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FutureGen Saga Exemplifies the Big Lie of Clean Coal

By My Wild Irish Prose | June 27, 2009

The sad saga of the erstwhile and eventual FutureGen low-emissions coal fired electric generating plant is a stunning example of the current state of the artnot of the “clean coal fantasy”.

the FutureGen carbon sequestration project in Matoon IL is a good example of how far carbon capture has come

Key References:

  • Visit Clean Coal USA, website of the pretend grassroots organization American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
  • Now visit Coal Is Clean.
  • Catastrophe Map: the seven lies of Clean Coal
It is interesting to note that the same set of iconoclassicists who demand absolute scientific proof for climate change are willing to accept this untried and unproven experimental technology as a done deal.
 Originally announced in 2003 with great fanfare by George Bush, FutureGen was to be the first real world, large scale demonstration of carbon sequestration’s potential. But the project has been sabotaged by politics and bureaucracy for the past seven years.Carbon sequestration technology (otherwise known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), is the process of separating out and collecting carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and subsequently “dumping” it underground or in the sea. There has been a lot of horn blowing about carbon capture, as the fake gross roots Clean Coal Coalition finances TV spots claiming it as the ultimate solution to mankind’s energy needs.Future Gen was going to be the big Mofo that proved carbon capture viable for commercial energy generation. But that’s not what happened.

When Matoon, Illinois was selected as the project site in 2006 – a logical choice given its proximity to the high sulphur, dirty burning coal fields of Illinois – the Bush administration had a hissy fit and killed the project. The problem: FutureGen was supposed to have been located in Texas, the pretend home state of the pretend warrior George “Kennebunkport” Bush.

Of course, now that a new president has been selected from the well governed state of Illinois, the project has been announced as re-instated. Considering the power of the coal lobby, one would think it would have a fast track, but obstacles continue to pop up. In June 2009, American Electric Power Co. and Southern Co. announced they’re withdrawing from the corporate consortium trying to put the project together. Peabody Energy, another partner, says it won’t affect the project, and really, if you can’t believe Peabody Energy, who can you believe?

So, the slick ads you may have seen during your primary activity of watching hockey playoffs or American Idol are lies. And even if carbon sequestration turns out to be real, there is no reason to believe that the coal pimps will implement this technology in a timely fashion, considering their 30 years of resistance to Federally mandated smoke stack scrubbers, which removed sulfur dioxide, mercury, arsenic et al from airborne emissions. Persuading the coal industry to install this relatively inexpensive technology has been like pulling the teeth of a hyena.

And that’s just the tip of the rapidly melting iceberg. Go into the Catastrophe Map for more on the seven sins of coal.

Topics: CO2 emissions, Carbon Capture, Carbon Sequestration, Clean Coal Coalition, FutureGen, Sulphur Dioxide | No Comments »

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