Clean Energy Digest

Most people following energy topics know that oil and natural gas prices have soared over the past year. But let’s not forget about the other very popular source of energy that is coal.
The graphic at left shows coal prices are up about 100% since the beginning of 2008. And although coal is still very [...]

A very interesting news item popped up on my radar this week. A consortium of major investment banks have banded together to develop “The Carbon Principles.”
According to a press release from Citigroup, the carbon principles are “…climate change guidelines for advisors and lenders to power companies in the United States. These Principles are the [...]

The Department of Energy announced significant changes to the FutureGen clean coal project today.
According to the announcement, “Under this strategy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will join industry in its efforts to build IGCC plants by providing funding for the addition of CCS technology to multiple plants that will be operational by 2015.” The [...]

In recent weeks there have been some questions about how (or even if) the FutureGen project would go forward. Those questions may have been answered today.
This morning the Washington post reported, “…the Bush administration might drop its support for a $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant designed to store greenhouse gases underground, citing mounting cost estimates [...]

FutureGen is a $1.2 billion (and rising) project funded by both the private sector and U.S. Federal Government. The goal is to build a zero-emissions coal power plant that uses carbon capture and sequestration technology. In December the FutureGen Alliance announced the selection of Matoon, Illinois as the site for the project. Unfortunately the Department [...]

The FutureGen Alliance selected Matoon, Illinois as their site for their near-zero-emission coal fired power plant. The FutureGen Alliance is a partnership of public and private organizations that seeks to develop clean energy technologies based on coal.
The site selection for their experimental plant was seen as a major step forward for the project, which [...]

IGCC stands for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle. This short video explains the basics of this technology that allows a coal-fired power plant to produce energy while greatly reducing levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
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As electricity demand increases scientists continue to look for ways to reduce the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration technologies show promise because they create opportunities to lower the impact of older, dirtier sources of electricity.
The Technology
According to the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy, “Carbon sequestration refers to [...]