Illinois wins coal-energy project (Chicago, Oak Park: environment, loan, realty)

[sukwoo]

Illinois beat out Texas as the home of a new coal gasification project. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...i_breaking_500 This is great news, not only for the construction jobs it will bring, but also for the potential for Illinois to become a leader in environmentally-friendly energy production.

[via chicago]

I'm still not entirely sold on the concept of burrying CO2 underground...seems like a recipe for disaster down the road. kind of like burying spent nuclear rods in a mountain..cant expect you can sweep things under the carpet and that it wont come back to bite future generations. but we will see what this study finds.

[Steve-o]

Incredible news! I was reading about that in the Trib the other day and was hoping to get awarded the contract. Im interested in what they can do with that baby.

[HOWELL_STREET]

...Regarding the pressurized CO2 stored underground. Prior to the 1940s, very large natural gas storage tanks (similar to water tanks) were seen around our country. They stored natural gas - - pressurizing it - - with an internal very heavy circular disk. As a kid, I can remember one such tank in Oak Park, Illinois. It was located at the public park right at Harrison Street and Austin Blvd. As a kid, I used to snow - sled in that park. But I can no longer recall its name.

But with storing any type of gas underground, there is always a potential of an explosion. How much stored gas pressure will the structure of the earth permit? I don't know but maybe you do?

But I am happy that Illinois won in favor of Texas... because that should become a boom to our Illinois coal industry.

Most of our coal is in southern Illinois. However, we DO have some dormant coal fields buried around the Coal City, IL areas and Cherry, Illinois.

In November of 1909, the worse coal mine disaster EVER in the U.S. occured at the Cherry Coal Mine. And that is only about 80 - 90 miles from Chicago.

If you have an interest in reading about that disaster, then read Karen Tintori's book, "TRAPPED: THE 1909 CHERRY MINE DISASTER". Any inter-loan library could provide it for you....

One of my favorite Southern Illinois areas is Mount Vernon... and there is an abundance of coal in that area.

On the Chicago Suburbs Forum, I have been talking about finding one's 'sleeper' - - a beautiful little town that still has low home prices and great future potential. So perhaps Southern Illinois in the future will become that 'sleeper' rea for people searching for a nice quiet place to live and raise a family.

Carter Glass

[my54ford]

Coal gasifacation while in realty an old technology, Is a very expensive process and on a cost per kw basis will not support itself without Goverment money. This is the real goal of the greenys, make electricity so expensive it forces people to conserve. Like the lies told about wind. If this think meets COD it's gonna cost you all a ton of money.......

[aragx6]

At least we won't be relying as heavily on foreign oil. While this might be more expensive in the short term we have a plethora of it and prices are not as reliant on the whims of OPEC.