2003 - Chimpy Unveils FutureGen "Clean Coal" Plan; 2014 - Jack Shit Accomplished

[hatrack]

MEREDOSIA, ILL. — In 2003, President George W. Bush unveiled plans for the world’s first zero-emissions coal plant, a project that would serve as a global showcase of America’s ability to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. This FutureGen plant would be “one of the boldest steps our nation takes toward a pollution-free future,” declared Spencer Abraham, Bush’s energy secretary. The knowledge we gain from the plant “ ... will help turn coal from an environmentally challenging energy resource into an environmentally benign one.” More than a decade later, there has yet to be a groundbreaking for FutureGen 2.0.

The project calls for overhauling an aging coal plant on the outskirts of this sleepy river town so that its carbon emissions can be captured and stored some 4,300 feet underground. But the effort has been beset by political infighting, design changes and escalating costs that helped trigger a rebellion by the state’s largest utility.

FutureGen’ s tortured birthing process reflects broader problems in the global effort to spur development of “clean coal” plants and carbon-capture technology — considered key steps in the battle to slow climate change.

Even the Energy Department now has doubts about whether FutureGen will succeed. Last year the department designated the FutureGen alliance charged with building the project as a “high-risk” grant recipient that might not be able to meet a September 2015 deadline for spending $1 billon in federal stimulus dollars, according to a document reviewed by The Seattle Times.

EDIT

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2024334424_losinggroundillinoisxml.html?syndication=rss

[Nihil]

1. How ironic the truth in that project ...

> "a global showcase of America’s ability to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels"

Even the combination of the Chimp's plans and President Clean Coal himself haven't been
able to polish this turd sufficiently so it remains "a global showcase of how America's
ability to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels have been derailed by America's
lust for short-term profit at all costs".

Think how much progress could have been made if the money pissed into Republican
pockets by this sort of boondoggle had been directed to genuine environmental research.

[hatrack]

2. Oh, but it is a "global showcase" - showcasing no ability at all to reduce coal emissions