Legislation Watch

Your guide to North Dakota’s 61st Legislative Session
By the end of the sixth week of the 2009 legislative session, state lawmakers were whittling down the workload, passing some bills for the business environment and failing others.
A set of energy-related bills passed the Senate unanimously. They include:
• SB 2031, which extends the property tax reduction on [...]

Clean(er) Coal: What North Dakota companies are doing to achieve it

By Gwen Bristol
The nation is wondering if clean coal technology is real.

With more than 50 percent of the country’s electricity coming from coal, it’s no wonder that the question has come up. In the past year, the issue has been visited by prominent media businesses, including Newsweek and CBS News. Recent television advertisements have pushed [...]

CO2 Sequestration in North Dakota: Making history

By Gwen Bristol
Carbon sequestration has been paying off for Basin Electric Power Cooperative since the late 1990s, when it began selling the greenhouse gas to help with enhanced oil recovery in Canada. For clean coal enthusiasts who want to see carbon capture at power plants as well, it’s a step in the right direction.
The carbon [...]

The cost and byproducts of controlloing emissions

By Gwen Bristol

At best, there has been a regulatory concern over air pollution in America for just over half a century. The first federal air pollution legislation passed in 1955. Since then, the country has become increasingly aware of how human actions affect the atmosphere—and how controlling emissions can impact an energy company’s pocketbook
Although a [...]

The Lurgi Process

By Gwen Bristol

While there are about seven coal gasification technologies developed or developing in the nation right now, the technology at the Great Plains Synfuels plant is the only one proven to work with consistently North Dakota lignite coal, according to Daryl Hill, media relations supervisor with Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
The process used at the [...]

Energy Updates

Ft. Berthold meetings postponed
Oil and gas update meetings on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation planned for February have been postponed until March.
Three Affiliated Tribes chairman Marcus Levings said this postponement is the result of the death of Crow Nation tribal chairman Carl Venne.
The new meeting dates are as follows: March 17, Parshall Memorial Hall; March [...]

ND organization secures funding for renewable fuel research

By Carolyn Moore

Chris Zygarlicke will be spending a lot of quality time with a tiny mustard seed in the coming months−and the results could mean big things for North Dakota’s renewable energy potential.
Zygarlicke, who serves as deputy associate director for research at the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), is involved [...]

8 Do’s and Don’ts for Job Descriptions in ‘09

By Steve Bruce For HR Daily Advisor

This issue features key dos and don’ts of job descriptions. Here are editors’ do’s and don’ts for worthwhile job descriptions that will really support HR operations.
1. DO give specifics
For example, rather than stating that a maintenance worker “keeps up equipment,” it is better to spell out the position’s requirements, [...]

A day at the BEACH

Business booms in small-town North Dakota
By Tina Ding

Emanuel Culman sought a change of pace. An Englishman, he and his wife settled in Los Angeles for a number of years before committing to a lifestyle change. Enlisting an astrologer friend’s help, they discovered they were suited to live along the 48th parallel – which brought them [...]

Farm Briefs

Value of 2008 crop production
The total value of 2008 crop production in the state was estimated at $6.59 billion, which was down 1 percent from the 2007 total of $6.65 billion, according to the North Dakota field office of the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The largest valued commodity was spring wheat, totaling $1.72 billion, although [...]