The Great Plains Institute hosted the third CO2NNECT Virtual webinar on September 14, Achieving Net-Zero by 2050: Critical Bipartisan Carbon Management Priorities in Congress.
The event highlighted the importance of economywide deployment of carbon management—carbon capture, removal, transport, utilization, and geologic storage—to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, preserve and sustain high-wage jobs, spur investment, and maintain American technology leadership.
During the event, leaders and experts in Congress, state government, industry, and labor and environmental organizations outlined vital carbon management provisions in bipartisan legislation.
Federal policy perspectives
Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) opened the webinar by elaborating on opportunities to enact carbon management priority measures this Congress in infrastructure and budget reconciliation legislation, emphasizing the broad support across the political spectrum. Senator Luján stressed that “carbon capture is a significant part of the toolkit needed” to reach net zero and outlined key provisions needed to support carbon management.
These provisions include:
- Provide a direct pay option for carbon management project developers,
- Extend the commence construction window by an additional ten years, to the end of 2035,
- Enhance credit values across carbon management technologies to drive early deployment,
- Eliminate annual carbon capture thresholds, and,
- Enact the Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions (SCALE) Act to enable deployment of CO2 [carbon dioxide] transport and storage infrastructure by midcentury.
Following the senator’s statements, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Thomas Harris spoke on behalf of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. Secretary Harris emphasized the importance of carbon management technology, stating, “We need to approach climate with all entities at the table in order to find solutions that protect both our environment but also continue to support innovation and our economy.”
Secretary Harris discussed opportunities to deploy carbon management projects and infrastructure in Louisiana. He also highlighted the importance of these core federal carbon management priorities and measures in scaling up technology and infrastructure. He described the “momentum at the federal level—generated by three proposed bills,” which include the SCALE (Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions) Act, CATCH Act, and Access 45Q Act.
The secretary continued by describing why these technologies require supportive federal legislation and elaborated on the effects of their potential passage, saying that they would “not only help foster greater interest in Louisiana and elsewhere in investment for CCUS [carbon capture utilization and storage] [but] will also energize CCUS nationwide.”
State, industry, labor, and environmental perspectives
Lee Beck, international director of the Carbon Capture Program at the Clean Air Task Force, moderated a panel discussion with state, industry, labor, and environmental perspectives. Panelists provided remarks on why enacting this portfolio of federal carbon management policies is a priority for their companies, organizations, and states.
Carbon management collaboration and community engagement
Panelist Bryan Glover, president and CEO of Honeywell UOP, spoke to the collaborative efforts required for successful carbon capture deployment and how Honeywell UOP looks forward to working with industry “to bring innovative technologies that are ready to go today, like carbon capture, to be deployed against a range of emissions sources.”
Alison Taylor, chief sustainability officer at Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM), highlighted how working with the US Department of Energy gave them the expertise and funding needed to utilize a regional carbon sequestration partnership initiative for their first carbon management project. Taylor also noted, “direct federal support paired with the 45Q tax credit gave us the incentive to see this as a market and move ahead with these projects.”
Taylor highlighted the importance of community engagement, sharing, “we worked a lot with the community on education and conversations with the public on how this works. It’s important that we are talking to people about innovation and what can be done with this type of technology.” Panelist Dan Lashof, US director of World Resources Institute, added that “community engagement in identifying projects is absolutely essential.”
Reaching net zero
Bryan Glover also emphasized the feasibility of carbon capture by saying, “it’s not a pipe dream—the technologies to be able to capture CO2 are with us today.” He further explained how carbon management technologies are “readily available, and with the right incentive framework, they’re readily deployable and could be deployed broadly in the hard to decarbonize sectors.”
Dan Lashof spoke to the importance of using all the technologies at our disposal to reach net zero before we reach a global temperature increase of two degrees Celsius. Lashof later explained,
“We don’t have a specific trajectory that has to be the one, but what we’ve concluded is that carbon capture and sequestration is an essential technology to meet any net-zero target.”
Cecile Conroy, director of government affairs for the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers also emphasized in her remarks, “one-size-fits-all answers are not going to work” for decarbonization. Conroy further explained that these technologies “mirror a lot of the work we have already done in the energy sector.” Finally, she stressed the importance of the intersection between jobs and climate.
Decarbonization and the industrial sector
Panelists discussed the importance of using carbon management technologies to decarbonize the industrial sector. Lashof explained that 22 percent of US emissions are from the industrial sector and how carbon management “is an essential tool to get a handle on those [industrial] emissions, even if we weren’t using any fossil fuels, since cement production produces carbon dioxide from the basic chemical reaction for making cement.”
Ken Wagner, secretary of energy and environment for the State of Oklahoma, expanded on the importance of carbon management in decarbonizing the industrial sector by explaining how decarbonization is “something that we have taken a hard look at and come to the same conclusion that most people come to, that we can’t do it without carbon capture.” Cecile Conroy added,
“Carbon capture technology would go far in helping address the areas that are going to be hard to decarbonize, particularly the industrial sector.”
State opportunities for carbon capture
Senator Luján underscored the importance of the CATCH Act and the provisions to eliminate capture thresholds in the 45Q tax credit which, “prevent smaller facilities, and emerging technologies such as carbon utilization and direct air capture, from benefiting from the tax credit.” He went on to explain how this would also enable clean hydrogen companies to utilize the credit, paving the way for a clean hydrogen economy in places like New Mexico.
Secretary Harris stressed that Louisiana ranks 5th in CO2 emissions and mentioned key opportunities for carbon management projects in Louisiana, saying the state “is well-positioned in terms of infrastructure, industry, geology, and policy to take a leadership position [in reducing CO2 emissions].”
Referencing Louisiana’s geography, Secretary Harris explained how large geologic storage areas and opportunities for injection can be utilized to give Louisiana “a low cost of capture [and] a low cost of transport of carbon to its final injection location.” Harris explained,
“There are many opportunities for carbon management projects in Louisiana as “nearly 60 percent of the state’s CO2 emissions are from industrial facilities.”
Secretary Wagner also spoke about carbon management opportunities in Oklahoma, saying,
“There is robust opportunity in Oklahoma for lower-carbon and zero-carbon commercial opportunities, primarily in reducing the cost of clean hydrogen production.”
The primary driver for carbon management in Oklahoma is clean hydrogen, Wagner explained. Describing the potential for future projects in Oklahoma, Wagner emphasized that the state would have far more projects in the queue if the current limits didn’t exist. He clarified by saying that “reforms or improvements to 45Q are necessary,” and that “eliminating the annual carbon capture threshold is key” to making carbon management financially feasible.
About the CO2NNECT Virtual Series:
The CO2NNECT Virtual Series, hosted by the Great Plains Institute, brings together leaders from industry, finance, investment and procurement, NGOs, labor, states and the federal government, philanthropy, media, and other sectors—engaging in interactive live events to address key themes and priorities around carbon management technologies as a vital pathway to a clean, zero-carbon energy future.
This online series will continue through 2021, with timely and relevant topics surrounding carbon capture, removal, transport, use and storage. Receive special CO2NNECT Virtual Series announcements and engage with other attendees in our LinkedIn CO2NNECT Virtual Series group. Learn more at https://co2nnect.net/
