Senate hearing reflects on clean energy technology potential

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) held a hearing last week to discuss carbon capture and utilization technologies.

The hearing was officially titled “Expanding and Accelerating the Deployment and Use of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration (CCUS).” Attending as witnesses were Wyoming Gov. Matt Dread’s policy advisor, Matthew Fry; David Greeson, vice president of development for NRG Energy, Inc.; and S. Julio Friedmann, CEO of Carbon Wrangler, LLC. Senators and their witnesses discussed moves the federal government could make to promote additional CCUS projects, as well as support of carbon dioxide pipelines.

CCUS technology captures CO2 where fuel is burned, then transported and stored or used for other projects.

“The committee has an opportunity to complement the FUTURE Act effort by reviewing statutes and regulations that impact CCUS,” Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) said. “Now is the time to see what more we could do to encourage, and remove impediments to, the use and deployment of CCUS. We need to make sure our laws and regulations accelerate, not hinder, our environmental goals.”

The Furthering carbon capture, Utilization, Technology, Underground storage, and Reduced Emissions (FUTURE) Act is a bill that hopes to expand the 45Q tax credit and encourage development and use of CCUS technologies and processes. Witnesses testified that the act could be helped by simplifying environmental permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act.

“Many governments see investment in this technology as important to transforming energy markets and claim the additional benefits from those investments, for example, stronger heavy industry sector, growing jobs, avoiding the health consequences of pollution and a number of other things,” Friedman said.