User:Sammy nichole/kemper

The Kemper project is an integrated-gasification, combined-cycle plant that is planned to be located in Kemper County, Mississippi. Integrated-gasification is a process that turns coal into gas.

There are only two of these facilities that presently exist in the United States. The Kemper site is planned to be constructed in 2012 and open operations in 2013.

The Kemper Project would be fired by lignite that would be mined near the plant site. It would reportedly capture and sequester roughly 65% of the carbon-dioxide emissions created by the plant. Lignite is an element that is an “intermediate between peat and bituminous coal.” Mississippi has an estimated four billion tones of Lignite available for harvest.

Background
Kemper is a small county in Mississippi that is roughly one hour north of Meridian.

The Mississippi Company, owned by Southern Company, maintains that the Kemper Project will enable the production of cleaner energy technology through fewer emissions, carbon capture, while working against climate change. Because the activities involved with IGCC (integrated-gasification, combined-cycle plant) involve minimal water consumption, these processes will not negatively harm the water sources of the area. A study conducted by Southern Company states that the Kemper Project “is a large undertaking with high visibility and will help set the stage for future coal-based power generation.”

Environmental Controversies
Environmentalist groups argue that the project is an expensive undertaking that offers only limited benefits. Groups such as the Sierra Club and Bridge the Gulf are encouraging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to not approve the required wetland permits, which Mississippi Company would have to fill to build the plant’s facilities. The Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club contests the location where the facilities are planned to be built. They argue that the position of the facilities’ on a wetland will pollute the environment with water run. Also they argue that the extraction of the lignite will erode the environment and force the relocation of many Mississippians.