LATEST NEWS:
Coal Industry Digs Itself Out of a Hole
Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2009
FutureGen coal plant in Mattoon may be revived
The Chicago Tribune, January 8, 2009
Ill. delegation encouraged about FutureGen prospect
Journal Gazette and Times-Courier, January 7, 2009
Energy nominee leaves Durbin hopeful on FutureGen
By David Mercer
Associated Press
CHAMPAIGN – Members of Illinois' congressional delegation left a meeting Wednesday with President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for energy secretary encouraged that an experimental coal-fired power plant once planned for Illinois could be revived.
Sen. Dick Durbin said nominee Steven Chu, known as a critic of coal, was open-minded during the meeting in Washington, D.C. about the FutureGen plant once planned for eastern Illinois, and about the fuel it would burn.
"It is clear after today's meeting, Dr. Chu understands the importance of FutureGen to Illinois and is fully aware of the delegation's commitment to moving the project forward," the Illinois Democrat said in a statement.
"Secretary Chu agreed that coal is an important element of our energy future, and based on his comments, I remain optimistic that as the new administration gains momentum, FutureGen will indeed be part of our future," Durbin said.
A spokesman for Obama's transition team said neither Chu nor Obama's staff would comment on the meeting.
In a 2007 speech, Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, called coal "my worst nightmare" and has expressed skepticism about the viability of the kind of carbon-capture technology the FutureGen plant would employ.
FutureGen came to life in 2003 as a project pairing the Department of Energy and its money with coal and power companies. Officials said FutureGen would prove the carbon dioxide released from burning coal on a commercial scale could be safely stored underground rather than released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a gas linked to global warming.
But after the coal and power companies decided in 2007 to build at Mattoon, Ill., the Department of Energy pulled its support, citing costs that had roughly doubled to $1.8 billion.
Durbin and others believe politics was to blame – Mattoon was chosen over sites that included two in President Bush's home state, Texas – and has since blocked nominations to fill Department of Energy jobs.
The plant would have brought thousands of construction jobs and 150 full-time jobs to the area, and provide a consumer for coal mined in Illinois. The state is the country's ninth-largest coal producer.
The Illinois congressional delegation and the power and coal companies also have quietly pressed Obama's staff to breathe life back into FutureGen.
Obama has said he wants to build five plants using carbon-capture technology, and supported FutureGen when he was an Illinois senator.
Reps. Tim Johnson and Judy Biggert, both Republicans, and Democratic Reps. Bill Foster, Jerry Costello and Jan Schakowsky joined Durbin at the meeting.
Johnson said Chu listened far more than he talked, but indicated he was willing to work with FutureGen's backers on the project.
"I didn't see any particular unwillingness or any close-mindedness to this project at all," Johnson said.
Opponents of FutureGen's so-called clean-coal technology say they aren't surprised Chu said coal will remain an important part of the country's energy future.
"We're not going to stop burning coal tomorrow," said Greenpeace spokesman Steven Biel.
But they hope Obama's administration steers clear of carbon-capture projects such as FutureGen that they doubt will be able to safely and cleanly lock away carbon dioxide.
"We should be investing scarce resources in renewable technologies that have been shown to work, and not money pits like FutureGen," Biel said.
Welcome to FutureGen for Illinois
FutureGen is the first of its kind coal-fueled power plant that will link state-of-the-art technologies to produce electricity and hydrogen with near-zero emissions. The project will take a significant step in strengthening the United States’ ability to produce reliable energy, improve the environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This effort will serve as a prototype for the next generation of power plants throughout the country and the world.
FutureGen will also serve as a research laboratory for discovering and refining clean coal technology, hydrogen production and carbon sequestration. As new technology is discovered and evolves, it will be incorporated into the design and operation of the plant. FutureGen will foster innovations that will affect the energy industry for years to come.
The Department of Energy announced plans to build FutureGen in 2003. By May 2006, 12 sites in seven states applied to host the plant. In July 2006, the FutureGen Alliance announced the four finalists for the facility: Mattoon and Tuscola in Illinois; and Jewett and Odessa in Texas.
The project is a government-industry partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of the world’s largest coal and energy producers.
On December 18, 2007, the FutureGen Alliance selected Mattoon as the home for FutureGen.
Shortly thereafter, the U.S. DOE suddenly announced it was withdrawing funding for FutureGen due to what it described as escalating construction cost projections. However, the State of Illinois and the FutureGen Alliance are continuing design work on the project, plan to purchase the plant site in conjunction with Coles County’s economic development agency and will build a strong case for a new presidential administration to reauthorize FutureGen at Mattoon as the swiftest, most comprehensive way to demonstrate the clean coal technology of tomorrow.
