FutureGen - Illinois Coal

In February 2003, President Bush announced his plan for the FutureGen project, a public/private partnership to build a 275-megawatt prototype power plant with emissions equal to those of natural gas. A major part of the proposal was the research and development of carbon capture and sequestration technologies, a process where carbon dioxide is pumped and stored underground to keep emissions from going into the environment and contributing to global warming. I immediately went to work to bring FutureGen to Illinois, holding forums to raise awareness of the project and encourage local support, working with the state of Illinois on developing a proposal to host the facility, convening meetings with DOE officials and convincing Congressional leaders to fund the project.

After almost five years of determined effort, led by me, in conjunction with the Illinois Congressional delegation and state and local officials, the FutureGen Alliance of Energy Companies selected Mattoon, Illinois as the site of the project from among four finalists, two of which were in Texas. This was a major accomplishment that promised great things for Illinois coal and our nation's energy future (a site in Southern Illinois was not possible due to our proximity to the New Madrid Fault). The geology of the region is well suited to the carbon-trapping technology to be developed, and Illinois is home to oil and gas reserves and deep saline aquifers that can permanently sequester carbon dioxide. However, President Bush abruptly cancelled the program in January 2008, citing cost increases as the main reason. Instead, a “restructured” FutureGen program was introduced, one that would accomplish less and take three additional years to get up and running.

The decision was widely denounced as politically motivated – we could not envision the program being cancelled if it was slated for Texas – and a major setback to our efforts to develop advanced clean coal technologies. Given the President's abandonment of his signature energy initiative, we are continuing to work to keep the original FutureGen program alive. The House Science and Technology Committee, of which I am a senior member, held a hearing to examine the decision and the Government Accountability Office is also conducting a thorough investigation.

As this process continues, I will continue to work to develop ways to burn Illinois coal more cleanly. Coal underlies 65 percent of the state's surface, and the Illinois coal industry annually produces approximately 35 million tons of coal and generates more than $1 billion in gross revenues. Currently, recoverable coal reserves in the state of Illinois amount to more than 30 billion tons. Illinois has almost one-eighth of the coal reserves in the United States and one-quarter of the nation's bituminous coal reserves. Illinois' coal reserves contain more BTU's than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Half of all U.S. electricity production comes from coal, and we have no near-term energy alternative to meet this need. As the price of other forms of energy continues to rise, coal is an abundant and cheap energy source that will be a major part of our energy portfolio. The key remains to burn it as cleanly as possible. A great deal of progress has been made on this front in the last two decades, and with continued research, I am convinced much more can be accomplished.

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