US/Environmental news from West Virginia

摘要

Arch Coal's Coal-Mac Inc. is working with the National Mine Land Reclamation Center, West Virginia University, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a study to determine if switchgrass can be efficiently produced on reclaimed mined lands. Coal-Mac is one of two sites in West Virginia selected for this experimental practice. Coal-Mac has reclaimed hundreds of acres of mined lands. These lands have been successfully reclaimed beyond the normal standards for hayland, pasture and forest. Its reclaimed mineland presents an opportunity for sustainable energy production. In his 2007 State of the State message, Governor Joe Manchin III encouraged West Virginians to develop secure sources of transportation fuels that would reduce the state's dependence on foreign oil. This project will respond to one element of that plan: to demonstrate the efficient production of switchgrass, a biofuel feedstock, on previously mined land.