New Geophysical Data Confirms FutureGen Site "Excellent" for Underground Storage of Greenhouse Gases

Contacts:
Rob Finley, Director, ISGS Center for Energy and Earth Resources
217-244-8389
Sallie Greenberg, ISGS Sequestration Communications Coordinator
217-244-4068

December 12, 2008

(Mattoon, IL) – The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) completed an evaluation of new geophysical data that confirms previous research indicating that the proposed FutureGen site in Mattoon, Illinois, is well suited for large-scale, long-term underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂), a major greenhouse gas. Researchers from the ISGS, a division of the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, provided much of the technical information that helped win the FutureGen competition for Illinois one year ago this week. With support from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Coles Together, a regional economic development group, geologists and geophysicists used seismic instruments to provide a three-dimensional perspective of the subsurface extending in a 15-mile radius around the FutureGen site.

Specifically, the seismic study shows the following:

• The Mt. Simon Sandstone and the Eau Claire shale caprock are continuous and uninterrupted at the site. The Mt. Simon Sandstone is the geologic unit slated to store captured CO₂ emissions from the FutureGen clean coal plant, and the Eau Claire is the lowest of many overlying, impermeable geologic "seals" that prevent the CO₂ from escaping.
• There are no faults in either the Mt. Simon Sandstone or the Eau Claire shale in the vicinity of the project site.

"This seismic study confirms Mattoon as an excellent site to sequester carbon dioxide," said Robert J. Finley, Director of the ISGS Earth and Energy Resources Center. "And we believe demonstrating a large-scale, integrated carbon capture and storage project is more important than ever."

The proposed FutureGen plant would be the first of its kind in the United States and one of the first in the world. Both the power plant and the geological sequestration process would attract global attention and place Illinois at the forefront of efforts to use abundant coal resources cleanly and efficiently, without contributing to global climate change. "We at the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability (INRS) of the University of Illinois will continue to participate in the FutureGen site assessment to assure that the project keeps moving forward in anticipation of receiving funding from the FutureGen Alliance, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the U.S. Department of Energy," said William Shilts, Executive Director, Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Updated 9/17/2009 SLD