Arch Coal Foundation Pledges $1.5 Million to Promote Clean Coal Technology Research...

Arch Coal Foundation Pledges $1.5 Million to Promote Clean Coal Technology
Research at University of Wyoming

CHEYENNE, Wyo., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Arch Coal Foundation
today announced a $1.5 million gift to the University of Wyoming's School of
Energy Resources (SER) Clean Coal Technology Center.

"This gift from Arch Coal will help move the University of Wyoming along on
its path to becoming a leader in advanced coal technology development," says
Governor Dave Freudenthal. "The research and innovation that will take place
at UW's Clean Coal Technology Center will be critical to the future of
Wyoming's economy, which has long been bolstered by the development of coal
and other fossil fuels."

The Arch Coal Foundation's contribution will be doubled to $3 million under
the State of Wyoming's matching funds program.

"We are extremely grateful for this gift from Arch Coal," says UW President
Tom Buchanan. "It provides UW faculty and students a unique opportunity to
partner with industry leaders to explore together the many facets of energy
development, particularly resource recovery. This is an excellent example of
how university research and industry application can work together."

"We're pleased to support the university's commendable and forward-looking
efforts to maximize the value of our energy resources and minimize the impact
on our environment," says Steven F. Leer, chairman and chief executive officer
of Arch. "Through cutting-edge technical solutions, we will ensure a secure
and sustainable energy future for the United States."

The $1.5 million endowment will be used to support students and faculty who
are dedicated to the development of improved technologies for the extraction
of energy from coal, widely known as clean coal technology.

Such technologies include coal gasification and methanation and carbon dioxide
(CO2) capture and sequestration.

Coal gasification and conversion is a way to convert solid coal to gasoline,
diesel, natural gas, and other fuels and petrochemicals. CO2 capture and
sequestration removes greenhouse gases from industrial processes -- including
gasification -- and stores it underground. CO2 can also be used for enhanced
oil recovery.

"The Arch gift is a very, very important gift," says Ben Blalock, President of
the UW Foundation. "This is a gift that connects the University of Wyoming in
partnership with the coal industry. Arch is really stepping up."

Arch's contribution of $1.5 million lays the groundwork for the Clean Coal
Technology Center, a home for UW faculty from across campus who will conduct
research under this program. Funds will be used to build the facility and also
to create an endowment that will sustain the center while its researchers seek
outside grants.

"What Arch really did was break the ice for UW to be able to formalize the
creation of this technology center," says Mark Northam, Director of SER. "Arch
is the founding donor that will allow us to build that facility."

Arch has been involved in SER from its inception, and two Arch executives
serve on the SER's 11-person governing council. Paul A. Lang is Arch's senior
vice president of operations, and Wyoming State Representative Tom Lockhart is
an Arch director. Additionally, Greg Schaefer, vice president of western
affairs for Arch, is a former trustee of the University of Wyoming.

Other energy industry stakeholders have also contributed to the Clean Coal
Technology Center, and SER seeks to raise $5 million to $10 million in private
funding.

"UW's School of Energy Resources will help drive clean coal utilization
research and the next generation of technological advances," says Leer.

In addition, the Wyoming State Legislature has appropriated a total of $17
million to fund the Clean Coal Technologies Research Fund, which was created
to stimulate research in clean coal technologies, with an emphasis on the use
of sub-bituminous coal.

"We want to build a center on campus that, for the next few years, will allow
our research personnel to prepare to use the High Plains Gasification Advanced
Technology Center research facility," says Northam. "They will collaborate
across the colleges as a team to do the preliminary work required in order to
seek outside funding for the research they're going to do."

The UW/GE High Plains Gasification Advanced Technology Center will consist of
a small-scale gasification system that will allow researchers to develop
advanced coal gasification technologies for Powder River Basin coal.

SER itself was created in 2006 to facilitate interdisciplinary academic and
research programs at UW that address critical energy-related issues.

The mission of SER is to integrate UW's significant energy-related talent and
resources to develop tomorrow's energy workforce and technologies to ensure a
secure and sustainable energy future for the state, region, and nation. It
also communicates with, and brings together, the energy industry stakeholders.

The Clean Coal Technology Center is just one of the research centers that are
being established through the efforts of SER at UW. At present there are eight
total, with two more in the planning stages. In addition to the High Plains
Gasification Center, examples include the Center for Energy Economics, the
Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute, and the Coal Bed Methane Research Center.

Basic coal conversion technologies have been around a long time, some since
World War I. The reason that clean coal technology is such a focus now, says
Northam, is concern over CO2 emissions, the rising dependence upon imported
oil, and the desire of coal-producing states such as Wyoming, Illinois, and
West Virginia to keep coal in the energy mix.

"The USA derives more than 50% of its electricity from burning coal," says
Northam. "If coal were to be eliminated from that market because of concerns
over emissions, the whole country would be in dire straights."

Wyoming produces the most coal of any state in the U.S. In 2007, Wyoming
produced 453.6 million short tons of coal or 39.6% of the total U.S.
production, which was 300 million short tons (nearly 200%) more than its
nearest competitor, West Virginia.

"As we look toward the future, which will likely include some form of carbon
dioxide regulation, these types of technologies will enable coal to be a
viable fuel for the nation and the world for many years to come," says
Governor Freudenthal.

"A partnership with the coal industry from a clean coal technology standpoint
is an important agenda for the State of Wyoming," says Blalock. "It's an
agenda for our governor, and it's critical that UW, from an academic
standpoint, partners with industry to ensure an emphasis on research that is
critical for the ongoing strength of the coal industry for generations to
come, ultimately having a positive impact on the state of Wyoming and the
University of Wyoming."

Wyoming also leads the nation in formulating carbon sequestration legislation.

In 2008, legislation established that surface owners control the underground
pore spaces where carbon dioxide could be stored or sequestered and that the
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is the authority to regulate the
long-term storage of carbon dioxide.

In 2009, legislation established that mining and drilling rights will be
prioritized over geologic sequestration activities; that the ownership and
liability for sequestered CO2 belong to the injector; and that pore space
rights from multiple parties would be aggregated for the purposes of a carbon
storage project as long as 80 percent of the parties approve the project.

"The only thing that's really missing now in our legislative toolbox for
sequestration is the liability piece: who is going to be responsible for
financial assurance for the process," says Northam. "That's really the
stickiest issue because this is a very long term process."

A Carbon Sequestration Working Group, which includes Northam, is currently
working on this issue.

The Arch Coal Foundation was formed in December 2005 with an initial endowment
from St. Louis-based Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI), one of the nation's largest
coal producers. Arch Coal's core business is providing U.S. power generators
with cleaner-burning low-sulfur coal for electric generation. Through its
national network of mines, Arch supplies the fuel for approximately 6 percent
of the electricity generated in the United States. Arch's subsidiary
operations in Wyoming employ more than 1,200 and produced 100 million tons of
low-sulfur coal in 2008 from its Black Thunder, Coal Creek and Arch of Wyoming
mines.

SOURCE Arch Coal, Inc.

Mr. Greg Schaefer, VP External Affairs, +1-304-464-2330,
gschaefer@archcoal.com, or Ms. Kim Link, Spokeswoman, +1-314-994-2936,
klink@archcoal.com, both of Arch Coal, Inc.