Clean coal coalition pleased with funding announcement

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that projects by Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Hydrogen Energy International LLC have been selected for up to $408 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The two projects selected — an existing power plant in North Dakota and a new facility in California — will incorporate advanced technologies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

In response to the awarding of these grants, Steve Miller, President and CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) issued the following statement:

"Today's announcement underscores the Obama Administration's commitment to work with the private sector to in bringing the next generation of advanced clean coal technologies to capture and store CO2 to the marketplace.

"We are hopeful that these project announcements will be two of many important steps taken by DOE, industry and academia to bring the next generation of clean coal technologies for carbon capture and storage to the market place, in both a cost-effective and timely fashion. These efforts will also allow the United States to play an expanded international leadership role in addressing concerns about climate change.

"I am most familiar with Basin's work in this area and I believe DOE's decision to fund new technology demonstration at the Antelope Station project is, at least in part, in recognition Basin's outstanding work over many years in the area of carbon capture and sequestration technology. Basin has been a pioneer in this field in demonstrating carbon capture at the Antelope Valley Station, with the captured CO2 from that project being used for enhanced oil recovery in Canada."