New NARUC report explores federal and state hurdles and opportunities for carbon capture, utilization and storage technology

With the release of its Onshore U.S. Carbon Pipeline Deployment: Siting, Safety, and Regulation report this week, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) dove into the federal and state regulations guiding and hindering carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).

Pipelines are the way forward, in NARUC’s view. They provide for large-scale transportation of CO2, and could be used to shuffle the gas to utilization or storage sites. The CCUS portion of things would involve isolation of CO2 emissions in the first place, from either fuel-intensive industrial processes or power generation. Ideally, that captured carbon could then be used either as a feedstock in other processes or permanently stored in underground reservoirs.

“The NARUC Subcommittee on Clean Coal and Carbon Management is always exploring the potential uses of new technologies to help minimize emissions,” Mary Throne of the Wyoming Public Service Commission, NARUC subcommittee chair, said. “The subcommittee believes that supporting the advancement of technologies such as CCUS is one step of many that will help reach greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and maintain system reliability.”

To be able to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the U.S. by 2050, studies led by the Great Plains Institute and Princeton University in recent years noted that between 29,000 to 66,000 miles of carbon pipelines between point courses and utilization/storage sites would be needed. As of October 2022, less than 6,000 miles of carbon pipelines were in place, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

This latest report, authored by Public Sector Consultants and released by NARUC with support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), concluded that regulatory issues also persist in development of a carbon pipeline, including a narrow federal definition of CO2 and large variation between state and local governments’ laws and regulations. Public concerns about safety and siting also loom large.

“We are pleased to have worked with NARUC’s Center for Partnerships and Innovation to develop this report,” Colin Seals, director at Public Sector Consultants, a Michigan-based public policy research firm, said. “I believe it will serve as an important resource to help decisionmakers navigate the regulatory uncertainty around this emerging technology.”