[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19521-19522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9704]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


National Energy Technology Laboratory; Request for Information

AGENCY: National Energy Technology Laboratory, Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Notice of request for information on the department's plan to 
implement FutureGen.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On February 27, 2003, President Bush announced that the United 
States would sponsor a $1 billion, 10-year demonstration project to 
create the world's first coal-based, zero emissions power plant to 
produce electricity and hydrogen. As part of this announcement, 
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham unveiled plans for FutureGen--one 
of the boldest steps our Nation has taken toward a pollution-free 
energy future. This project will establish the technical and economic 
feasibility of producing electricity and hydrogen from coal--our lowest 
cost and most abundant domestic energy resource--while capturing and 
sequestering the carbon dioxide generated in the process. FutureGen 
will showcase cutting-edge technologies that can virtually eliminate 
environmental concerns associated with coal utilization. The ultimate 
success of FutureGen depends on acceptance of the concept of 
sequestration by the industries that will be most heavily impacted by 
potential future limitations on carbon emissions. Thus, the Department 
plans to noncompetitively enter into a cooperative agreement with a 
Consortium led by the coal-fired electric power industry and the coal 
production industry. Under the guidance of a Government Steering 
Committee, this Consortium will be responsible for the design, 
construction and operation of the FutureGen plant, and for the 
monitoring, measuring, and verifying of carbon dioxide sequestration. 
The members of the Consortium shall collectively own and produce at 
least one-third of the Nation's coal and at least one-fifth of its 
coal-fueled electricity. In addition to collectively owning and 
producing a large fraction of the Nation's coal and electricity, the 
Consortium is expected to: (a) Be geographically diverse by including 
both eastern and western domestic coal producers and coal-fueled 
electricity generators; and, (b) be resource diverse by including 
producers and users of the full range of coal types. The public's 
interest is best served by having this broad cross section of the coal 
and coal-fueled electricity industries involved in this project. The 
Department will require that the Consortium use fair and open 
competition to select the host site; engineering, design, and 
construction services; and major equipment modules.

DATES: Comments shall be received no later than June 16, 2003 at the 
address below. Confidential information contained within a submission 
should be identified and marked accordingly. The Department will 
protect confidential information to the extent permitted by law.

ADDRESSES: The Department seeks public comment regarding its plans for 
implementing FutureGen. Groups who collectively own and produce at 
least one-third of the Nation's coal and one-fifth of its coal-based 
electricity, and who are interested in establishing a Consortium, are 
invited to submit comments of no more than ten pages that include the 
group's (a) name, telephone number, mailing address, and e-mail 
address; (b) interest in participating in FutureGen; and, (c) technical 
and financial ability and commitment to pursue the FutureGen project 
including qualifications of key team members.
    In addition, any other interested party is invited to submit no 
more than five

[[Page 19522]]

pages of comments on any aspect of the Government's proposed plans (as 
described herein) to implement FutureGen. Such submissions should 
include the party's name, telephone number, mailing address, and e-mail 
address. In formulating the path forward for implementing FutureGen, 
the Department will consider all comments received. It will also 
prepare a report containing a synopsis of comments. The report will be 
posted on the Fossil Energy Web site.
    Interested parties may submit their comments by e-mail or by 
regular mail to: Keith R. Miles, U.S. Department of Energy, National 
Energy Technology Laboratory, PO Box 10940, MS 921-107, Pittsburgh, PA 
15236, E-mail Address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith R. Miles, U.S. Department of 
Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, PO Box 10940, MS 921-
107, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, E-mail Address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An affordable, reliable, and environmentally 
sound supply of electricity is critical to our Nation's future. Coal 
provides over half of our Nation's electricity. However, coal-fired 
power plants also emit one-third of the U.S. anthropogenic carbon 
dioxide emissions. As a key step towards making significant reductions 
in these emissions, and preserve the security and cost benefits of 
using coal to produce electricity for our Nation, it is necessary to 
validate the engineering, economic, and environmental viability of 
coal-based systems to produce electricity with zero emissions. This is 
one of the key objectives of FutureGen.
    Another FutureGen objective is to produce coal-based hydrogen with 
zero emissions. The production of hydrogen supports the President's 
Hydrogen Initiative. Using our abundant, readily available, low-cost 
coal to produce hydrogen--an environmentally superior transportation 
fuel--would help ensure America's energy security. Thus, FutureGen will 
also provide a zero emissions technology option for the transportation 
sector--a sector that accounts for another one-third of our Nation's 
anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.
    The Department envisions that the FutureGen project will employ 
coal gasification technology to co-produce electricity and hydrogen. 
The size of the plant will nominally be 275 MW equivalent electricity 
output.
    Power generation and hydrogen production will be integrated with 
the capture of carbon dioxide and its sequestration in deep underground 
geologic formation(s). The project will seek to sequester carbon 
dioxide emissions at an operating rate of one million metric tons (or 
more) of carbon dioxide sequestered per year. The project will also 
work with the appropriate domestic and international communities to 
establish standardized technologies and protocols for carbon dioxide 
measuring, monitoring, and verification. The Department anticipates 
placing separate contracts to independently validate carbon dioxide 
sequestration.
    In addition, the plant will virtually eliminate environmental 
emissions associated with coal use, specifically nitrogen and sulfur 
oxides, particulate matter, and mercury. The plant will showcase 
cutting-edge technologies that can virtually eliminate environmental 
concerns associated with coal use. This includes establishing 
beneficial uses for coal utilization by-products from the plant.
    The initial FutureGen plant configuration will incorporate cutting 
edge technologies to address scaling and integration issues for coal-
based, zero emissions energy plants. The plant will also be operated as 
a research facility--it will test and validate additional advanced 
technologies as they emerge from research programs. These advanced 
technologies will offer the promise of clean environmental performance, 
at a reduced cost and increased reliability. Thus, FutureGen will be 
designed and constructed with the flexibility to conduct both full 
scale and slipstream tests of such advanced technology over the entire 
operational phase of the project. The large scale of FutureGen is 
driven by the need to adequately validate the engineering, economic, 
and environmental viability of coal-based, zero emissions technologies.
    Global acceptance of the concept of coal-based systems integrated 
with sequestration technology is a key goal of FutureGen. Broad 
involvement in the FutureGen project is required to achieve this goal. 
Although membership of the Consortium will be limited to coal and coal-
fueled electricity generation owners and producers, and while equipment 
and service vendors may participate through a competitive selection 
process for their goods and services, the Department expects the 
Consortium to encourage and provide mechanisms for future participation 
in the project, as appropriate, of interested parties such as state 
governments, regulators, and the environmental community. The 
Department also expects the Consortium to be an ``open'' consortium--
working to expand its initial membership to one that is inclusive and 
open to other coal and coal-fueled electricity owners and producers.
    The Consortium will be expected to contribute at least a 20 percent 
industry cost share. Terms and conditions of inclusion of additional 
domestic and foreign industrial coal producers and coal-fueled 
electricity generators will be determined by the Consortium. Foreign 
government participation in FutureGen will be subject to negotiations 
that are not contrary to the Department's terms and conditions 
established in its cooperative agreement with the Consortium.
    Disclaimer: This Request for Information shall not be construed as 
a commitment by the Government to award a cooperative agreement at this 
time.

    Issued in Pittsburgh, PA, on April 11, 2003.
Randolph Kesling,
Senior Management and Technical Advisor, Office of Business Logistics.
[FR Doc. 03-9704 Filed 4-18-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P