Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Act of 2009

The Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Act of 2009, which is also referred to as S. 2744, was introduced into the U.S. Senate on November 5, 2009 by Senator John Barrasso (Republican Wyoming) and co-sponsored by Jeff Bingaman, (Democrat, New Mexico) and Michael Enzi, (Republican, Wyoming).

In a speech in 2007 Barrasso argued that "we must take the debate [on reducing carbon dioxide emissions] seriously so that a coal producing state like Wyoming remains a strong energy player, or our coal will be left as a stranded asset by policy shifts and consumer demand. There is a new vocabulary that Wyoming must direct: carbon capture, carbon sequestration, gasification, liquefaction and allocation. Innovations in each of these issue areas are vital for Wyoming 's future."

The website, Follow the Coal Money, records Barasso as having received $103,100 from the coal industry since 1999 of which $87,500 of those dollars were from industry political action committees.

The website states that in 2009-2010 Barasso has received $14,500 from the coal industry. The most recent contributors include Contributors include Duke Energy ($5,000), Pinnacle West Capital ($2,500), Arch Coal ($2,000), Northeast Utilities ($1,000), Xcel Energy ($1,000), Salt River Project ($1,000), DTE Energy ($1,000) and Dominion Resources ($1,000).

Act provisions
The Act proposed by Barrasso stated that its purpose was to "provide incentives to encourage the development and implementation of technology to capture carbon dioxide from dilute sources on a significant scale using direct air capture technologies."

The proposed legislation provides for the Secretary of Energy to establish a Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Prize to "award competitive technology financial awards for carbon dioxide capture from media in which the concentration of carbon dioxide is dilute". The prize, the act states, would be for
 * (i) a design for a promising capture technology;
 * (ii) a successful bench-scale demonstration of a capture technology;
 * (iii) a design for a technology described in clause (i) that will--
 * (I) be operated on a demonstration scale; and
 * (II) achieve significant reduction in the level of carbon dioxide; and
 * (iv) an operational capture technology on a commercial scale that meets the minimum levels";

The Act also provides for the establishment of a Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Advisory Board comprising nine members, each appointed for a six-year term. The Board would be charged to carry out the duties allocated to the Energy Secretary under the Act.

Progress of the bill through Congress
On May 7, 2010 it was announced that a U.S. Senate committee passed the bill. However, the bill still has to be considered by the full Senate and the House. In a media release Senator John Barrasso stated that "we can eliminate excess carbon in the atmosphere without eliminating jobs in our communities. Congress should pass S.2744 and other common-sense legislation that will encourage innovation and investment into new technology."

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Carbon Capture and Storage in the United States