Emission-free plant site proposed: Federally backed power project would burn coal

Kentucky is one of at least nine states that have already suggested more than 20 sites that will vie for what's estimated to be up to a $1 billion project.

Officials cited ample coal production about a mile away from the proposed Western Kentucky site plus a location near the confluence of the Green and Ohio rivers that would provide a transportation corridor and water supply.

"The site attributes as a total package are very significant, and I think should receive strong consideration," said Andrew McNeill, acting executive director of the Kentucky Office of Energy Policy.

The FutureGen project, first proposed by President Bush's administration in 2003, calls for a new electric power plant that would capture the carbon dioxide created during the production of energy and store it underground rather than release it into the air.

The plant would employ a gasification technique that differs from traditional combustion plants.

Gasification more strictly controls the amount of air used in the process, so only a small amount of the fuel burns completely.

The result is a gas rich with hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which then reacts with steam to produce more hydrogen and carbon dioxide, according to the Department of Energy's description of the process.

The hydrogen can be used as a clean fuel for electricity generation in turbines, while the carbon dioxide produced would be stored underground in saline formations, unmineable coal seams or other formations.

The underground storage would prevent atmospheric emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions have been blamed for global warming.

"It's going to be the cleanest coal facility known to man, and it's going to present this state and this country with an opportunity to utilize our most significant energy resource in a clean, environmentally friendly manner," McNeill said.

Although the ultimate goal of the plant is zero emissions, its initial goal is to capture at least 90 percent of the carbon dioxide produced.

Coal supplies more than half the electricity consumed by Americans.

The plant would be organized and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as the FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of energy companies.

FutureGen would be a merchant plant, meaning the energy produced would be sold and not necessarily used to power a neighboring area. The revenues would be shared between the federal government and the alliance members.

The goal of the research-oriented plant, which will produce electricity for an estimated 150,000 homes, is to prove these technologies are commercially viable. The plant will burn various types of coal for study.

In its proposal, Kentucky will offer up to $2.4 million in various incentives should it be selected for the project.

The 215-acre proposed site, which is on reclaimed land, will soon be purchased by Cash Creek Generation, a Louisville-based energy development company, which will in turn sell the land to the state for about $2,000 an acre, officials said. The state would then donate the land to the Alliance.

The plant is expected to create 1,300 construction jobs at its peak, as well as a permanent work force of 150, according to the FutureGen Alliance.