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“SITING FUTUREGEN IN ILLINOIS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Senate section on pages S14477-S14478 on Nov. 15, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SITING FUTUREGEN IN ILLINOIS
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we are nearing an important milestone in the development of an ambitious project to develop new, environmentally friendly ways of using coal. FutureGen is a joint venture between the Department of Energy and an international, non-profit consortium of coal producers and energy generators. The FutureGen project will explore the viability of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide an unwanted by-product of coal use.
The plan is to begin facility construction for the project in 2010, with full-scale operation beginning in 2013. The plant will generate approximately 275 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to supply 150,000 homes.
The key to the FutureGen project, of course, is siting it at a location that can best meet the project's goals for carbon capture and sequestration. Right now four sites are under consideration, including Mattoon and Tuscola, IL. Those sites are ideally suited for this project. Illinois is coal country. Our State has 38 billion tons of recoverable bituminous coal reserves, the largest in the Nation. That's one-eighth of the total U.S. coal reserves, representing more energy than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined.
The Illinois sites have an abundant and reliable supply of water. The deep, thick, undisturbed sandstone reservoirs of southern Illinois are well suited for carbon sequestration. Unlike the other sites being considered for FutureGen, Illinois shares geological features with other states likely to build new coal plants capable of carbon capture and sequestration. The experience gained, then, by siting this project in Illinois will be key to extending the technology to new coal-fired plants built in the U.S.
Other States recognize the merits of the Illinois FutureGen proposals. Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have each declared support for the Illinois sites, based on their superior geology and infrastructure compared to competing sites.
A decision on where to site the FutureGen project is around the corner, and it can't come too soon. Global warming is already marring the Earth. Global average surface temperatures are rising at an alarming rate. Cold days are fewer, and heat waves are more common. Mountain glaciers and ice caps are melting. The global average sea level is rising. Coastal regions are threatened. It is no exaggeration to say that global climate change is the most threatening environmental disaster we face.
Through it all, the world's top scientists have clearly advised that manmade greenhouse gases that trap the Sun's heat are a significant factor in this shift in the global climate. Of those greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is by far the most important. Because of our reliance on fossil fuels for heating, power, and transportation, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere today are far greater than any seen in 650,000 years. And those levels are only growing.
In fact, the growth rate of carbon dioxide concentrations over the past 10 years is greater than at any point since we have been taking measurements. The problem will only grow worse as China, India, and others work to catch up economically to more developed countries. Much of that economic growth will be fueled by coal-fired powerplants.
The world is looking to the United States for leadership in finding solutions to carbon dioxide emissions. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program this week reported that the United States was responsible for 23 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 2003 that is more than 1.5 trillion metric tons.
Unless we stand up and face this problem head on, it is unimaginable that developing countries will be serious about curbing their emissions. And where does that carbon dioxide come from? Well, almost 40 percent comes from the combustion of coal for electricity.
Coal represents just about half of America's electricity production. It isn't going away anytime soon, especially as energy demands grow in the U.S. and the world. How can we balance these needs, then, for affordable, abundant energy supply and stewardship of the earth's environment? Technology may hold part of the solution. Carbon capture and sequestration is one possible option; it is a way to extract carbon dioxide from combustion gases and pump it underground for long-term storage to keep it out of the atmosphere. There is great potential for such technology in the United States, but it has not been demonstrated in a full, integrated facility.
That's where the FutureGen program comes in. In Illinois, we eagerly await word of the project's location. And we look forward to working with the Department of Energy and the private sector partners to explore the potential of this promising new technology.
As the world faces the interconnected prospects of economic expansion and devastating environmental catastrophe, we must search for technological options that will help lead us to a sustainable future. One promising possibility is the use of underground carbon sequestration to keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere while employing America's most abundant energy source: coal. FutureGen is a key step to testing that technology, and I am proud that Illinois is in a position to show America's responsible leadership to the world.
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