Topeka ? State Rep. Tom Sloan, a Lawrence Republican, has been appointed to a committee that will develop Kansas’ bid in a $1 billion competition with other states to build an emission-free, coal-fired electric generation plant.

“Clean energies — whether from renewable resources or clean-coal technologies — is important to the long-term economic well-being and health of our state and nation,” Sloan said.

The request for proposals by the U.S. Department of Energy is for states to work with utilities on technologies to sequester carbon dioxide instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. The so-called FutureGen project could be worth up to $1 billion to build the plant.

The 11-member Kansas committee is headed by Lee Allison, director of the Kansas Geological Survey.