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GILBERTON - In an effort to "keep jobs and dollars in this country and not empower the terrorists who work against us"
The
News-Item - Weekend Edition
President of WMPI John W. Rich discussed his project that will result in a facility with the power and technology to convert coal into oil during a presentation held Thursday at the John B. Rich Memorial Power Station.
The presentation was part of a daylong tour of the anthracite industry in Schuylkill County, beginning at the Pine Grove High and Middle schools, where the cost-savings, safety and efficiency of coal was touted over electrical energy for heating, and moving later to a coal processing facility in Butler Township near Girardville, a mine reclamation site in West Mahanoy Township near the village of Raven Run, and concluding at the cogeneration plant at the top of the Broad Mountain.
Rich, whose plan is to develop the nation’s first coal liquefaction facility to convert coal waste into a zero-sulfur diesel fuel, told state lawmakers and members of the Task Force on 21st Century Energy Policy for Pennsylvania that the state’s coal reserves could produce 100 billion barrels of oil if existing technologies to convert coal to oil are utilized.
"We have the technology and the ability to convert coal to liquid transportation fuels and clean up the environment in the process," said Rich.
Although Rich has the technology at his disposal and a sound gameplan, the resources to put that plan into effect will be based on coming up with the funds to get the job done.
Rich claimed to be slowly setting the stage for the project, which he claimed would "take ten months if we had the money today."
Rich stated that he is seeking funding from the federal government to help pay for the capital costs of the construction of the new facility and added that the sooner word gets out about the project on a larger scale, the better the chance of it becoming a reality.
"We have to execute on this," said Rich concerning dotting the i and crossing the t’s on the project. "We must also send a clear signal to foreign oil interests that the United States is no longer willing to be manipulated by uncertainties over foreign oil supplies.
As part of the Energy Task Force Anthracite Region tour, State Representatives Ellen M. Bard (R-153) and Dave Argall (R-124) along with Rich and Executive Director of the Pa. Anthracite Council Duane C. Fegley held a press conference outside the facility. They discussed Resolution 224, which was sponsored by Bard and passed by her colleagues in the House of Representatives in June 2001. The resolution calls for the Joint State Government Commission to establish a bipartisan task force charged with developing an energy strategy for the state. Bard, who was selected last August to head the task force stressed the importance of Thursday’s tour.
"Our tour of Schuylkill County will provide important information about the use and impact of anthracite coal," said Rep. Bard. "Anthracite coal and its role in Pennsylvania energy markets will bear directly on the recommendations which the task force makes to the General Assembly."