We spend a lot of time here talking smack about FutureGen. And there's no shortage of bad things to say about it. Whether it's the outlandish cost, questionable technology, or true green value the "near zero emissions plant" never lacks for good comic fodder. But, just as in all things related to the U.S. economy, it turns out FutureGen faces some strong foreign competition. China's GreenGen and Australia's COAL21 are giving FutureGen a run for its money in the pipe dream-fueled race to the bottom that is "clean coal" plant development. In the interest of justice and fairness we've decided to invite the coal companies, power utilities, and governments that make up these public-private partnerships to the Greentech Media Battle Arena for an all out, no holds barred deathmatch for "clean coal" dominance. Which of these capital-intensive PR campaigns will prove their's is the worst combination of non-scaling technology and wasted resources? Which will walk away with the title of King Coal? I'm choking on anticipation and coal dust... Let's meet our competitors.
FutureGen Alliance In the blue corner, weighing in at a bloated $1.8 billion with a dent-making 275 MW generation capacity, it's... FutureGen. This sleek and sexy coal plant from the future is supported by such industry heavy weights as Peabody Energy Corp., Anglo American, and American Electric Power. FutureGen comes in at a slight disadvantage, having just broken up with the U.S. Department of Energy, it's longtime girlfriend. Hailing from Mattoon, IL this IGCC and CCS plant has a completion date of 2012 never and excellent Photoshopping skills. Also, a mean left hook.
GreenGen Taking it's cue from the Chinese women's figure skating team, GreenGen's steroid-induced physique and $1 billion price tag make it the leanest, meanest "clean coal" plant in the fight. Rising up from the LinGang Industrial Park at Tianjin Binhai New Development Zone with the speed of a million blooming flowers, this beach front beauty is unparalleled in quality construction and operating efficiency. Backed by some serious heavy hitters, including China Huaneng Group, China Datang Corp., China Huadian Corp., China Power Investment Corp., China National Coal Group (very original names here...) and Peabody Energy, we can expect GreenGen's 250 MW online by 2009.
COAL21 Everyone loves an underdog... Today's competitor from the Land Down Under appears to lack the fighting spirit of Australia's more well known pugilists. Having raised over AU$1 billion so far, this public-private national action seems to favor talk over action, words over pictures, and PR over research. This doesn't seem to bother its supporters, which include a number of Australian government groups, BHP Billiton, Rip Tinto, Macquarie Generation, and Peabody Energy Corp. With all that talent you'd think they could hire a decent graphic designer.
And the winner is....
Peabody Energy! Congratulations are in order for the world's largest private coal company, which has lead by example in pursuing "the largest new coal-fueled build-out in several decades" with 40 new plants in 19 states, representing 20,000 MW and 85 million tons of annual coal use, under construction in 2007. Certainly with 237.8 million tons of coal sales in 2007 and annual revenues hitting a new record of $4.6 billion last year Peabody could have tried a little bit harder to prevent that nasty DOE breakup. Sam Bodman was probably a bit jealous when he heard Peabody CEO Greg Boyce was cheating on him with China Huaneng's CEO Li Xiaopeng.