U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu Friday announced an agreement with
the FutureGen Alliance to restart the development of a commercial-scale
carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project outside Mattoon,
Illinois.
The Bush administration halted development of the project in February 2008 due to the rising of projected costs.
In making the announcement, Chu said the Obama administration is
committed to rapidly developing carbon capture and sequestration
technology as part of a comprehensive plan to create jobs, develop
clean energy and reduce climate change pollution.
Under the terms of the provisional agreement between the
Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance, the Department will
issue a Record of Decision on the project by the middle of July, with
the following activities to be pursued from the end of July 2009
through early 2010:
- Rapid restart of preliminary design activities.
- Completion of a site-specific preliminary design and updated cost estimate.
- Expansion of the Alliance sponsorship group.
- Development of a complete funding plan.
- Potential additional subsurface characterization.
Following the completion of the detailed cost estimate and
fundraising activities, the Department of Energy and the FutureGen
Alliance will make a decision either to move forward or to discontinue
the project early in 2010. According to DOE, both parties agree that a
decision to move forward is the preferred outcome and plan to reach a
revised cooperative agreement that will include a funding plan for the
full project.
The Department of Energy's total anticipated financial contribution for
the project is $1.073 billion, $1 billion of which comes from Recovery
Act funds for CCS research.
The FutureGen Alliance's total anticipated financial contribution is
$400 million to $600 million, based on a goal of 20 member companies
each contributing a total of $20 million to $30 million over a four to
six year period.
The Alliance, with support from DOE, will pursue options to raise
additional non-federal funds needed to build and operate the facility,
including options for capturing the value of the facility that will
remain after conclusion of the research project, potentially through an
auction of the residual interests in the late fall.
SB.com editor Bart King wrote a recent editorial about the problem with CCS.
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