The US Department of Energy (DoE) hopes to have identified by the autumn a short list of a dozen sites for the FutureGen zero-emission coal-fired plant, with the potential sites largely dependent on appropriate geological formations suitable for the sequestration of carbon dioxide. The key FutureGen site selection variable is the presence of depleted oil fields, coal bed methane reserves and/or saline aquifers.
However, the DoE warns, progress on the project is dependent on Congress' willingness to divert money from old clean-coal programmes, although the budget for the programme has increased by almost a third over the last year to more than $60 a year.
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