US senators propose new CO2 removal programs

A bill proposed by a pair of US senators would have federal agencies research more carbon removal and storage strategies and set up an auction mechanism to purchase removed CO2.

The bipartisan bill, largely identical to a proposal that died in committee last year, would authorize the US departments of energy and interior to research and test a broader range of carbon removal pathways, from permanently sequestering carbon to using carbon to make products like biofuels.

The legislation "would spur research and development for carbon removal technologies as well as accelerate the commercialization of innovative carbon removal solutions to help make them more affordable," said senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who introduced the bill on 12 May along with senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).

The legislation would expand the scope of the Department of Energy's (DOE) existing carbon removal research to include biomass-based projects like cultivating algae, enhancing soil to sequester more carbon, geological projects that store carbon in solids like rocks or industrial wastes, and aquatic projects that store carbon in ecosystems like mangrove forests or directly capture carbon from oceans. For certain pathways, the bill would authorize pilot projects and field experiments that could speed development of less tested technologies.

Though more focused on nature-oriented projects, the bill also would task DOE with researching strategies to reduce the costs of manufacturing components for direct air capture projects, which extract CO2 from the atmosphere.

The legislation also would direct the agency to create a five-year "reverse auction" pilot program, in which each year it would solicit bids from US-based facilities looking to sell removed carbon dioxide. The agency would buy the CO2 at the lowest price within each of a "technologically diverse" set of categories, according to the legislation.

Of the $230mn that would be allocated for the auction program, DOE would be required to devote 70pc of funds to projects that remove CO2 for at least 1,000 years.

The DOE in a report from last month said the best near-term economics for carbon capture are offered by natural gas processing facilities, hydrogen derived from natural gas, and ethanol plants. More nascent technologies, including some mentioned in the Collins-Cantwell bill like direct air capture and mineralizing carbon in solid materials, face much more uncertain economics.

The report said that more permanent removal strategies may require policies like "large-scale" government procurement and called for a "competitive purchasing pilot program," which this new legislation would create, as one option.

By Cole Martin