Which makes sense, considering that it's the stuff that coal is made of (lignite coal is soft brown coal formed from geologic pressures on forests that died millions of years ago).

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As everyone knows, German energy policy has long been a schizophrenic mix of filthy lignite coal and very expensive wind power, underpinned by feed in tariffs passed through to consumers.

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That's the name for the massive collective that turned brown coal (lignite) into gas.

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As we demonstrate this technology successfully in 2010, we believe we will have provided significant new tech to the world to utilize one of the most abundant resources that the world has in the form of coal and lignite.

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It must be burned in power plants at the mouth of the mine, yet environmentalists will oppose any expansion in coal-fired lignite plants.

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According to Platts, there are some 13GW of thermal energy capacity, comprising mainly hard coal but some lignite and gas, already under construction in Germany.

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Even Germany, which has huge domestic reserves of cheap lignite, is lowering its reliance on coal.

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But four out of nine coal power stations and a lignite unit currently under construction are unlikely to be commissioned as originally scheduled in 2011 and 2012, due to a problem with boiler construction.

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Moreover, much of the coal he bought from Burlington is low-quality lignite, a brownish fuel one step removed from peat, which can't be transported because it tends to spontaneously combust.

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