Feb. 1, 2008 -- Just six weeks after Mattoon, Ill., was selected as the future site of the "the world's cleanest coal-fired power plant," the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has withdrawn its financial support for the project, citing massive cost overruns. The plant was initially priced at $900 million, but ballooning construction costs threatened to double that figure.

DOE was expected to fund 75% of the clean-coal project, spearheaded by a coalition of utility companies known as the FutureGen Alliance. Instead, DOE says it now intends to fund a series of smaller projects aimed at promoting commercial use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, a key component of President Bush's energy plan.

"This restructured FutureGen approach is an all-around better investment for Americans," says U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman. "As technological advancements have been realized in the last five years, we are eager to demonstrate CCS technology on commercial plants that, when operational, will be the cleanest coal-fired plants in the world.  Each of these plants will sequester at least one million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and help meet our nation's rapidly growing energy demand."