Energy
Planned for Mason County, B&W plans to use its chemical looping technology that can break down feedstocks such as coal and biomass into hydrogen and CO2, with the CO2 being isolated for storage.
The technology uses the firm’s iron-oxide TranspO2rt™ particle and produces hydrogen “more efficiently, at a lower cost per kilogramme and with a wider range of fuels than other technologies.”
B&W has not revealed the facility’s planned hydrogen output or carbon storage capacity. H2 View has reached out for confirmation.
“We’re excited to begin development of this project in West Virginia as we pursue additional financing and equity partners to complete this project,” said B&W’s Chief Operating Officer, Jimmy Morgan.
“The clean hydrogen generated by this project could be used in a variety of purposes, including power generation and industrial applications.”
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World Coal Demand and Exports Set for New Record Highs in 2024
The world’s consumption and exports of thermal coal are expected to rise this year from 2023 to hit fresh record-highs, according to export and power generation data cited by Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire.
Coal-fired electricity generation has increased so far this year by 2% compared to 2023, to hit new highs as power demand in emerging markets grows. Coal power emissions are also set to rise to a record high in 2024, according to data from energy think tank Ember quoted by Maguire.
Moreover, global exports of thermal coal – the type used in coal power plants – have also climbed this year, due to rising demand in India and China in particular.
The world’s thermal coal exports rose by 9 million metric tons between January and November 2024 compared to the same period of last year, per vessel-tracking data by commodity analysts at Kpler.
Indonesia, the largest coal exporter in the world, is set to ship more than 500 million tons of coal this year, for the first time ever, according to Kpler’s estimates cited by Reuters’s Maguire.
Last year, coal demand grew by 2.6% to hit an all-time high, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a July overview of the coal markets. Back then, the agency expected coal demand for 2024 to remain broadly flat compared to 2023.
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Unprecedented Energy Demand From Data Centers Poses Big Challenges for Virginia, Commission Says
State lawmakers this week heard a long-awaited report about the impact of data centers. Virginia has become a global hub for the industry.
Data centers in Virginia are causing a surge in energy demand that will be very challenging to accommodate in the coming decades, according to a new state report.
Meta's recently completed Henrico Data Center
Image via Meta
The Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission has been studying data center impacts over the past year as directed by the General Assembly.
These power-hungry centers, sometimes the size of sports arenas, warehouse thousands of computer servers that process internet transactions and algorithms worldwide.
This week, the commission presented its report to state lawmakers. It was highly anticipated, as officials at the state and local levels grapple with how to handle the industry’s rapid growth.
Mark Gribbin, JLARC analyst and project leader, said one issue looms large: “The data center industry is driving an immense increase in energy demand.
“And building enough infrastructure to address that demand will be difficult.”
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Coal’s Future: New Report Charts Path to Sustainability
Modern coal technologies, outlined in FutureCoal’s Sustainable Coal Stewardship, have the ability to deliver global climate goals while continuing to foster socio-economic growth.
Given the growing demands of a digital and electrified world, FutureCoal’s new report released today, "Roadmap for a Sustainable Coal Value Chain", outlines how advanced coal technologies can not only provide clean energy, reducing up to 99% of emissions, including CO2, but also support the growth aspirations of developing and emerging economies.
Key report findings include:
- Emission Reductions: high-efficiency low emissions (HELE) coal plants and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies could reduce emissions by up to 1,412 MtCO2 annually—equivalent to removing 310-560 million SUVs from global roads.
- Economic Growth: Replacing coal plants with ultra-supercritical plants could inject over USD 1.5 trillion into the global economy. In contrast, replacing coal with alternative energy would cost an additional USD 2.7 trillion due to shortfalls in output.
- High Value Applications: Coal remains essential to key sectors, including steel (70% production), cement (90%), and aluminium (60%), while also producing cost-effective hydrogen and providing critical minerals like copper, cobalt, nickel, and more for renewable energy and battery storage.
Paul Baruya, FutureCoal’s Director of Strategy and Sustainability stated: "This report challenges outdated views of coal, reminding us that it is a versatile resource vital to modern life, industrial development and economic progress. Given its high-value applications, strategic investments in advanced coal technologies ensures economic solutions worldwide."
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Europe’s Masterclass on What Not to Do
The trajectory for the nation’s electricity supply is alarming. Reserve margins are rapidly eroding, power demand is soaring and the price of electricity has jumped nearly 30% since 2019. With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency keeping its boot on the neck of the power sector and the Department of the Interior deciding in the 11th hour of the Biden administration to prohibit all future coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, there’s ample room – to put it mildly – for a policy course correction.
It's not hard to envision this trajectory’s destination, particularly because it’s playing out right now across the Atlantic. And just how are things going over there?
Not good, dear reader. Not good at all.
In Britain, where the last coal plant was closed this year with the fanfare of a royal wedding, electricity prices are the highest in Europe, fully doubling between 2010 and 2024. They are now, on average, 175% higher than the average price of electricity in the U.S.
The price of electricity for Britain’s industrial users is astoundingly nearly three times more than the average paid by competitors in the 14 Western European E.U. member states. And to be clear, electricity is not cheap in the E.U.—far from it. The deindustrialization of Britain and Europe from eye-watering energy prices is well under way.
As Bloomberg’s energy and commodities columnist, Javier Blas, recently observed, Europe’s unwillingness to grapple with its energy policy failures has set up, “another winter of high prices, not just for gas but also for electricity, further darkening the future for energy-intensive companies in the region.” He added, “rarely a week goes by without a major manufacturing sector announcing plant closures, job losses and write-downs worth billions of euros.”
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