The Bush administration torpedoed the "clean coal" project FutureGen in December 2007 over rising costs that would be largely paid by the government.

But a report issued last week by the Government Accountability Office found the cost estimates were exaggerated. A separate congressional report concluded that shelving the project set back "clean coal" technology in the U.S. by as much as 10 years, the Washington Post reported.

The Department of Energy may soon announce whether the project will be revived using new funds available through the economic stimulus plan. The project was set to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired plant in Illinois and bury it deep underground.

Coal is cheap, dirty and abundant in the U.S., responsible for about half of the electricity generated in the country. Emerging economies India and China are also dependent on coal; some estimate China has in recent years built the equivalent of one coal-fired power plant each week, and it recently said coal would continue to be a dominant source of power generation in the coming decades.

At a congressional hearing last week, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the U.S. needs to pursue "clean coal" technology "because India and China won't turn their back on coal, and the U.S. won't," Bloomberg reported.

The Bush administration estimated the FutureGen costs had spiraled to $1.8 billion. The GAO report pegged the number closer to $1.3 billion. Chu warned last week, however, that current estimates could be as high as $2.3 billion.