Pacific Mountain Energy Center, Kalama, WA

Type: Coal

STATUS: Killed

OPPOSITION: Washington Sierra Club

PROSPECTS: Unlikely

BACKGROUND: Energy Northwest has applied for a permit to build a 793-megawatt electricity-generating plant on an 80-acre industrial site in Kalama, on the Columbia River just south of Longview, Wash. The Port of Kalama has approved a 50-year lease for the site. The plant would use an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) process that turns coal, petroleum coke or other feedstocks into a gas, then burns the gas to make power. The proposed plant –- called the Pacific Mountain Energy Center (PMEC) -- was slated to start operating in 2012. On September 23, 2008, Energy Northwest announced that it no longer planned to build a 680 MW Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant at the Port of Kalama in Washington because of concerns over implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) in that state. The decision to walk away came after the Washington legislature passed ESSB 6001, which would require CCS technology to be part of the plant. The company asserted that it decided not to pursue the plant because, in effect, carbon dioxide is a waste in Washington and, therefore, the injection of carbon dioxide for permanent storage in Washington is illegal.

LINKS: NW Energy Coalition http://www.nwenergy.org/issues/nwcoal/kalama-wa/energy-northwest2019s-proposed-kalama-coal-plant#what-is-being-proposed Climate Change & Carbon Management http://climate.alston.com/blog.aspx?entry=639

Comments

[Al Bundy is an Idiot]

Uhm... I think you can both use fossil fuels and advocate for a future without them. In fact, everyone does this all the time because it's more effective to be a hypocrite and get the word out to others than to be a purist and have no one hear you.

We may be hypocrites in that we still drive cars and use coal electricity; however, our being hypocrites doesn't suddenly make doing those things a "good idea."

It's important to know the difference between the practices of the people who make an argument and the strength of the argument itself.

[Al Bundy]

Uhm... Bob, turn your computer off IMMEDIATELY!! It is using electricity produced 74% from fossil fuel and another 20% from nuclear!

[Bob]

Uhm... so what? The people of the State through its democratic process decided that carbon emissions are a bad thing that need to be properly managed... and, what is "green" about this technology? Sounds like just another blast-from-the-past.