FOLLOWING a 100 year gestation period there are signs we could be about to witness the birth of a new coal rush. The first Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) trials - during which coal’s inherent energy is extracted in situ - were conducted in the North East of England in 1912. One hundred years later scientists and businesspeople based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, just a few miles from the site of the original trials, have launched a new drive to fully commercialise the potential of the earth’s remaining 850 billion tonnes of coal. They are amongst a host of global teams now working on commercial-scale UCG schemes, using directional drilling techniques from oil and gas exploration, which have added new momentum to the industry. In Australia Linc Energy’s UCG demonstration facility in Chinchilla, Queensland, Australia is operating successfully. And last month it signed a multi-million dollar deal with Chinese company GCL Projects Limited, a subsidiary of Golden Concord Group Limit...
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