A Vancouver energy company has been in the spotlight after announcing plans to open a coal and bio-fuel plant in Ohio. The project would take four years to get under way and would eventually supply 50 000 barrels of jet fuel, diesel and naphtha daily.

The plant is to be located on a 650 acre site about 50 miles south of Youngstown. The facility would mix together coal, waste and wood to produce an ultra clean synthetic jet and diesel fuel. This process has been around since the Germans developed the technology during the Second World War.

John Baardson, owner of Baard-Energy LLC, which has been in Vancouver for ten years, explained that, although raised in Portland, he loves his adopted city.

The plant is to open under the name Ohio River Clean Fuels, and would use 5 billion tons of Ohio coal a year and more than 2 billion tons of wood waste, and other bio-wastes.

Tracy Drake, executive director of the Columbiana Port Authority, said that he was impressed by Baardson's business savvy, and was confident that the plan would go forward. Elaborating, he explained, "I've been impressed with the business acumen of
John Baardson and his ability to anticipate how markets go," Drake said. "With the high price of oil, he sees a coupling of the U.S. coal supply with the U.S. Department of Defense as the (production) driver."

Baardson is an experienced engineer. He started his career with Dow Chemical and has worked with both wood fired and gas fired energy plants

Baard Energy has been collaborating on the coal-based energy plant with researchers at Battelle labs in Columbus Ohio and with the US department of energy.