The FutureGen Texas Team will be in Palestine for a presentation and site visit on Wednesday.
According to Brian Malone, executive director of the Palestine Economic Development Corporation, the reception breakfast at 7:15 a.m. at the Palestine Public Library followed by the presentation and discussion of the site at 8 a.m. at the UT Tyler Palestine Campus board room, will be open to the public.
“The breakfast and presentation will be a chance for community leadership to visit with the team,” Malone said.
Due to the room size, seating will be limited during the presentation.
After the presentation the team will visit the proposed site, the old ALCOA plant — 8 miles east of Palestine on U.S. 79.
The current owner, American Bio Fuel, is willing to work with the plant to let officials co-habitate on the site.
The site needs 100 acres, and the ALCOA site, which was previously approved for the LGE power plant, fits the bill.
After the site visit the team will be taken on a driving tour of the community.
Palestine was selected by the East Texas Council of Governments to be the proposed site and represent the region to the Texas FutureGen Team and selection committee in November.
After achieving that goal, the city and PEDC are striving to be selected the FutureGen Team, headed by state geologist Scott Tinker and railroad commissioner Michael Williams.
This team will recommend sites to the FutureGen Advisory Board, which will choose the final site for consideration by the DOE.
The FutureGen Project is a $1 billion emissions-free 275-megawatt power plant and research facility that will generate electricity, produce hydrogen and capture carbon dioxide, according to Katie Tobin of the FutureGen Texas Team.
In addition to supporting the project, council members approved committing to supply two billion gallons of water per year for 20 years if Palestine is selected for the site of the futuristic power plant. The motion stated it would reflect any changes in future water needs or time schedules.
“The power plant will use a carbon capture technique to make the plant as close to emission free as possible,” Tobin said. The plant will use a gasifier to convert coal into a synthesis gas made of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which is suited to make decarbonized energy after a cleanup process, Tobin explained.
According to the FutureGen Web site, this process will replace the need for natural gas or oil in power production.
The simplified process, according to Christina Bobichaud, manager of American Bio Fuel and area expert on the plant, is coal and water goes into the gasifier and electricity, slag, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and sulfur are produced.
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