Mattoon, Illinois, is poised to host the first commercial-scale coal-gasification power plant to capture carbon dioxide and pump it underground rather than into the atmosphere. The site sits above a sandstone formation suitable for sequestering carbon dioxide.
The project, called FutureGen (pictured), is supposed to be a showcase for the US Department of Energy, which has promoted technological innovation as a solution to global warming. The department will cover three-quarters of the project's cost, now estimated at $1.8 billion. The rest will come from an alliance of more than a dozen energy companies based in the United States and abroad. Mattoon beat competition from another site in Illinois, and two in Texas. Final approval must still come from the energy department.
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Illinois picked as site for carbon-capture plant. Nature 451, 007 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/451007f
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/451007f
