Southern Illinois goes all-out on coal research

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) is one of the few schools that devote an entire research center to coal and clean coal technologies.

Illinois relies on coal for 47 percent of its energy, so it makes perfect sense that academics, scientists and researchers are working to develop and use the state’s abundant coal resources.

Southern Illinois is home to the Coal Research Center, which includes the Illinois Coal Development Park. The university is also involved in more than half of the projects at the Illinois Clean Coal Institute, a state-funded energy research program.

Projects include mercury scrubbers, gasification, combustion systems, controlling coal dust, power plant expansion and reducing plant costs through more efficient technologies. The program also extends to carbon management and energy business practices – an important part of coal research.

In a few years, the center will be well positioned to learn a great deal more about CCT. It is about 150 miles from the U.S.’s first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage plant, the proposed $1.5 billion FutureGen in Mattoon, Ill.

Find out more about the university’s projects on Southern Illinois’ Energy Technology blog. The site has useful links to energy-related news items and publications as well as blog posts highlighting its latest work.