US energy chief Abraham commits Bush to coal energy

10 November 2004 16:20  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (CNI)--US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham called Wednesday for speedy passage next year of an energy bill and said the administration will push hard in its second term for greater use of coal to help relieve US energy demand.

 

In his first policy speech since President George W Bush won re-election last week, Abraham said the Bush administration “will continue to make the case that coal has to be a vital part of US energy generation.”

 

Speaking today to the National Coal Council (NCC), his industry advisory group, Abraham noted that electricity demand in the US “may double in the next few decades, and we will need coal to meet that demand in a way that safeguards our environment.”

 

He cited the often-mentioned description of the US as “the Saudi Arabia of coal,” noting that the US has a 250-year supply of coal.  “Supply is not the problem,” he added, “making use of that resource in an environmentally sensible way is the concern.”  But even with those environmental concerns, he said, “coal remains an essential factor in our nation’s energy future.”

 

Many in the US chemicals industry hope to see advances in the use of coal for power generation in order to relieve growing demand and price pressures on natural gas.

 

Abraham said he is confident that the US private sector, working in partnership with the federal government, “will develop the technological answers that will allow us to use coal for power into the future” without harming the environment.

 

Another advantage of those anticipated technology advances, he said, is that the US will share those gains with other nations with major coal reserves so that they too can use those reserves to help meet growing global energy demands.

 

He said the Bush administration’s commitment to the advancement of coal as an energy resource “is not a one-time thing; it is an on-going process that we will continue as we work to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants.”

 

Abraham also drew attention to developing technology for use of coal as a feedstock for synthetic crude oil. 

 

“This is a promising technology,” he said, “that can produce oil in the price range of $30/bbl.  Now, a few years ago, that price figure would not have excited much interest.  But with the price of crude now at something like $48/bbl, this technology looks a lot more valuable.  There are challenges to commercializing this technology, but it looks very promising.”

 

He told NCC members that the US must have a national energy policy bill out of Congress in the new year.  He later told reporters that the new make-up of Congress - in which Republicans have gained better majorities in both the House and Senate - may help advance the energy bill next year.

 

He also noted that US energy needs, and growing public recognition of those needs, may make drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) of northern Alaska a more attractive prospect than in earlier years.  He said that if exploration and development in ANWR had been allowed to proceed ten years ago when Congress first rejected the proposal, “today we’d be getting a million barrels a day out of ANWR.”

 

By: Joe Kamalick
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