FutureGen Carbon-Capture Power Plant Planned for Mattoon, Ill., Receives Environmental Go-Ahead from U.S. Dept. of Energy

Other news: O’Hare modernization may spawn worldwide airport sustainability standards; Indiana contract saves millions on road salt

U.S. DOE Gives FutureGen Power Plant Environmental Go-Ahead

In mid July, the U.S.Dept. of Energy (DOE) took another step forward on the $2-billion-plus FutureGen Project planned for Mattoon, Ill. FutureGen will be the first U.S. commercial-scale power plant that will capture and store large portions of its carbon output.

A DOE statement said the agency’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) record of decision to move forward toward on the $2.5-billion project was based on careful consideration of the proposed project’s potential environmental impact, as well as the program’s goals.

“The carbon capture and sequestration technologies planned for this flagship facility are vitally important to America and the world,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “This step forward demonstrates the administration’s commitment to developing clean energy technologies, creating jobs, and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.”

The record of decision and a cooperative agreement signed by DOE and the FutureGen Alliance allow the Alliance to proceed with site-specific activities for the project. Over the next eight to 10 months, the Alliance will complete a preliminary design, refine its cost estimate, develop a funding plan, expand the sponsorship group, and, if needed, conduct additional subsurface characterization.

Following these activities, which will be completed in early 2010, the DOE and the FutureGen Alliance will decide whether to continue the project through construction and operation. Both DOE and the FutureGen Alliance agree that a decision to move forward is the preferred outcome and anticipate reaching a new cooperative agreement for the full project. Funding will be phased and conditioned based on completion of necessary NEPA reviews.

The DOE’s total anticipated financial contribution for the project is $1.073 billion, $1 billion of which would come from Recovery Act funds for carbon capture and sequestration research.

The FutureGen Alliance’s total anticipated financial contribution is $400 million to $600 million. The project’s estimated total cost is $2.4 billion, consequently, the Alliance, with support from DOE, will pursue options to raise additional non-federal funds needed to build and operate the facility, including options for capturing the value of the facility that will remain after conclusion of the research project, potentially through an auction of the residual interests in the late fall.

When fully operational, the facility will use integrated gasification combined cycle technology with carbon capture and sequestration into a deep saline geologic formation. It will be designed to capture 90% of the carbon emissions by the third year of operations but may be operated at a 60% capture rate in the early years to validate plant integration and sequestration capability. This technology should sequester one million tons of CO2 annually when it reaches full commercial operation.

Nation’s First Diverging-Diamond Interchange Improves Traffic Flow, Saves Cost

The United States’ first diverging-diamond interchange has been open to traffic. The interchange, owned by the Missouri Dept. of Transportation (MoDOT) connects the Kansas Expressway (Route 13) and Interstate 44 in Springfield, Mo.

MoDOT expects its new diverging-diamond interchange in Springfield, Mo., to improve traffic flow and reduce accidents.

With the diverging-diamond interchange, opposing lanes of the Kansas Expressway now crisscross at traffic signals at the ends of the bridge over Interstate 44. Crossing the bridge, oncoming traffic is on the right, separated by concrete barriers. This gives left-turning vehicles on Kansas Expressway a “free left” onto the I-44 on-ramps. At the same time, two lanes of traffic continuing north or south on Kansas Expressway are able to travel more steadily through the interchange. Signs, pavement markings and concrete islands guide drivers through the interchange. The unique design helps relieve congestion and enabled construction in six months rather than up to two years for a more standard rebuilt interchange.

MoDOT says the diverging-diamond interchange also cost only about one-third as much to build as a more standard rebuilt interchange. MoDOT also expects it to improve safety by reducing rear-end crashes and eliminating left-turn crashes from Route 13 onto I-44. The project involved: removing the existing driving surface on the bridge, repairing the deck and putting down a new driving surface;. building a pedestrian walkway down the center of the opposing lanes, divided by concrete barriers; installing new traffic signals, pavement markings, overhead signs, islands, highway lighting and LED lighting for the pedestrian walkway; and building a new ramp for westbound I-44 to Norton Road. Prime contractor Hartman & Company Construction, Springfield, Mo., completed the $2.9-million project a few days ahead of the schedule. MoDOT is also planning a similar projects in Springfield, Kansas City, and St. Louis.

Indiana Contract Saves Cities, Counties Millions on Road Salt

Local governments in Indiana have saved $8.5 million on road salt for the coming winter thanks to the state’s expanded OneIndiana program. The Indiana Department of Administration (IDOA) and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) say the initiative invites cities, towns, counties, and schools to participate in the state’s contracting process.

The first contract available through the expanded initiative was for road salt, a commodity that had put a strain on local budgets during the past two years because extra-severe winters had led to salt scarcity and high spot pricing.

In response, IDOA aggregated city and county salt needs and state needs into a single, statewide bid that will save $8.5 million—40%—this winter.

“Historically, communities have gone it alone and been forced to pay a higher price for salt,” said Mark W. Everson, commissioner, IDOA. “In these difficult economic times, it is important to leverage the state’s buying power.”

The size of the combined demand and the state’s early bid timeline were key to securing the competitive pricing.

“This type of joint purchasing with the state is illustrative of the type of partnership state and local government should strive for to improve local communities and stretch public resources. We can work better together as partners to improve services for taxpayers,” said David A. Bottorff, executive director, Association of Indiana Counties.

Worldwide Airport Experts Develop Sustainability Standards in Chicago

In July, Chicago Dept. of Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie S. Andolino hosted a second workshop on sustainability with 64 airport executives, environmental experts and industry leaders in person, as well as 30 others via webinar/video conference at O’Hare International Airport.

Representatives from major airports including Paris Charles de Gaulle, San Francisco, San Diego, Reno-Tahoe, Portland, Oakland, Seattle-Tacoma, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Boston Logan, Atlanta Hartsfield, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Baltimore-Washington and Metropolitan Washington airports have participated in the process.

During the recent workshop, participants regrouped into topic-specific committees to continue the work on updating and sharing recommendations to develop new standards for the current O’Hare Modernization Program Sustainable Design Manual (SDM).

The SDM embraces Mayor Richard M. Daley’s “green,” vision for the City of Chicago by ensuring that sustainable objectives are incorporated into design and construction in the modernization of O’Hare International Airport.

Commissioner Andolino thanked the aviation, environmental, and industry leaders who gave their time and shared expertise to help create the next version of sustainable guidelines that include new and updated standards. Said Andolino. “It is our vision and intent that the manual will continue to evolve and become the basis of a global industry standard for airport sustainability, planning, development and everyday functions.”

The committee topics include administrative procedures, sustainable site management, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, construction practices, document organization and process on airports. Many of the participants currently lead the way in various areas including LEED certified terminals, wind turbines, green airport vehicles, recycling efforts, and photovoltaic solar installation.

Also participating in the process are representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Green Building Council, Illinois Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Center for Transportation and the Environment, Clean Airport Partnership, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Association of Airport Executives, Airports Council International, Airports Consultants Council, and City of Chicago Departments.

The O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP) will reconfigure O’Hare’s outdated intersecting runway configuration into a modern parallel configuration, substantially reduce delays and increase capacity.

The OMP will create up to 195,000 new jobs and add an additional $18 billion in annual economic activity to the region, on top of the 450,000 jobs and $38 billion O’Hare generates today, without the use of any state or local taxpayer dollars.

Energy Center Launches New Service for ComEd Customers in Northern Illinois

The Energy Center of Wisconsin has been selected by ComEd of Chicago to design and administer its “Smart Ideas for Your Business” new-construction design service. The service aims to improve standard building practices to make commercial buildings more energy efficient. ComEd’s new construction design service offers technical assistance and financial incentives to developers of non-residential, non-municipal construction or major renovation projects. As part of the service,the Energy Center offers continuing education programs to train the workforce responsible for designing, building and maintaining high -performance energy-efficient buildings. “New construction projects offer a prime opportunity to lock in energy savings,” said Lee DeBaillie, Energy Center Principal Project Manager. “We are excited to work with ComEd customers to deliver energy efficient strategies early in the design process to maximize savings for building owners.” The Energy Center has offered a similar service for Focus on Energy and customers of Wisconsin utilities We Energies and WPPI Energy. In the last year, this service improved the energy efficiency in 3.6 million square feet of new construction and generated electricity savings of 6.7 million kwh and 231,000 therms of natural gas.

On Sept. 23 in Chicago, the Energy Center and ComEd will hold Building Systems: Commissioning and Retro-commissioning, a training program that examines the process for identifying and implementing improvements that upgrade or enhance building performance. To learn more about the program, visit www.ecw.org

Brandenburg and Heneghan Demolishing Reese Hospital

Chicago’s Public Building Commission (PBC) has named demolition contractors Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. and Heneghan Wrecking Co. to perform abatement at and to demolish 24 structures on the Michael Reese Hospital campus.

The 37-acre site is the planned home for the Olympic Village if Chicago lands the 2016 Olympic Games. Whether or not Chicago hosts the Olympics, the city will eventually sell the site for redevelopment.

Brandenburg’s $7.98-million contract covers demolishing two groups of the buildings. Heneghan’s $3.19-million contract covers demolition of two other groups of buildings.

The Brandenburg contract includes a commitment to have 44.66% of the work done by minority- and women-owned businesses (MBE/WBW), and Heneghan’s contract includes a commitment to 46.96% MBE/WBE participation.

Both contracts call for at least 50% of project labor to be performed by city residents and for 15% of labor to be performed by community residents. The PBC estimates that the Michael Reese Hospital demolition program will generate up to 150 jobs, including more than 22 jobs for community residents.

Under the Michael Reese Demolition Program, a total of $12.7 million worth of work has been awarded by the PBC. Some 50.9% of these contract dollars, equaling almost $6.47 million, has been committed to minority- and women-owned businesses.