The coal industry is planning to replace oil by turning coal into liquid fuels and into feedstocks for the chemical industry. Of course they are also planning to burn ever-more coal to produce electricity. If these plans materialise, green chemistry and renewable solar energy will both be sidelined for the rest of this century.
Peter Montague
The US Department of Energy announced January 30 that it is pulling out of the Futuregen Project in Mattoon, Illinois the United States US$1.8 billion clean coal demonstration plant, scheduled to start construction next year. The DoE had committed to paying 74% ($1.3 billion) of Futuregens costs.
New evidence of dioxin's ability to cause cancer in humans has come to light just as environmental justice activists across the US are planning a major campaign to attack dioxin at its sources.