Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:29 PM CST
COLUMN: U of I research grant sounds like good news for FutureGen project
By BILL LAIR, Managing Editor
blair@jg-tc.com
It didn’t make front-page news but I take Wednesday’s announcement that the University of Illinois is getting a federal grant to study sequestration of carbon dioxide as good news for FutureGen.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week awarded almost $900,000 to the U of I to study the effects of injecting carbon dioxide underground.
Why is that good news?
Well, the largest carbon sequestration project that I know of is the proposed FutureGen project at Mattoon.
The EPA announcement says the grant is for a “three-year research project to find out the environmental impact of injecting carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from a source such as a coal-fired electric generating power plant into Illinois’ deep underground water reservoirs for long-term storage.”
I don’t believe FutureGen is designed to deposit CO2 into water reservoirs. FutureGen officials have said the CO2 from the proposed Mattoon plant will be buried several thousand feet below existing aquifers.
But the words “injecting carbon dioxide from a source such as a coal-fired electric generating power plant” certainly fit the FutureGen description.
FutureGen is a $2 billion public/private coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plant that plans to gasify coal into electric energy while sequestering carbon dioxide several thousand feet underground at a site west of Mattoon.
According to the EPA, researchers will determine the effects of CO2 sequestration on ground water aquifers. The plan is to see whether CO2 injection could cause changes in reservoir pressure and possibly result in salt water migrating from deeper ground water and contaminating fresh water near the surface.
“Although underground injection of CO2 for such things as enhanced oil and gas recovery is a long-standing practice, CO2 injection specifically for geologic sequestration involves different technical issues and potentially larger volumes of CO2 than in the past,” an EPA news release stated.
The EPA is working with the U.S. Department of Energy as it carries out its carbon sequestration research and development program.
The Department of Energy is supposed to make a final determination on the FutureGen project early in 2010.
But the fact that EPA award ed a grant of $900,000 to study carbon dioxide sequestration indicates that sequestration from a coal-fired electric generating plant is going to happen.
And the project that is closest to completion is FutureGen.
The feds have committed $1 billion to building FutureGen. Now the feds commit another $900,000 to studying the effects. To paraphrase former Sen. Everett Dirksen, that’s some serious money.
Speaking of money, author/former political reporter James Merriner didn’t offer much encouragement for cleaning up government corruption.
In delivering the Edgar Lecture Series address Wednesday night at Eastern Illinois University, Merriner said a big reason for the seeming increase in political corruption is due to the growth in government.
More government, more corruption, he said.
As government grows, it means more agencies, more employees, more directors and more money flowing through the system. Thus, he said, there are more opportunities for corruption.
The best way to clean up government, he said, is to reduce the size of government.
He was primarily talking about Illinois but said the general trend is for government growth. Fewer people these days, it seems, want government to do less.
Think about that as Congress prepares to add health care to the federal government’s services.
Hundreds of area men and women who served in Afghanistan returned home this fall but there still are thousands of U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An organization called Operation Care Package, based in Joliet, again this year is sending Christmas stockings to military men and women.
Operation Care Package is a 501(c)3 organization, which means it is non-profit and any donations made are tax deductible.
The group is preparing to send more than 10,000 handmade Christmas stockings to the troops.
Kat Caulfield of Joliet, who is heading up the drive, said they can use more donations.
“With the holiday shipping deadline fast approaching, we are trying our best to get the word out for more support,” she writes. “If we are going to fill and mail all of these stockings, many more gifts, food and hygiene articles are needed, in addition to monetary donations to help pay the postage, which is the largest expense.
“We are constantly told how every package, letter or child’s drawing means so much to them, especially when it comes from complete strangers. Having a package sitting on your bed filled with goodies, a new pair of socks and a phone card after being out on a mission for 7 days brings a much needed smile and sense of relief to them knowing people back home really do care.”
Visit the group’s Web site at www.operationcarepackages.org or mail donations to: Operation Care Package, 611 Wilcox St., Joliet, IL 60435
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what wrote on Nov 20, 2009 11:32 PM: