Peabody Energy Becomes Founding Member of Energy Cooperation Program Between China and the United States

Peabody Energy Becomes Founding Member of Energy Cooperation Program Between
China and the United States

BEIJING, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peabody Energy today became a
founding member of the Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) between the United
States and China, a public-private partnership with leading Fortune 500
companies that seek to develop clean energy projects in China. The ECP will
work in consultation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department
of Energy, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and certain key agencies of
the Government of China. Peabody joined the ECP during a formal signing
ceremony in Hangzhou, China, led by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.

"We are pleased to partner with government and business leaders in a shared
vision of advancing energy solutions that strengthen economies, improve
lifestyles and advance our environmental goals," said Peabody Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce. "China leads the world in GDP
growth and needs an enormous amount of energy to fuel its progress. Coal is
the solution."

The ECP includes 21 founding members and comes at a pivotal time as China and
the United States explore greater cooperation on clean energy and climate
initiatives. The ECP will advance clean energy projects in China that could
range from coal-based power generation with carbon capture and storage to
smart power grid development and clean transportation, including electric
cars. Peabody will participate on the ECP's Executive Committee along with The
Boeing Company, Cummins, Intel Corp. and GE Corp.

China is the world's third-largest economy and the fastest-growing coal market
in the world, using coal to fuel 80 percent of its electricity. China is
expected to nearly double its electricity consumption by 2015. More than 700
million Chinese residents have gained access to electricity over the past
several decades.

Peabody is a global leader in clean coal solutions and is advancing more than
a dozen projects and partnerships around the world to achieve near-zero
emissions and reduce carbon. Peabody has an expanding presence in China and
is a partner in GreenGen, a near-zero emissions power project under
construction in Tianjin that ultimately would use carbon capture and storage
to increase oil production. GreenGen would begin phase 1 generation as early
as 2011.

The company also is pursuing partnerships in China that include a large
surface mine in Western China and a downstream coal conversion facility with
the government of Inner Mongolia. In addition, Peabody has a joint venture
that is exploring coal-related development opportunities in Mongolia's South
Gobi region and has a business office in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The company
also has a new Asian coal trading hub in Singapore, which offers strong access
to serve China and other fast-growing Asian markets.

Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) is the world's largest private-sector coal company,
with 2008 sales of 255 million tons and $6.6 billion in revenues. Its coal
products fuel 10 percent of all U.S. electricity generation and 2 percent of
worldwide electricity.

CONTACT:
Beth Sutton
(928) 699-8243
bsutton@peabodyenergy.com

SOURCE Peabody Energy

Beth Sutton of Peabody Energy, +1-928-699-8243, bsutton@peabodyenergy.com