Domenici Pleased With DOE Carbon Sequestration Awards, Calls for Congress to Enact Senate Measures
Senator Calls for Energy Bill Conference
October 9, 2007
04:24 PM
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said that today’s announcement by the Department of Energy that three large scale carbon sequestration projects have received federal awards should only be the beginning of a larger scale effort, including provisions in the Senate-passed energy bill.
Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell announced that DOE has awarded the Plains Carbon Dioxide Reduction Partnership, Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, and Southwest Regional Partnership for Carbon Sequestration contracts for large volume tests for the storage of one million or more tons of carbon in deep saline reservoirs. DOE plans to invest $197 million over ten years on the projects, whose total value is estimated at $318 million.
“I’m excited that with today’s announcement, the federal government has now taken concrete steps toward implementing large-scale carbon sequestration. These three projects alone will double the number of large-volume carbon storage demonstrations in operation worldwide. Carbon sequestration has the potential to take millions of tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere and it deserves our support,” Domenici said.
“It should be noted that the Senate-passed energy bill authorizes $200 million in further research and development for carbon capture and storage technologies. I hope that when Congress returns from recess, we can begin discussions about having a conference so that these and other important provisions can become law. I know from experience that the only way to pass an energy bill is with an open, fair, and bipartisan process,” he continued.
Domenici served as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. He worked with then-ranking member Jeff Bingaman and others to ensure a bipartisan process that resulted in passage of an energy bill by wide margins in the House and the Senate.
The projects announced by DOE today are the first of several demonstration projects planned through the department’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships. The projects include participation from 27 states and three Canadian provinces and aim to demonstrate the entire CO2 injection process.
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