LegiStorm

Summary:

Carbon capture and sequestration (or storage)—known as CCS—is a process that involves capturing man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) at its source and storing it permanently underground. (CCS is sometimes referred to as CCUS—carbon capture, utilization, and storage.) CCS could reduce the amount of CO2—an important greenhouse gas—emitted to the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants and other large industrial facilities. The concept of carbon utilization has gained interest within Congress and in the private sector as a means for capturing CO2 and converting it into potentially commercially viable products, such as chemicals, fuels, cements, and plastics, thereby reducing emissions to the atmosphere and helping offset the cost of CO2 capture. Direct air capture is also an emerging technology, with the promise to remove atmospheric CO2 directly and reduce its concentration. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has funded research and development (R&D) of aspects of CCS since 1997 within its Fossil Energy Research and Development (FER&D) portfolio. Since FY2010, Congress has provided more than $5 billion total in appropriations for DOE CCS-related activities. The Trump Administration proposed to reduce FER&D funding substantially in its FY2018 and FY2019 budget requests, but Congress has not agreed to the proposed reductions. In FY2018, Congress increased funding for DOE FER&D by nearly $59 million (9%) compared to FY2017, and the House- and Senate-passed appropriations bills for FY2019 would match or increase the appropriated amount compared to what Congress enacted for FY2018 ($727 million). The Petra Nova plant in Texas is the only U.S. fossil-fueled power plant currently generating electricity and capturing CO2 in large quantities (over 1 million tons per year). Globally, the Boundary Dam plant in Canada is the only other large-scale fossil-fueled power plant with CCS. Both facilities retrofitted post-combustion capture technology to units of existing plants, and both offset a portion of the cost of CCS by selling captured CO2 for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Some CCS proponents point to the expanded Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code tax credits for CO2 capture and sequestration or its use as a tertiary injectant for EOR or natural gas production that were enacted as part of P.L. 115-123 as a significant step toward incentivizing more development of large-scale CCS deployment like Petra Nova and Boundary Dam. A number of bills introduced in the 115th Congress potentially would affect CCS in the United States. Several bills or provisions of bills address the Section 45Q tax credits (S. 1535, S. 1663, S. 2256, H.R. 1892, H.R. 2010, H.R. 3761, H.R. 4857). H.R. 1892, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, enacted into law as P.L. 115-123, amended Section 45Q and increased the amount of the tax credit from $20 to $50 per ton of CO2 for permanent sequestration, increased it from $10 to $35 for EOR purposes, and effectively removed the 75 million ton cap on the total amount of CO2 injected underground, among other changes. Some proponents suggest that enactment of this provision could be a “game changer” for CCS, leading to more widespread adoption of the technology, although others question whether the increased incentives are large enough to affect CCS deployment. Other bills address a suite of measures to advance CCS. Several would provide additional financial incentives, such as tax-exempt private activity bonds, and provisions that would enable eligibility of master limited partnerships for CCS infrastructure projects (S. 843, S. 2005, H.R. 2011, and H.R. 4118). One bill (S. 2602) could help advance CCS by making CCS infrastructure projects eligible under the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m(6)). Other bills (S. 2803, S. 2997, H.R. 2296) would support increased R&D for CCS, carbon utilization technologies, and direct air capture of CO2. One bill (H.R. 4096) would authorize a $5 million prize to promote advances in CCS technology research and development.