BRISTOL, Va. – The Virginia Tobacco Commission is poised to approve spending $12 million to establish a pair of energy research centers in the region, its vice chairman said Monday.
The centers, planned for Abingdon and Wise, would study clean coal and other environmentally friendly technologies, said state Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, vice chairman of the state’s Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.
The centers are among eight special projects and research center requests previously reviewed by commission members. Other energy research centers – costing a combined $16 million – also are expected to receive funding when the 31-member commission meets here Wednesday and Thursday, Kilgore said.
“This is something the time has come for us to do,” Kilgore said in a phone interview with the Herald Courier. “We need to look at clean energy and clean-coal technologies.”
During its Thursday meeting, the commission will be asked to approve $8 million to establish the Southwest Virginia Clean Energy Research and Development Center. It would be housed in a 16,000-square-foot building to be constructed at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon.
The center is expected to employ about 20 by its third year, have an annual operating budget of more than $7 million and generate more than $11 million in annual economic impact, according to commission documents.
“We hope to get that project funded and help it become a reality,” said Kenneth Reynolds, a commission member and chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors.
“With energy costs so high, if we can be part of helping develop new sources of energy, I think it has a lot of potential.”
The commission also is expected to consider a $4 million appropriation to design, construct and open an Appalachia America Energy Research Center at the Lonesome Pine Technology Park in Wise.
That center would include nearly
Other energy sources, including solar power and the production of hydrogen gas, also might be studied.
NanoChemonics, a firm based in Pulaski, Va., has committed to locating at the facility and towork with universities and corporate partners in mining and energy industries, commission documents show.
The commission’s appropriation equals about half the total funding for that project and follows an earlier $1 million allocation for site development. Additional funding is expected from the Wise County Industrial Development Authority and the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority.
Other energy research centers and funding proposals the commission will consider include:
* $8.07 million to establish a sustainable energy research center in Danville.
* $7.69 million to establish a nuclear energy research center in Bedford County.
* $873,845 in additional funding for a Gretna, Va., facility that converts crops into bio-diesel fuel.
Funding requests are expected to go before the full commission at its Thursday meeting. On Wednesday, commissioners are expected to consider a recent report critical of some of its funding decisions, Kilgore said.
The blue ribbon panel’s report was critical because the commission does not have methods in place to measure the overall return on its investments.
“We’ll review the blue ribbon commission’s findings and talk about those concerns,” Kilgore said.
All meetings are open to the public and will be held at the Holiday Inn near Interstate 81’s Exit 7.
