last updated 8th December 05
By 4ecotips

Prototype fossil-fueled power plant of the future planned

The US Department of Energy has signed an agreement with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance to build FutureGen, a prototype of the fossil-fueled power plant of the future, it was announced by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.

The nearly $1 billion government-industry project, first announced in 2003, will produce electricity and hydrogen with no emissions of pollutants, including carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

The FutureGen Industrial Alliance will contribute $250 million to the project. Alliance members include companies in the United States, Australia and China.

The initiative is a response to President Bush's directive to develop a hydrogen economy by drawing on the best scientific research to address global climate change.

Over the next year, site selection, design activities and environmental analyses will lay the groundwork for final project design, construction and operation.

Bodman says: "The prototype plant will be a stepping stone toward future coal-fired power plants that not only will produce hydrogen and electricity with zero emissions, but will operate with some of the most advanced, cutting-edge technologies."

The alliance plans to issue a site selection solicitation in early in the New Year, develop a short list of the most qualified candidate sites by mid 2006 and choose a final site in 2007.

FutureGen plans to initiate operations around 2012. Virtually every aspect of the prototype plant will be based on cutting-edge technology, according to the alliance.

The project will integrate testing of emerging energy supply and use technologies and advanced carbon capture and storage systems.

Technologies planned for testing at the prototype plant could provide future electric power generation with zero emissions that is only 10% higher in cost than today's electricity.

At the heart of the project will be coal-gasification technologies that can eliminate common air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and convert them to useable byproducts such as fertilizers and soil enhancers. Mercury pollutants also will be removed.

The technologies will turn coal into a highly enriched hydrogen gas that can be burned much more cleanly than directly burning the coal.

The ultimate goal for the FutureGen plant is to show how new technology can eliminate environmental concerns over the future use of coal and allow the nation to tap the full potential of its coal reserves.