Clean Coal

The developer of what is touted as a first-of-its-kind commercial clean coal power and carbon capture & storage (CCS) plant, partly funded by the US Department of Energy, is in talks with Chinese oil major Sinopec for a USD1 billion investment. News of the proposed deal was leaked to the Wall Street Journal, which reported that Sinopec, along with unnamed Chinese banks, is in talks to acquire an equity stake and provide financing for the USD3 billion Texas Clean Energy Project (TECP).

China has come a step closer to capturing and storing its carbon emissions with the launch of the GreenGen coal gasification plant in Tianjin, according to a report in Nature. Carbon capture and storage was highlighted by the leaders of the G8 group of nations in 2008, when they called for the development of 20 large-scale projects demonstrating carbon capture technologies by 2010. But with the exception of a few initiatives in Australia, Europe and the United States, many plans been delayed or cancelled.

Israel-based Lextran, a company focused on the removal of pollutants and toxics from flue gas emissions, has signed its second contract in China for the treatment of coal-fired flue gases of a steel factory.

As the Indonesian government moves to ban exports of poor-quality coal, miners in the country are looking at investing between USD70 and 80 million into new clean coal production facilities.

Three of the biggest names in the US energy industry - General Electric, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips - have formed a new joint venture designed to plough up to USD300m into early-stage clean technology firms over the next four years.