The US government took steps this week toward building the country’s first commercial scale carbon capture and sequestration project. The Department of Energy has decided to work with the FutureGen Alliance, a public-private partnership to design, build and operate the world’s first coal-fueled, zero emissions power plant and proceed with the first phase of the project.
That means that over the next eight to 10 months, the Alliance will complete a preliminary design, refine its cost estimate, develop a funding plan and expand the sponsorship group. It is then that the Department of Energy and the Alliance will decide whether to continue with the project, through construction and operation.
The vast amounts of coal left to be turned into electricity in a world increasingly concerned about where future fuel will come from means the commodity is unlikely to be left in the ground. So finding a way to burn as cleanly as possible is vital.
The costs of doing so are high, as are figuring out all the regulatory and legal issues around carbon capture and sequestion. These range from whether companies have a right to sequestor carbon under private homes and who is liable if the carbon seeps out next year or even in 100 years.
But if the US government does not take drastic steps now to solve this problem, the coal will probably be burned as it is now, all the while adding to the greenhouse gas emissions clouding the future of the world.
The Department of Energy anticipates its total financial contribution for the project is $1.073bn, $1bn of which would come from Recovery Act funds for carbon capture and sequestration research. The FutureGen Alliance’s total anticipated financial contribution is $400m to $600m. Yet the total estimated cost of the project is $2.4bn, so raising additional funds are crucial.
That should not be so hard if the US government throws its firm support behind the project. But, any wavering on the part of the government will likely set back efforts like these toward developing clean coal. And that will make the possibility of significantly reducing the impact of global warming just that much more unlikely.
Related links:
Clean coal confusion cleared up (FT Energy Source)
