CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - The Illinois State Geological Survey says it has been awarded a pair of federal grants worth a total of more than $12.6 million to try to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions from the use of fossil fuels.
The Geological Survey said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Energy grants will pay for a project to research the feasibility of commercial-scale underground storage of carbon dioxide. The work will build on a pre-existing project in the Mt. Simon Formation in Decatur.
The second Energy Department-financed project will study the details of potential storage at another site in east-central Illinois.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas generated by burning fossil fuels and linked to climate change.
The Geological Survey is part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois.
