Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumDOE Yanks Funding From Yet Another Failing "Clean Coal" Project
The Department of Energy has suspended Recovery Act funding for a California project to trap carbon emissions from a coal-fired power plant, an agency spokeswoman said. DOE had set aside $408 million for Hydrogen Energy California LLC's effort to produce power from coal and petroleum coke, trap most of its CO2 emissions, and use the carbon for making fertilizer and stimulating oil wells. Of the total, $275 million was American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars.
But DOE says HECA has not met certain benchmarks. The company has, for example, recently said it failed to secure customers for the enhanced oil recovery portion of the project. That means DOE is withholding $250 million in funding for HECA. DOE has already reimbursed the company $153 million. The agency has said the money was well spent because it has helped enhance knowledge of such projects.
DOE says it made the decision months ago as a way to protect taxpayer money. The agency is leaving the door open to reconsidering its funding decision depending on the project's progress. The administration's focus on researching and developing carbon capture technologies for power plants is part of an effort to make coal viable while also heeding concerns about climate change.
HECA's woes with Recovery Act money are not unlike those of FutureGen 2.0, a now-defunct carbon capture and sequestration project in Illinois that also failed to meet DOE development benchmarks.
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http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060021604
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)There's your 'Thanks, Obama!' moment. The 'All of the Above' energy 'policy' that promoted using every possible energy source, no matter how dirty or fictitious, rather than honestly simply pushing for an end to fossil fuels. Helping the US pollute much more for more years than necessary.
PatrickforO
(14,593 posts)government and used to rebuild our infrastructure. Giving this money to private sector companies didn't do nearly as much for American workers and in this case nothing for the environment either.
Nihil
(13,508 posts)Seriously? The scam is over, the lizards (from low to highest in the land) have all
made their money and moved on to bigger & greater (or at least more profitable)
things so why prolong the inevitable?