By Kevin Collins
I received a series of questions from a shareholder yesterday, and I have drafted the following response. We thought it would be useful to share this with you.
1) Given the Presidents Clear Skies Initiative and the numerous Clean Coal, Clean Air, Mercury etc, Acts and Initiatives of the Department of Energy and the EPA, has EEE ever approached the government with their K-Fuel technology? If so, why hasn't the government embraced their technology?
We have received tremendous support from the DOE. One recent example I would point to is the following quote from the Department of Energy Website: Project Result of US-PRC Energy Accord, linked here: http://fossil.energy.gov/international/International_Partners/China.html
Per the DOE, “Two major successes have been achieved so far: an agreement between the U.S. company Evergreen Energy and the China Power Investment Corporation to conduct a feasibility study of utilizing U.S.-developed coal upgrading technology in China, the first of three phases outlined in a joint agreement to proceed…;”
This project received support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the PRC Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and is the result of a MOST and CPI amendment to the “U.S.-PRC Agreement for Cooperation in Fossil Fuel-Clean Coal Technologies” signed in September in
2) Has the Department of Energy the EPA , or any other agency ever investigated the viability of K-Fuel?
As stated above, our projects enjoy the full support of the DOE. Unlike a lot of solutions that are dependent on taxpayer support, the K-FuelTM process has been developed and commercialized without taxpayer funding. We take pride in our independence. Unlike a lot of new technologies that are years away from commercial acceptance, K-FuelTM is being shipped and burned at customer sites today.
3) Wouldn't a utility have to build and maintain injection wells like those that are presently used by Gillette/EEE for water disposal? Has EEE come up with alternative means of water disposal and/or reclamation?
The process water removed from the coal is nothing special compared to other industrial wastewaters and is treated by the same technologies used in every municipal and process industry wastewater treatment plant; separation of solids from the water followed by either filtration for injection well disposal or biological treatment for discharge to waterways. In fact, the contaminants in the process water are quite amenable to conventional treatments. By process industry standards the treatment facilities required for our process water are comparatively small. In fact, for many of our potential projects, the generation of water that can be treated for reclamation or reuse is a plus.
4) What is the present status of the September 21, 2007 Agreement to Proceed with China Power Investment? If so, what phase of the agreement are they in and are the findings to date favorable to EEE?
I just returned from a trip to
During the week we spent time with 2 major Chinese energy companies, including CPI, toured a low-rank coal mining operation that could be optimized with the K-Fuel process, took the final steps towards completion of a major feasibility study for a proposed plant in SouthEast Asia (not related to CPI), and met with potential financing partners interested in assisting with the development of K-FuelTM and K-DirectSM plants. Working with our counterparts in
Our signed agreement with CPI calls for a feasibility study followed by a technical services contract that will be funded by CPI to develop environmental, water and land use specifications for the plant. The third phase would develop detailed specifications under a technical license contract to meet BCP’s process and performance requirements.
We are nearing completion on one feasibility study and well underway in another. The K-FuelTM solution can play an important role in China's strategy to clean up its existing coal fired fleet.