The United States Government has canceled support for a clean coal demonstration project after the project's development costs nearly doubled, to $1.8 billion, citing the need to limit taxpayer exposure, according to a New York Times report.

Further, more than a decade into the research process, it remains an unanswered question whether the clean coal technology -- capturing and injecting carbon dioxide back into the ground -- can be executed in a safe and cost-effective manner.

Among other hurdles, scientists need to determine which soil formations are most environmentally appropriate for holding and organically processing the carbon dioxide, and that don't contain the risk of dioxide bubbling back to the surface, or polluting ground water.

Continue reading The clean coal that may not be in the U.S.'s energy future

The clean coal that may not be in the U.S.'s energy future originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.