world's first near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant: "By JOSH BAUGH
Eagle Staff Writer
Local officials say a 130-acre plot of land between Buffalo and Jewett is the perfect spot for the world's first near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant - and that's why they're competing for the $1 billion project.
Leon County and Brazos Valley Council of Governments representatives say the plant would be tremendously helpful to the local economy and that Texas A&M University could benefit from research opportunities.
The area is one of nine sites in Texas competing to be the state's selection, which will vie against top picks from eight other states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wyoming and Illinois."

The project is a partnership involving the U.S. Energy Department and eight companies from the United States, China and Australia. The plant, known as FutureGen, will be able to provide electricity to about 275,000 single-family homes.
The concept behind the prototype plant is that it traps emissions that normally are released into the atmosphere. Those emissions - primarily carbon dioxide - have been linked by scientists to global warming.
Instead of burning coal to produce electricity, the plant will turn that coal into hydrogen-rich gas that burns much more cleanly. Carbon dioxide will be trapped and injected as a compressed fluid into underground geological formations or depleted oil and gas wells. The plant also will serve for extensive research to further develop technologies for producing cleaner energy.
Because of the methods used by the plant, the site will be selected based on specific geographic and geologic standards. The plant will need a water reservoir for cooling and access to depleted wells. The site also must be near a railroad system and highways. And the area must be able to support the workforce, so applicants have to submit information about housing and schools.
The local officials who have gathered the needed information about the plausibility of the Leon County site say the area is a perfect fit. But because some of the other states are large coal producers, Texas may face elimination, said one professor at Texas A&M University.
"It will be a tough competition for us," said Kalyan Annamalai, a professor in A&M's mechanical engineering department. "A lot of coal is being mined in those other states."
Leon County officials have said the area produces coal, which is another positive for their site. But the coal mined in Texas, lignite, is considered lower-grade and produces too much ash as it burns, Annamalai said. Coal mined here is mixed with a higher-grade coal when used by power plants, Annamalai said.
Having the one-of-a-kind FutureGen near A&M would be a great benefit to the university and its research, he said.
The site in Leon County is a perfect match in terms of geography and geology, County Judge Byron Ryder said.
"We knew that we had everything we needed: the land, the oil wells to inject into, the railroad and a good highway system," he said.
The site borders the Union Pacific railroad by U.S. 79 and is near Interstate 45.
Trapping carbon dioxide emissions and storing them underground is a practice called sequestration, but it's not widely used in the United States, A&M professor Daulat Mamora said. Sequestration is more common in Europe, where emissions are more highly regulated.
However, carbon dioxide is used in West Texas to help recover additional crude oil and natural gas from wells, Mamora said.
When oil and gas wells cease producing, they're not actually empty - in fact, they can contain up to 15 to 20 percent more product. But the pressure in the wells drops to the point that it becomes too difficult to pump out the remaining oil or gas.
Carbon dioxide emissions can be pumped into the ground to repressurize those wells, aiding in the recovery of the remaining fuel. And Leon County is home to just such wells, officials said.
Mamora said he and several of his students are working on an Energy Department project researching carbon dioxide sequestration. The safety of the practice, he said, is debatable.
"If you inject it into a depleted gas reservoir, then it shouldn't leak because you've taken natural gas from the reservoir," he said. "Theoretically, the carbon dioxide shouldn't leak out. It [the reservoir] has stored natural gas for millions of years before."
A leak would mean releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is already happening at the country's 600 coal-burning plants. But the gas also displaces oxygen and in high enough quantities, could lead to asphyxiation, he said.
"We must make sure that all wells abandoned are left in good condition," Mamora said. "Otherwise, you might get carbon dioxide out of it."
Ryder, the county judge, said he hasn't heard of any local opposition.
"I think that if they do this, it [the carbon dioxide emissions] will be safe enough to put in the ground," he said. "You always have a concern with that, but I think they'll use all precautions to make it right."
Local government officials say the plant would be great for the area's economy. Not only would it create an unknown number of jobs at the plant, but it would also bring more businesses to the area, Ryder said.
The project's $1 billion price tag would be "significant" in a local community, said Michael Parks, assistant executive director of the council of governments.
Parks acknowledged that one of the major concerns is over pumping carbon dioxide into the ground. That's why the science of it is so important, he said.
"It's purely based on geology," Parks said. "Leon County has the proper geology and oil fields to make this work."
• Josh Baugh's e-mail address is josh.baugh@theeagle.com.