The Demise of FutureGen: An Opportunity for the 3 Rivers Region?

Coal-fired generation represents about half of the electricity that is used in the United States and about 26% of the total world energy consumption, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA predicts that coal consumption will increase by 2.6 percent per year on average from now until 2015, and then will slow to an average increase of 1.8 percent annually from 2015 to 2030. Coal's share of total world energy consumption is projected to increase to 28 percent in 2030, and in the electric power sector, its share is projected to rise from the current 43 percent to 45 percent in 2030.

Although coal currently is the second-largest fuel source of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions (behind oil), accounting for 39 percent of the world total in 2004, the EIA projects it to become the largest source by 2010. The two key factors underlying the increase are a more rapid projected growth rate for world coal consumption than for oil consumption, and the fact that carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy output are higher for coal than for oil or natural gas. In 2030, coal's share of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions is projected to be 43 percent, compared with 36 percent for oil and 21 percent for natural gas.

All of this tells us that not only is coal utilization here to stay, but that it will be growing into the future. The need to make coal clean, safe, and efficient has never been greater. It is unlikely that those countries whose coal usage is growing the fastest, such as China and India, will be investing in clean coal research and development, as their resources are being consumed in trying to keep up with the public infrastructure needed to support their exploding middle classes. So the burden for finding ways to reduce the problems caused by coal falls on the United States.

A recent Wall Street Journal article ("After Washington Pulls Plug on FutureGen, Clean Coal Hopes Flicker," February 2, 2008) says that "there is no way the U.S. will be able to meet a targeted 80% reduction in CO2 levels below 1990 levels by 2050 - the goal of major legislation favored by several presidential aspirants - unless it develops benign ways to burn coal." It goes on to note that more than 50 conventional coal-fired plants across the country were canceled or delayed due to concerns about the environmental impact or through fear that carbon legislation is coming that could make their output uneconomic.

FutureGen was conceived as a public-private partnership to build a first-of-its-kind coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plant. It would combine advanced technologies related to coal gasification, electricity generation, emissions control, carbon dioxide capture and storage, and hydrogen production. Although the dual-turbine system used to create electricity from gasified coal (known as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology) has been proven at commercial scale, the technologies listed above have yet to be put together and tested at a single plant - an essential step for technical and commercial viability. The FutureGen project was therefore intended to prove that it is possible to produce economical, coal-fueled electricity with carbon capture at a commercial scale. It should be noted that CONSOL Energy is a member of the FutureGen partnership.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently canceled the FutureGen project, but has indicated that it intends to support multiple, smaller demonstrations. This could represent a significant opportunity for the 3 Rivers Region. FutureGen was "the" demonstration project for clean coal, with plans to spend in excess of a billion dollars. If the federal government redirects the funds toward the advancement of the individual technologies, and this region, with its premier coal-related research assets, could be a major beneficiary. With coordinated advocacy and outreach, the 3 Rivers Region could become the center of the next generation of clean coal technology.

The Need for Energy Independence

On January 23rd, 3 Rivers Clean Energy, in partnership with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, hosted the first in a series of networking and information events for companies and organizations interested in energy. Jim Woolsey, the former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency under President Clinton and now a consultant on homeland security and clean energy, discussed how ending foreign oil dependency could benefit U.S. national security and the environment.

In his presentation, he emphasized that the two major challenges facing the United States - terrorism and global warming - can be addressed with many of the same strategies, including investment in strengthening the nation's electric grid, movement toward distributed generation of electricity, investment in alternative sources of energy, and energy independence ("independence" meaning no reliance on imported sources of oil, rather than no use of imported oil). Woolsey sees great opportunity for groups from across the political spectrum to join together in efforts to meet these goals and create a cleaner, safer country.

Here are just a few of his recent writings on this topic:

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