CARBONDALE - FutureGen's revival could mean good things for the region's coal industry and more research money for Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Friday's announcement by the U.S. Department of Energy it would commit $1 billion from federal stimulus funds to restart planning on the zero carbon emission power plant in Mattoon gave SIU President Glenn Poshard, a regular advocate of the project, confidence Illinois' coal reserves could become a major player on the nation's energy landscape.

"We've got enough coal to supply the energy needs of this country for 300 years if we could use it," Poshard said. "If you find a way to use this coal…you've solved a lot of America's energy problems."

Illinois coal's high sulfur content has made reserves largely unfit for commercial use since the Clean Air Act of the mid 1990s put limits on the amount of emissions for burning coal. SIUC specializes in research of clean coal technology. If FutureGen spurs further research and development in the area, Poshard said SIUC and other universities research clean coal could benefit from increased amounts of federal funding.

John Mead, director of the SIUC Coal Research Center, said FutureGen puts a spotlight on what clean energy resources could be made available through coal.

"The hallmark of FutureGen is that it's going to be the equivalent of a very large experimental testing project," Mead said. "The whole world is going to see how these technologies work and that, I think, is going to be very important for Illinois to have such a test conducted in the state."