Abstract: A gas turbine system in which substantially all of the compressed air from the compressor portion of the gas turbine is used to fluidize a bed of solid fuel, such as char, in a pressurized fluidized bed gasifier so as to produce a hot gas. The hot gas flows through a heat recovery steam generator so as to produce steam, which is expanded in a steam turbine so as to produce shaft power. A first portion of the hot gas from the heat recovery steam generator is expanded in the turbine section of the gas turbine so as to produce additional shaft power. A second portion of the hot gas from the heat recovery steam generator is then used to cool the turbine section of the gas turbine, after further cooling and filtering. Since none of the turbine cooling fluid is obtained by bleeding compressed air directly from the compressor, the mass flow of the hot gas flowing through the gasifier, and, therefore, the hot gas it produces is maximized, thereby maximizing steam generation in the heat recovery steam generator.