Queensland scientist, Dr Kelly Thambimuthu, has joined an elite group of technical experts being consulted on the design of the US FutureGen project, a world first US$1billion zero emissions coal-fired power station.
To be designed and developed in the United States, this next-generation facility brings together the US Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of global companies that will implement the project.
The power station will output 275megawatts of electricity and generate hydrogen, an important fuel in a future zero emissions energy mix.
As CEO of the Centre for Low Emission Technology (cLET) in Queensland, Dr Thambimuthu’s work is dedicated to the advancement and development of low emission clean coal technologies in Australia.
He believes the FutureGen project will impact the future of electricity generation and the use of hydrogen as a fuel in Australia and around the globe.
“While the project is being carried out in the United States its impacts will be global, clearing the way for the development of further clean coal and other low emission energy technologies,” Dr Thambimuthu explained.
“The cogeneration of electricity and hydrogen at the facility will showcase a unique energy mix and demonstrate a more immediate low emissions energy scenario while setting us on the path towards the ultimate objective of establishing a more environmentally sustainable energy infrastructure.”
Dr Thambimuthu is the only non-American member of the FutureGen technical experts group responsible for the power generation facility design. He has more than 25 years experience in the field of low emission technology and is highly respected by governments and research organisations world wide.
Dr Thambimuthu has been the Chairman of the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Program since 1995 and a panel member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expert group on CO2 capture and Storage since 2002.
For further information:
Dr Kelly Thambimuthu
CEO, Centre for Low Emission Technology
Ph: +61-7 3327 4060