The Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to assess the environmental impact of the TXE Industrial Gasification Facility that will be constructed in Beaumont, Texas. The facility is owned by TX Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical Company.

The DOE is preparing the EIS for the TXE Industrial Gasification Facility in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EIS will follow the requirements of the NEPA and also include a flood plain analysis and wetland involvement analysis. This is being completed as part of the process of evaluating TX Energy’s application to the DOE for a loan guarantee through the Loan Guarantee Program for coal and petcoke gasification facilities.

The TXE Industrial Gasification Facility is proposed to be constructed on 417 acres of land in Beaumont, Texas. The facility will use gasification technology to convert petcoke feedstock to syngas. The sulfur will be removed from the syngas as molten sulfur. The CO2 will be removed and transported by pipeline for use in enhanced oil recovery which qualifies as sequestration. Some of the syngas will be converted to pure hydrogen and sold and distributed by pipeline. The balance of the syngas and hydrogen will delivered by pipeline for further processing as methanol and ammonia. Eastman will sell the methanol and ammonia.