Experts Call For Gasification Policy

Energy derived from gasification technologies can meet growing US power demands at a time of gas price volatility, a panel of experts has announced.

Speaking at the Power-Gen International conference in New Orleans, scientists and industry leaders examined the technology and regulation behind gasification technology, which works by extracting energy from different types of organic materials and offers a clean method of waste disposal.

Ralph Braccio, from technology consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, is currently working with the US Department of Energy (DOE) on policies to implement gasification processes across the industry, but warns there is still a long way to go.

Braccio believes there are currently "multiple concerns" before the technology can work across the board, including the current high costs for industrial fuels and industrial feed stocks.

"Methods of carbon management and the form this will take will also need mapping out," he says.

Braccio is concerned the industry is looking for large-scale gasifiers but manufacturers are not currently making them.

He says vendors trying to get into the market are focused on biomass, refuse and other alternative fuels "but very few are focused on coal as feedstock".

Constraints to using gasification technology include effectively integrating it with current business practices and overcoming problems with location, as alternative fuels often need to be transported to where they can be used.

Once logistical issues are overcome, the problem of policy and regulation also pose constraints, according to panel members.

GE Energy's utility director Keith White believes "policy needs to go faster" to keep up with the changes in technology and ultimately tackle the problem of climate change.

"We have got to take on big challenges, accelerate activity and put the [new] technology in the ground," he says.

The DOE is presently looking into using coal-fired and biomass sources and blending the two fuel types for use in the gasification process.

By Ozge Ibrahim