The Future of Lignite
|  Video
|
| Amanda Tetlak |
| 7/23/2009 |
 |
| The CEO of Great Northern Project Development says the lignite plant project in South Heart is moving forward. He was one of many representatives of the lignite industry attending the Lignite Research Council meeting today. As Washington works to pass significant cap and trade legislation, North Dakota`s lignite industry is bracing itself for what could come. Great Northern Project Development CEO Todd Joyner says because of increased national attention on the coal industry, he`d be lying if he said moving the South Heart plant project along has gone swimmingly. He says bumps in the road like the recent court decision to change the designation of the land where the plant is supposed to go is to be expected, but the company will work to comply with whatever requirements are necessary. "It`s impacted negatively lots and lots of projects nationwide, and we`ve seen a few die or be put on the shelf, but that`s not the case," says Joyner. "We feel very, very strongly that our project is still very, very viable and we`re going forward." The rest of the lignite industry in North Dakota is focusing on issues on a national scale especially Cap and trade legislation. The Lignite Research Council says as it stands right now, the legislation would be devastating to the industry. "You can`t produce electricity from coal without emissions so you`ve got to learn a way to cost-effectively control those emissions and you`ve got to do so in a time frame that makes sense and it`s got to be in a reasonable time frame and we need the sharing of public-private partnerships to get it done," says John Dwyer, of the research council. So a major focus of the meeting was about discussing ways to keep the industry alive as the legislation looms. "We have a study that we`re going to consider for approval today for recommendation to the industrial commission that would look at each of the boilers at each power plant and look at different technologies that would be most appropriate for that power plant," says Dwyer. The council is hoping Congress makes some adjustments to the bill to give the industry some time to move research and technology forward. The lignite research council meets about twice a year. The program is funded by about 10-cents per ton from the North Dakota coal severance tax, making about $3 million available each year for the Research, and Development. |
© KMOT-TV
Home | News | Weather | Sports | Webcast | Morning News | Programming | Primetime Rewind | Advertising & Sales | About Us
Community Connection | Movies | Contests & Promotions | Search | Links | Contact Us | Site Map | Follow us on: Facebook
Sister Stations: KFYR TV in Bismarck, KUMV in Williston, KQCD in Dickinson
