Massachusetts-based GreatPoint Energy and China Wanxiang Holdings announced May 21 that they’ve finalized a US$1.25 billion investment deal that will support development of a 1 trillion cubic feet/year synthetic natural gas (SNG) plant in China.

A new study sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sierra Club finds that three proposed coal gasification plants in Illinois would cause excessive rate increases for state consumers of natural gas and electricity.

Alberta-based EmberClear announced May 17 that it is dropping plans for a 270- megawatt (MW) integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant at Good Spring, Pa., opting for a 300-MW natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plant instead.

The Houston-based “Phillips 66” spin-off from ConocoPhillips announced May 21 that it won the global competition to supply its gasification technology for the Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) petcoke gasification project at RIL’s giant, 1.3 million barrels/day oil refinery complex at Jamnagar, India.

U.K.-based Oxford Catalysts announced May 17 that its microchannel Fischer-Tropsch technology will be used by oil giant Rosneft for a 100 barrels/day gas-to-liquids (GTL) demonstration plant in Russia.

The required selling price (RSP) of Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel produced at a notional U.S. coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant would be in the range of US$2.68 to $3.27 per gallon (/gal), according to an updated study for U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

A “phase two” feasibility study for the proposed US$2.7 billion, 1.4 million tons/year gas-to-liquids (GTL) fuels plant in Uzbekistan is expected to be completed by January 2013, with plant start-up targeted for 2017.

Houston-based Accelergy told the World CTL Conference in Beijing in April that it’s pursuing a variety of technologies that would employ coal, natural gas and algae as part of a relatively “low carbon” strategy for producing motor fuels from relatively low-value feedstocks.

Los Angeles-based alternative-fuels developer Rentech on May 11 reported a US$3.3 million net loss for first quarter (1Q) 2012, up from a $7.6 million net loss in 1Q 2011.

Houston-based Synthesis Energy Systems (SES) on May 10 announced a fiscal third quarter 2012 net loss of US$5.4 million, versus a net loss of $3.6 million in its fiscal 3Q 2011.

Corporate raider Carl Icahn announced May 7 that he won majority control of Texas-based oil refiner and fertilizer producer CVR Energy.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based Western Hydrogen announced at the World CTL Conference in Beijing in April that it’s building a 200,000 standard cubic feet per day (scfd) pilot plant near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, aiming to “prove the operation of the Molten Salt Catalyzed Gasification [MSG] process on a continuous basis.”

Canada-based NuCoal announced at the World CTL Conference in Beijing in April that it’s eyeing the possibility of employing China Huaneng’s Clean Energy Research Institute (CERI) technology for a proposed 15,000-barrels/day coal-to-liquids (CTL) project in Saskatchewan.

Haldor Topsoe technologies are joining more gasification-based projects yielding synthetic natural gas (SNG), methanol, gasoline, and dimethyl ether.

The Jindal Steel Power Ltd. (JSPL) “Angul” coal gasification project in eastern India is on-track for an end-2012 start-up, JSPL announced at the World CTL Conference in Beijing in April.