Politics by Matthew Killoran
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Subscriber only Queensland coal rebel MPs were moving to back a plan to make it easier for the government to invest cash into coal-fired power stations when the Bill was pulled from the agenda. The proposal developed by Senator Matt Canavan and moved by Barnaby Joyce would have hijacked a bill on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, intended to create a $1 billion grid reliability fund, to also allow the investment body to fund high-energy low-emissions coal-fired power stations. It is understood about five government MPs were planning to back the move, including Wide Bay MP Llew O Brien.
Close to 90% of Poland's energy comes from highly polluting coal - a fuel whose use needs to end swiftly if Europe and the rest of the world are to meet global goals to slash planet-heating emissions and avoid more extreme climate change impacts.
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A NETL-supported project at the University of Kentucky (UK) successfully conducted pilot-scale testing in their facility that was designed to extract mixed rare earth elements from coal and coal by-products using advanced extraction technologies, achieving production of mixed rare earth oxide (MREO) concentrates of up to 98% purity and exceeding original project goals.
During Phase I of their first DOE-funded rare earth recovery project, which began in March 2016, UK and project partners Virginia Tech, West Virginia University, Minerals Refining Company, Blackhawk Mining, and Alliance Coal performed a feasibility study and developed a preliminary design for a pilot-scale plant to process up to 0.25 tph of coarse coal refuse and recover rare earths from feedstock materials from the Central Appalachian Basin and Illinois Basin.