Midwest coal project moves forward

WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- A Midwest Energy Department Project has found a way to extract energy from unmined coal.

The project is part of the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium, one of seven regional partnerships headed by the Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory and the Illinois and Indiana State Geological Surveys.

Recently, the MGSC began injecting carbon dioxide in a groundbreaking field project in Wabash County, Ill.

By injecting carbon dioxide into the unmined coal seams, coalbed methane and other natural gases can be extracted and used to generate power.

The project is the first of the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships to inject carbon into a coal seam for the purpose of extracting power. The project also aims to safely store carbon dioxide underground.