The FutureGen project, proposed then dropped by the Bush administration, is back in the news this week after a Government Accountability Office investigation questioned the reasons for abandoning the project. Among other things, the GAO report concluded Bush officials exaggerated the project's costs.
FutureGen, as it was originally planned, is a commercial scale, coal-based project that uses a gasification process to produce electricity and to capture and sequester carbon dioxide (CO2). The plant was originally planned to be built in Illinois.
In its conclusions the GAO stated,
"According to various experts, for the foreseeable future, because coal is abundant and relatively inexpensive, it will remain a significant fuel for the generation of electric power in the United States and the world. However, coal-fired power plants are a significant source of CO2 and other emissions responsible for climate change. Hence, at least for the near term, any government policies that address climate change will need to have a goal of significantly reducing CO2 and other emissions from coal-fired power plants."
Some have speculated that the Obama administration will revive FutureGen using part of the stimulus money set aside for carbon capture and sequestration.
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