According to GAO, the Department of Energy has invested $1.1 billion since 2009 in 11 projects to show how carbon dioxide emissions from coal-power and industrial facilities could be captured and stored.
Initially, DOE committed to eight coal projects, mostly new power plants with carbon-capture equipment, however, seven were not built, largely due to factors that made coal power less economically viable.
In addition, senior management directed DOE to bypass some cost controls to help struggling coal projects and as a result, DOE spent almost $300 million more than planned on four facilities that were never built.
