§ 13335. Coal refinery program
(a)
Program
The Secretary shall conduct a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for coal refining technologies.
(b)
Objectives
The program shall include technologies for refining high sulfur coals, low sulfur coals, sub-bituminous coals, and lignites to produce clean-burning transportation fuels, compliance boiler fuels, fuel additives, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, and carbon-based manufactured products, either alone or in conjunction with the generation of electricity or process heat, or the manufacture of a variety of products from coal. The objectives of such program shall be to achieve—
(1)
the timely commercial application of technologies, including mild gasification, hydrocracking and other hydropyrolysis processes, and other energy production processes or systems to produce coal-derived fuels and coproducts, which achieve greater efficiency and economy in the conversion of coal to electrical energy and coproducts than currently available technology;
(2)
the production of energy, fuels, and products which, on a complete energy system basis, will result in environmental emissions no greater than those produced by existing comparable energy systems utilized for the same purpose;