Energy Center - CCTR

General Overview

This report was prepared in response to Center for Coal Technology Research (CCTR) Tasking and grant funding to provide “consultation services related to the development of a state wide strategy for using coal, bio mass, and other Indiana Energy Sources to provide energy and other commercial products to meet the needs of Indiana businesses and citizens”. Significant research and analysis contained in this report was also developed using SAIC independent funding. This report builds on a CCTR/SAIC report of August 2008, which addressed the feasibility of a CTL facility located on or near NSWC Crane, to support the twin goals of advancing coal usage and clean coal technology in Indiana; and, freeing a critical national defense resource, NSWC Crane, from dependence on the fragile national grid. The 2008 report also considered tangentially the negative implications of legislative and regulatory emission controls and discussed the potential for blending coal and biomass as feedstock to offset negative impacts of controls.

This report provides a focused source of information on Indiana clean coal energy initiatives and prospects; recommends initiatives intended to reduce the economic impacts of national mandates, legislation and controls; and documents recommended additions to Indiana’s Energy strategy based on ongoing initiatives and new developments.

Since 2008, dramatic advances have been achieved in biomass and renewable energy technologies, and in microgrid and distributed power systems. Indiana companies are in the forefront in many of these areas, and their efforts can also serve as a basis for building a larger portfolio of future Indiana Energy options. The integration of biomass and renewable technologies into a strategy designed to maintain and enhance Indiana’s coalbased energy production will be a major theme of this report.