S. 962

Department of Energy Carbon Capture and Storage Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 2007

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II

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 962

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 22, 2007

Mr. Bingaman (for himself, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Tester, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Webb) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize and improve the carbon capture and storage research, development, and demonstration program of the Department of Energy and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Department of Energy Carbon Capture and Storage Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 2007.

2.

Carbon capture and storage research, development, and demonstration program

Section 963 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16293) is amended—

(1)

in the section heading, by striking research and development and inserting and storage research, development, and demonstration;

(2)

in subsection (a)—

(A)

by striking research and development and inserting and storage research, development, and demonstration; and

(B)

by striking capture technologies on combustion-based systems and inserting capture and storage technologies related to energy systems;

(3)

in subsection (b)—

(A)

in paragraph (3), by striking and at the end;

(B)

in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and

(C)

by adding at the end the following:

(5)

to expedite and carry out large-scale testing of carbon sequestration systems in a range of geological formations that will provide information on the cost and feasibility of deployment of sequestration technologies.

; and

(4)

by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:

(c)

Programmatic activities

(1)

Energy research and development underlying carbon capture and storage technologies

(A)

In general

The Secretary shall carry out fundamental science and engineering research (including laboratory-scale experiments, numeric modeling, and simulations) to develop and document the performance of new approaches to capture and store carbon dioxide.

(B)

Program integration

The Secretary shall ensure that fundamental research carried out under this paragraph is appropriately applied to energy technology development activities and the field testing of carbon sequestration activities, including—

(i)

development of new or improved technologies for the capture of carbon dioxide;

(ii)

modeling and simulation of geological sequestration field demonstrations; and

(iii)

quantitative assessment of risks relating to specific field sites for testing of sequestration technologies.

(2)

Field validation testing activities

(A)

In general

The Secretary shall promote, to the maximum extent practicable, regional carbon sequestration partnerships to conduct geologic sequestration tests involving carbon dioxide injection and monitoring, mitigation, and verification operations in a variety of candidate geological settings, including—

(i)

operating oil and gas fields;

(ii)

depleted oil and gas fields;

(iii)

unmineable coal seams;

(iv)

saline formations; and

(v)

deep geologic systems that may be used as engineered reservoirs to extract economical quantities of heat from geothermal resources of low permeability or porosity.

(B)

Objectives

The objectives of tests conducted under this paragraph shall be—

(i)

to develop and validate geophysical tools, analysis, and modeling to monitor, predict, and verify carbon dioxide containment;

(ii)

to validate modeling of geological formations;

(iii)

to refine storage capacity estimated for particular geological formations;

(iv)

to determine the fate of carbon dioxide concurrent with and following injection into geological formations;

(v)

to develop and implement best practices for operations relating to, and monitoring of, injection and storage of carbon dioxide in geologic formations;

(vi)

to assess and ensure the safety of operations related to geological storage of carbon dioxide; and

(vii)

to allow the Secretary to promulgate policies, procedures, requirements, and guidance to ensure that the objectives of this subparagraph are met in large-scale testing and deployment activities for carbon capture and storage that are funded by the Department of Energy.

(3)

Large-scale testing and deployment

(A)

In general

The Secretary shall conduct not less than 7 initial large-volume sequestration tests for geological containment of carbon dioxide (at least 1 of which shall be international in scope) to validate information on the cost and feasibility of commercial deployment of technologies for geological containment of carbon dioxide.

(B)

Diversity of formations to be studied

In selecting formations for study under this paragraph, the Secretary shall consider a variety of geological formations across the United States, and require characterization and modeling of candidate formations, as determined by the Secretary.

(4)

Preference in project selection from meritorious proposals

In making competitive awards under this subsection, subject to the requirements of section 989, the Secretary shall give preference to proposals from partnerships among industrial, academic, and government entities.

(5)

Cost sharing

Activities under this subsection shall be considered research and development activities that are subject to the cost-sharing requirements of section 988(b).

(d)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section—

(1)

$90,000,000 for fiscal year 2007;

(2)

$105,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and

(3)

$120,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.

.