Coal-to-Diesel Plant in Kentucky

The Paducah Sun

By Bill Bartleman

Jun. 11–Construction of a coal-to-diesel plant in Paducah would be the largest project of its kind in the country and would be a major step in changing the country’s energy policies, U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning says.

Once the permits have been issued and it is clear the plant will be built, the project would be eligible for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal incentives approved in the 2005 federal energy bill, Bunning said. Efforts will be made to expand the incentives, he said.

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Bunning said he’s been told the project includes several stages. The first is the coal-to-diesel plant, and the second stage is a coal-to-aviation fuel plant.

“It would cost $2 billion to $3 billion to start with and up to $5 billion when the aviation fuel plant is built,” Bunning said. “The proposed Paducah plant, which could produce more than 200,000 barrels per day when fully completed, would be the first large-scale coal-to-liquid plant in the United States and would be larger than all three of the coal-to-liquid plants in South Africa combined.”

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McConnell said using Kentucky coal to meet the nation’s energy needs is important to energy independence. “Greater use of coal-to-liquid fuel technology would take full advantage of this natural resource, which Kentucky has in abundance, while also benefiting our environment and creating jobs here at home,” McConnell said. “As an added bonus, the more fuel derived from coal we can use, the less oil we will need, thus reducing prices at the gas pump.”