Hill Heat

• Victor K. Der, Acting Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
• Mark Gaffigan, director of the natural resources and environment team, Government Accountability Office
• Sarah Forbes, senior associate, climate and energy program, World Resources Institute
• Robert Finley, director, Energy and Earth Resources Center, Illinois State Geological Survey
• Larry Monroe, senior research consultant, Southern Co.

A House Science and Technology subcommittee will explore the troubled FutureGen advanced coal project Wednesday, days after Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he hoped to proceed in a “modified” way with the project that his predecessor abandoned.

The review of FutureGen, a prototype that would capture and sequester carbon dioxide emissions among other goals, is part of a broader Energy & Environment Subcommittee probe of DOE programs to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases from burning coal, which currently provides half the nation’s electric power.

The hearing will “inform members about near-term and long-term strategies to accelerate research, development and demonstration of advanced technologies to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing coal-fired power plants,” according to the committee.

But questions about FutureGen – a joint federal-industry project that was slated for construction in Mattoon, Ill. – specifically will probably take center stage.