Over the next two decades, our nation will need to add a substantial amount of new power generation capacity. The possibility of more stringent environmental regulations for greenho use gas emissions in the utility sector has opened a unique window of opportunity for integrated gasification combined cycles (IGCCs) equipped with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to participate significantly in this expansion. This paper analyzes several advanced technologies under development in the Department of Energy (DOE) research and development (R& D) portfolio that have the potential to improve process efficiency, reduc e capital and operating expense, and increas e plant availability resulti ng in a significant reduction in the cost of electricity for plants that capture carbon. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.