FutureGen: The World’s First Near-Zero-Emissions Power Plant

FutureGen is a Federal initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build a power facility that is capable of producing hydrogen and sequestering carbon dioxide (CO₂). The $1 billion research project is intended to create the world’s first near-zero-emissions fossil-fuel power plant.

The project has two major components: (1) to build an energy facility that will create power and hydrogen and capture CO₂ and (2) to locate a host site that will store the CO₂ permanently. The prototype facility will be designed to allow testing of various components and fuel types in all phases of the process, as well as full measurement, monitoring, and verification of CO₂ sequestration.

A national industrial consortium representing coal and power industries will take the lead in developing the FutureGen energy project, with project results being shared among all participants, industry, and the world.

The parameters required for a successful project—coals varying in quality; economic use of hydrogen, CO₂, and other co-products of gasification; access to regulated and deregulated power markets; infrastructure for transporting CO₂ and hydrogen; water; significant permanent storage for CO₂, and, most important, a legacy of leading the world in energy and an inventive spirit—are all found in Texas.