Gasification Fast Facts

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The growing interest in gasification technology in the U.S for the production of power, fuels and chemicals is continuing unabated, driven by volatile oil and natural gas prices and the prospect of stringent regulation of criteria pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions. Since gasification is critical to meeting our clean energy needs, investors, consumers and policymakers need to know the facts about this important technology.

  • Gasification is an environmentally responsible technology that has been reliably used on a commercial scale for more than 50 years in the refining, fertilizer, and chemical industries, and for more than 35 years in the electric power industry.
  • Gasification plants bring good jobs to a community – construction jobs needed to build a plant, and well-paying permanent jobs needed to run the plant. None of these jobs can be outsourced.
  • Gasification produces electricity with significantly reduced environmental impact compared to traditional technologies. It does not involve combustion, (or burning), but instead uses intense pressure combined with oxygen and steam to convert carbon-based materials directly into gas. The gasification process breaks these materials down to the molecular level, so impurities can be relatively easily and inexpensively removed.
  • World gasification capacity is projected to grow by more than 70% by 2015. Most of that growth will occur in Asia, with China expected to achieve the most rapid growth.
  • In order to maximize the potential of gasification in the United States, the government needs to create a financial and regulatory environment that will encourage investment in the technology. Specifically, investors and owners need the Federal Government to develop clear, consistent rules for CO2 management.
  • The regulation of carbon dioxide will change the economics of power generation. Compared to the old coal-burning plants, gasification can capture CO2 much more efficiently and at a lower cost. This capture technology is being successfully used at gasification plants in the U.S. and worldwide.
  • In his speech to Congress in January 2009, President Obama called for investment in "clean coal". Gasification is the cleanest way to produce electricity from carbon fuels such as coal, and is one of the technologies, along with solar and wind power, that can help meet our energy needs, and end our dependence on expensive and undependable natural gas.