The money will be used in support of research on more efficient and economic ways for coal plants to meet current and future environmental regulations.

For the third year in a row, Senate and House Interior Appropriations conferees supported the Clean Coal Initiative by authorizing increased funding including US$9 million to initiate the FutureGen project - the world's first zero emission coal facility that will produce both electricity and hydrogen, while sequestering greenhouse emissions.

The Bush administration has committed US$2 billion in a 10-year program for continued investment in joint government-industry clean coal projects developing innovative technologies for coal-fired power plants. It is anticipated private sector participants will contribute just over $1 billion, well in excess of the department's requirement for 50 percent private sector cost-sharing.

Earlier this year, DOE announced the selection of eight coal projects during the initial phase of the CCPI and expects to award approximately US$316 million.

The the key elements of the coal research program include: technologies to reduce emissions from existing coal-fired power plants; radical new designs for future coal-based plants, including Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, coal-based fuel cells, and FutureGen; technologies to convert coal to clean transportation fuels; and carbon sequestration technologies to capture and store the CO2 emissions from coal that are associated with global climate change.