they keep on coming

Rob Abbanat,China Stocks.

UCG..deeply green coal.
The coming of age of an old concept has huge potential
for China's coal.

.........UCG is a truly compelling concept striving to
come of age.And nowhere is its potential bigger than
China.

Traditional coal mining becomes prohibitively expensive
and very dangerous at depths greater than a few hundred
meters,leaving 85% of the world's known coal resources
inaccessable.UCG on the other hand can be conducted at
depths of 1000 meters or more.This alone has potential
to increase recoverable reserves by as much as 400%
according to a recent study by Laurence Livermore Lab.
Moving coal resources into mineable reserves will
immediatly increase the balance sheets of coal companies
around the world.

Another benefit is the cost.Simply put, its much cheaper
to burn the coal in the ground than to dig it out,wash it
and ship it somewhere else to be burned.Coal that is
consumed via UCG will produce about 85% the caloric value
had it been consumed with traditional mining,but at a
"fraction" of the cost [even the QLD Gov know that.]

And then there's the environment.The CO2 that is produced
during the UCG process can be easily captured and stored
back in the ground,or sold for other industrial uses.
Additionally,there is no coal dust or ash floating around
the neighborhood and the UCG footprint is far smaller
than an open pit or underground coal mine.Hard as it is
to believe,UCG is a "green" technology.

The concept sounds so simple that you may be wondering
why it hasn't come to light earlier? well,it has.The
basic concept for UCG was pioneered by the Russians
during the 1930s and later by the U.S in the late 1970s.
But only now is the combination of advanced directional
drilling,efficient burners and economics conspiring to
make UCG economically and practically beneficial.

And nowhere is the potential for its benefits greater
than in China .[could make a case easily for Australia]
China consumes 35% of the worlds coal and rely on coal
for 70% of electric energy.Furthermore,much of China's
coal resources lie deep in the ground and Chinese mines
are among the most deadly in the world.With the Chinese
Gov under extreme pressure-both internally and externally
-to find greener solutions to its growing energy problem
UCG has found "heavy" support from the Chinese gov and
industry alike.

China now has the largest UCG development program in the
world,[knock,knock Canberra.]

From an investors perspective,UCG and the early players
that bring the technology to the Chinese market have
enormous potential.[then there is Australia!]
Regulations make it difficult for foreign investors to
own stakes in coal mines,but foreign UCG providers like
UK's clean coal ltd,will find it easy to set up just to
supply their tech to the owners of coal mines and share
the profits.[end]

These articles are coming daily now,the planet is pulsing
with this wonder from the deep..and so be it.

HM.