Texas governor REALLY wants coal gassification plant
The US Department of Energy is looking for a site for their FutureGen demonstration power-plant project, and Texas Governor Rick Perry really, really wants it to be built in Texas. Perry has committed $20 million of state funds to the project, to help make it happen. The experimental plant is intended to gasify a variety of different fossil fuels and then use that to produce 275 megawatts of power. The other major part of the plant that is new is carbon sequestration to minimize the emissions coming from the plant. The plant is expected to eventually capture as much 1 million tons per year of carbon dioxide for underground storage. As part of the incentive package the state assumed liability for any issues associated with the carbon transportation and storage. One of the reasons that Texas wants the $1 billion plant is because of a current debate over building 11 new coal fired power plants that are needed to meet the state's future power demands. Environmental impact studies of the proposed sites in Texas and Illinois are due to be completed by July 30, with site selection completed by September.
[Source: Weatherford Democrat via TreeHugger]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mobile_army_sugical_hospital 10:25AM (2/07/2007)
Evidently, encouraging conservation, mandating green building practices and giving incentives for the use of wind and solar are all worse alternative to strip mining, water pollution and permanent damage to the very places we live and admire.
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Tim 11:42AM (2/07/2007)
Follow the money! Oil companies have been pumping lots of money into acquiring interest in coal companies. Neither wants us to go toward renewable fuels such as Solar, Wind, Tide etc. Both have been pumping lots of money into politician's war chests on both sides of the isle. We need TERM LIMITS so we can exchange crooked career politicians and attorneys for UNPAID citizen legislators.
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brien adkins 2:59PM (2/07/2007)
There is a reason why Perry is doing this. Its the same reason he is pushing for the HPV shots for 6th grader, and standardized testing for college students. He wants in the national limelite. This man is playing the PR game to get his name out there. But who knows? Lets let time deal with this one.
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Jackie Stevens 12:51AM (3/22/2007)
Although coal gasification has been used for many years, carbon sequestration is completely unproven. The real purpose of FutureGen is to provide a distraction. These plants are more expensive to build and much more energy intensive to run. They do nothing to prevent global warming unless massive quantities of carbon dixide can be injected into the ground. Injection of carbon dioxide is also a very energy intensive and expensive endeavor which has never been attempted on a large scale. While hiding behing coal gasification, it will be business as usual for utilities.
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