Bismarck (Sen. Hoeven’s Office)   – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Energy and Water Appropriations Committee, Monday hosted Energy Secretary Rick Perry for tours of the Falkirk Mine and Great River Energy’s (GRE) Coal Creek Station and a roundtable with the state’s energy leaders. Throughout the event, the senator stressed how the state’s implementation of innovative technologies are helping to produce more energy at a lower cost and with better environmental stewardship. For instance, the Coal Creek Station employs its DryFining technology to improve efficiency and reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, mercury and carbon dioxide (CO2), saving the facility $20 million annually. Further, the waste steam from the coal station is used to produce over 70 million gallons of ethanol each year, using 23 million bushels of North Dakota corn.

Hoeven invited Perry for the visit during his confirmation process last year so he could learn firsthand about breakthrough energy developments occurring in the state. The visit also presented an opportunity to outline how the Department of Energy can better partner in these efforts, including two project’s being undertaken by the University of North Dakota’s (UND) Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) – Project Tundra, a post-combustion technology to retrofit existing power plants, and the Allam Cycle, technology for new coal and natural gas power plants that uses supercritical CO2 to increase efficiency and allow emissions to be captured.