GOLDEN - Luca Technologies has raised $75.9 million in a Series C round to acquire leases, wells and production assets for its underground coal-gasification technology. The company uses micro-organisms to turn coal into methane underground.

One Equity Partners and Kleiner Perkins’ Green Growth Fund led
the round, which came a week after another U.S.-based
underground coal gasification company, Laurus Energy, came out
of stealth and announced $8.5 million in financing.

ASF Group and Oxford Bioscience Partners also participated in
Luca’s fund raising, which established a valuation of about
$250 million.

Coal fuels about half of U.S. electricity production and
provides about a quarter of its energy. More than 60 percent of
coal mined in the U.S. is dug from the surface, a process
highly criticized for its environmental impact.

Luca developed technology to use micro-organisms to revive old
coal seams and natural gas wells. The micro-organisms are used
to break down coal into methane underground. The company
currently operates primarily in the Powder River Basin (below).

Case Study:  Active Biogensis of Methane in Wyoming’s
Powder River Basin

Numerous coal cores were carefully obtained to limit exposure
to air during the course of their extraction from the Powder
River Basin (PRB) of northeastern Wyoming.  These coal samples
were examined for their indigenous microbial populations and
their ability to support methanogenesis.  Significant
populations of anaerobic microorganisms and rates of active
methanogenesis were detected in nearly all of the tested coals.
Conditions were identified that stimulated or inhibited this
microbial methane production.  Extrapolated results suggest
that a huge potential bioreservoir for natural gas production
exists in these PRB coalfields.  FULL REPORT