Carbon capture project loses its power company partner

New York Times : A private–public project to build a fossil-fuel power plant that generates electricity and hydrogen without emitting carbon dioxide is in jeopardy, writes Matthew Wald for the New York Times. Called FutureGen 2.0, the project entails retrofitting an old oil-fired power station with technology that captures CO ₂. Ameren, the Midwestern power company that is donating the power station, has told its other FutureGen 2.0 partners that it can no longer participate in the project because of Ameren’s unfavorable financial situation. The directors of FutureGen 2.0 will meet next week to decide what to do next. One possibility is for the other partners to buy the power station from Ameren, but they’ll need to act fast. The US Department of Energy promised to cover 80% of the project’s $1.25 billion pricetag, but only if the money is spent by the end of 2015.