Domestic Synthetic Fuels (DS Fuels), Point Pleasant, W.Va., said on Sept. 13 the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a construction permit for its proposed refinery (GM July 19, p. 24), which will use coal and natural gas to produce fuel, along with byproducts such as refrigerant-grade ammonia, sulfur, and solid residue.
DS Fuels said construction on the $1.2 billion complex in Mason County, W.Va., will begin in earnest and come later this fall. It expects to convert the state’s abundant coal and natural gas into a facility that can produce 10,750 barrels of fuel a day (451,500 gallons) – mainly low-sulfur diesel fuel, jet fuel, and gasoline.
The DEP made the decision after a public comment period and public hearings. “I’d like to thank not just the DEP, but the community for coming out and supporting this project,” said Kevin Whited, DS Fuels lead developer. “They live here. They turned out, and a lot of them spoke in favor of the facility.
“Unlike prior coal-to-fuel projects proposed in the Mountain State, this is going to happen,” said Whited back in July. “We have the money, we have the technology, and we have the expertise.”
While DS Fuels had not responded to Green Markets inquiries at press time, Whited was also quoted by The Herald-Mail, Hagerstown, Md., in July as saying that “funding has been secured” for the West Virginia project, and that it would include international investors.
Mason County was selected for the plant because the area has easy barge access and is close to plentiful supplies of coal and natural gas. The company said it has bought 200 acres from the Mason County Economic Development Authority. The company will bring coal from nearby Kanawha County. Some 2,500 st is expected to be used per day, along with 23 million cubic feet of natural gas. Overall, the company expects some 130 jobs will be created, with many more during the construction phase. The company expects the project to be complete in late 2022/early 2023.
The company said the direct coal-to-liquids process to be utilized mixes coal with a catalyst and hydrogen derived from natural gas and subjects the mixture to heat and pressure to produce high-quality fuels. It said a similar fuel plant in China has been operating since 2008, and that the resulting fuels burn cleaner than those refined from petroleum and are just as effective in vehicles.
DEP officials approved the facility as a minor source of emissions, meaning emissions are minimal under federal and state law. DS Fuels said the synthetic fuels derived from coal are cleaner and more ecologically friendly than fuels derived from petroleum.
While West Virginia officials are gung-ho about the project, officials in Washington County, Md., said a separate company in which Whited was involved – Green Kinetics Gateway LLC, a unit of America First Inc. – still owes their county repayment of a $250,000 loan for a waste-to-energy project that was never built. Whited told The Herald-Mail that the $250,000 was not a loan. At last report, Green Kinetics and the county were in negotiations over the dispute.