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DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on: July 7, 1999 World's Clean Coal Experts Gather in Tennessee To Discuss Strategies for Coal's FutureVisit to Methanol-From-Coal-Gas Facility PlannedThe world's experts in clean coal technologies are coming to Knoxville, Tennessee this month. For four days -- June 21-24 -- coal technology specialists from around the globe will gather at the Hyatt Regency-Knoxville to discuss ways emerging clean coal technologies can contribute to the world's increasing demands for cleaner, more affordable energy. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson will speak at the conference on Wednesday, June 23. The Secretary will also be among the conference attendees to tour the world's most advanced coal-to-methanol production facility at Eastman Chemical Company's complex in Kingsport, TN, about 90 miles from the conference site. The theme of the 7th Annual Clean Coal Technology Conference is 21st Century Coal Utilization: Prospects for Economic Viability, Global Prosperity and a Cleaner Environment. Nearly 40 speakers and presenters are scheduled to present the latest developments in coal technologies and prospects for meeting environmental, economic, social and technical challenges in the coming century. The conference is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Center for Energy and Economic Development, the National Mining Association, the Electric Power Research Institute and the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners. More than 300 attendees from nearly a dozen nations participated in last year's meeting in Reno, Nevada. The conference's site tour will feature one of the most successful projects in the Energy Department's Clean Coal Technology Program. Now entering its third year of a planned four-year demonstration, the Liquid Phase Methanol Process project is a 25-to-1 size scale-up of a coal-to-methanol conversion system pioneered in the Energy Department's research program. With a nameplate capacity of 80,000 gallons-per-day -- a production level it achieved soon after its April 1997 startup -- the first-of-a-kind facility was built by a partnership of Air Products and Eastman. It is one of 40 first-of-a-kind projects in the Clean Coal Technology Program. Conference registration begins on Monday, June 21 and at a plenary session on Tuesday, June 22, the conference will officially open. The day of discussions and breakout panels will include a session on the Global Community Responsibility - Role of Technology and Project Developers, Financiers, Consumers and Governments. The opening panel session on Wednesday, June 23 will focus on Coal in Tomorrow's Energy Fleet: Pressures and Possibilities and will include a discussion of the Energy Department's "Vision 21" initiative. The initiative builds on many of the technologies pioneered in the Clean Coal Technology Program, enhancing and integrating them into an ultra-high efficiency 21st century, multi-product "powerplex" that would have almost no environmental impact beyond the plant's "footprint." On the last day, conference attendees can participate in technical sessions on gasification and combustion systems and the technology opportunities for "next generation" energy plants beyond 2010. - End of TechLine - For more information, contact: |