Friday, August 08, 2008

Should I file this under "fighting climate change" or under "making America more energy independent"?

Montana (AP): Crow Tribe strikes deal for $7B coal project
CROW AGENCY, Mont. (AP) — The Crow Tribe struck a deal Thursday with an Australian company toward building a $7 billion plant to convert coal into liquid fuels, which would be among the first such projects in the nation.

Capping months of negotiations, the Crow Legislature ratified a 50-year development agreement with Australian-American Energy Co., a subsidiary of Australian Energy Co.

The Many Stars coal-to-liquids plant initially would produce 50,000 barrels a day of diesel and other fuels. Construction would begin in several years and coal for the project would come from a mine yet to be developed by the tribe on the reservation, Crow leaders said.

The tribe's chairman, Carl Venne, said the coal-to-liquids project offered an unprecedented chance at improving the lives of the tribe's 12,000 members. The agreement calls for the Crow to receive up to 50 percent of profits from the plant after investors in the project recoup their costs.
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South Africa is home to the only existing commercial-scale coal-to-liquids plants, built during the apartheid era after oil imports into the country were blocked by international political sanctions.

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