The US government's decision to end funding for a zero emissions coal-fired power plant project has cast doubt over the future of clean coal to meet growing global energy needs.
Late last month the US Department of Energy decided to pull the plug on funding for the FutureGen project launched in 2003 to demonstrate how coal can be burned cleanly by storing carbon emissions underground.
FutureGen funded by utilities and coal companies in the US China Europe and Australia has announced it will continue to pursue the project despite the loss of an estimated 1.2 billion dollars in US government funding.
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman argues the project no longer needs taxpayer support and says innovations in technology and changes in the marketplace have created other viable options.
But FutureGen officials disagree saying there's no other plant which uses both coal gasification and carbon capture to virtually eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.