India, US ink green energy deal

Notwithstanding hurdles in the Indo-US civil nuclear power deal, India became the first country to participate in the FutureGen project with the US.

Notwithstanding hurdles in the Indo-US civil nuclear power deal, India became the first country to participate in the FutureGen project, when it signed an agreement with the United States on Monday to build and operate the world's first coal-based power plant without any carbon emissions.

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The 950 million dollar project aims to produce electricity from coal after removing and sequestering carbon dioxide.

The Framework Protocol, signed by Power Secretary R.V. Shahi and US Assistant Secretary of Energy Jeffrey D. Jarret, follows the decision taken during the visit of President George W. Bush last month.

"India's participation in the project is independent of the India-US nuclear deal and the US would not have to seek Congressional approval for this project," Jarret said. The plant would be built by FutureGen Industry Alliance and the process was on to locate a site for the project.

"It makes us proud to say that India is the first government member in the prestigious project. The government will contribute 10 million dollars in this," Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.

It will be the first plant in the world to simultaneously produce both electricity and commercial-grade hydrogen from coal.

The project will emit virtually no airborne pollutants, solid wastes would be converted to commercially valuable products and carbon gases would be captured before they escape into atmosphere, a release from the US embassy said.