Destiny Remezas
Daily Egyptian
The Senate approved the Energy Bill Friday, which provides incentives
for developing transportation fuels from Illinois basin coal, along
with contributing millions to the University for coal research.
There are many aspects of the bill that will affect Illinois, said John Mead, Director of Coal Research at SIUC.
"What we see is an opportunity to really develop better ways to use clean coal technologies," Mead said.
The money will be used to increase research at the existing facilities
as well as create new facilities for research, said Tommy Vietor, Sen.
Barack Obama, D-Illinois' press secretary.
The Illinois coal industry has lost 114,750 workers since 1980 and the state now produces half the amount of coal it did then.
"I expect we will be increasing use of Illinois coal," Mead said. "This bill will help."
The use of coal, for transportation, has environmental benefits, including a lower pollution level, Mead said.
In addition, the technology for making transportation fuels from coal
is already available, therefore the focus at the research center will
be on how to make it a cleaner, more efficient and more economical
process, he said.
"One of the positive aspects is that we want to see more Illinois coal
used but we want it used in the most environmental way," Mead said.
The section referring to Midwest coal is only a small portion of the
bill, which covers many energy issues in the United States, from oil to
nuclear power.
However, there are two different sections of the bill that will
directly affect what is done here at the University, Mead said. He said
he credits congressmen and Illinois legislators for promoting the bill.
"There's kind of an Illinois team at work," Mead said. "It's a national bill, but it's made a difference for Illinois."
While creating the bill has been a long process, in the end it worked
out well for the Illinois coal industry, said Rep. Jerry Costello,
R-Belleville, in a news release. Costello helped write some of the tax
incentives in the bill for the use of clean coal technology.
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, said in a news release that he does
not expect to see any dramatic price changes in energy immediately, but
that this bill is a to help the United States become more independent
from foreign countries for energy.
Reporter Destiny Remezas can be reached at
destiny_remezas@dailyegyptian.com
