Illinois selected for FutureGen

Does everyone know what they want for the holidays? In case you missed it, we all got an early present this year. Today the FutureGen Alliance announced that they have selected Mattoon, Illinois, as the place where energy history will be made.

For the record, FutureGen is a public-private venture, which includes companies from around the world and the U.S. Department of Energy, and was formed in 2003 to design and test technology required to turn coal into a gas that can be stripped of harmful emissions, then burned to produce electricity and hydrogen.

FutureGen's most ambitious goal is to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground permanently. When you hear us say that technology is changing the way we will produce energy, FutureGen is the perfect example of what we've been saying.
So join me in applauding the 18,000 residents of Mattoon. They will be firsthand witnesses to how public-private partnerships can change the way we approach and solve any issues the energy sector faces.