The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission will likely approve the expenditure of $12 million to establish two energy-research centers in the region, reports David McGee with the Bristol Herald Courier.
The centers, to be located in Abingdon and Wise, would study clean coal and other environmentally friendly technologies.
The Southwest Virginia Clean Energy Research and Development Center would be housed in a 16,000-square-foot building to be constructed on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon. The center would employ a staff of 20 by its third year, have an annual operating budget of $7 million and generate more than $11 million in annual economic impact, according to commission documents.
A second center, located in the Lonesome Pine Technology Park in Wise, would be dedicated to clean-coal technology, converting coal to liquid fuels, mercury remediation and reducing sulfur levels. Other energy sources, including solar power and the production of hydrogen gas, also could be studied.
Meanwhile, the Tobacco Commission is considering other proposals to fund a sustainable energy research center in Danville, a nuclear energy research facility in Bedford, and a facility in Gretna that would convert crops into bio-fuels.
I’m all in favor of research to promote alternate fuels, but I’m wondering… Will these initiatives receive enough funding to make commercially viable breakthroughs? If so, what are the odds that the breakthroughs will be commercialized locally? Do the research centers have plans for transitioning to financial independence, perhaps by developing ties to local industry, or will they become wards of the Tobacco Commission?
Finally, will these research centers contribute to the creation of an industry cluster big enough and strong enough to recruit and retain human capital? Even if they’re successful, what larger vision or strategy for SS and SW Virginia will they advance?
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