HOUSTON, Nov 10: The FutureGen Alliance is on track to name a site for its $1.5 billion, clean coal-fired power plant next month, after getting clearance from the US Department of Energy, the coalition said.

All four finalist sites -- two in Texas and two in Illinois -- were cleared to move forward in a final environmental impact statement from the DOE.

The public-private venture is working to design and test technology required to turn coal into a gas that can be stripped of harmful emissions, then burned to produce electricity and hydrogen.

It will also capture carbon dioxide -- widely blamed for global warming -- and store it underground permanently. The plant is expected to be online in 2012.

—Reuters