Luca gets $76M for coal gasification

Colorado-based 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.

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 (see Laurus Energy finds clean coal solution?).

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 (see Top U.S. bank phases out loans to dirty coal).

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.

Luca operates primarily in the Wyoming area of the Powder River Basin.