COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio House Republicans want a company that buys coal and processes it into coke, an input used to make steel, to be able to claim renewable energy credits., by recycling its excess heat created when it bakes the coal in garage-sized ovens, and using the heat to power steam turbines. Those turbines make electricity, which SunCoke sells into the grid.
“What the Ohio Revised Code doesn’t currently take into account is these facilities are still displacing carbon emissions, which is the ultimate goal of the renewable energy portfolio standard,” said state Rep. Mark Johnson, a Chillicothe Republican. The case ended in a settlement between the parties. Environmental attorney Dave Altman declined to share the details of the settlement, but he said a company that operated like SunCoke simply has no business receiving a credit designed to help save the planet from global warming.