Statement of Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Boucher

"Carbon Capture and Sequestration: An Overview"

March 6, 2007

            This morning the Subcommittee continues its series of climate change hearings with an overview of carbon capture and storage methods.

            Our witnesses will discus the state of technology development, the costs associated with use of the technologies, the status of research efforts to improve the technologies, and timeframes for expected commercialization of the technologies.

            These are key consideration for the subcommittee as we prepare to draft climate change legislation.

            Coal is America's most abundant domestic fuel with reserves of 250 years within our boarders.  We have greater coal reserves than any other nation.

            Coal is also by a broad measure our nation's least costly energy resource.

            Today, coal accounts for 51% of the fuel used for electricity, and the Energy Information Administration predicts that by 2030 coal's share of the electricity generation market will grow to 57%.

            Given our large coal reserves and its lower cost in comparison with other fuels used for electricity generation, preservation of the ability of electric utilities to continue coal use in a carbon constrained economy is desirable.

            The carbon capture and sequestration methods we are focusing on today are the means by which that result can be achieved.

            In drafting climate change legislation our goal will be to have our nation make a substantial contribution to resolution of the global problem while not dislocating any domestic economic sector.

            We should enable electric utilities that desire to use coal to have the continued ability to do so after the carbon control provisions we will write become effective.

            The technologies for carbon capture and sequestration we will discuss this morning will be essential to our ability to meet that test. 

            If carbon controls take effect before the capture and storage technologies are available, there could be a rapid switch from coal to other fuels that would be unbearable for our economy.

            Fuel switching away from coal would significantly increase electricity prices to the detriment of both residential and industrial electricity consumers.

            Fuel switching from coal would probably result in far greater uses of natural gas for electricity generation, severely stressing our already constrained natural gas supplies.

            11% of all homes are heated with natural gas.  Industries, notably including the chemical sector, rely on natural gas for chemical feedstocks, and some are leaving the U.S. today because of current natural gas prices - that flight of jobs would worsen if fuel switching from coal to natural gas occurs.

            And many other natural gas dependent industries would suffer including farmers who use fertilizer manufactured in a natural gas intensive process.

            To avoid these problems, we must protect the ability of electric utilities to continue coal use.  In a very real sense, therefore, the technologies we will discuss today will be the enablers of a successful climate change program for the nation.

            The average coal-fired utility emits approximately 3-4 million tons of CO2 annually.  While carbon storage projects are underway in research, demonstration and commercial phases, none has attempted to store that much CO2.  In addition, much of the work done to date is with the purpose of enhanced oil recovery.  While that is a viable use of injected carbon, we also will need to store large quantities of it underground indefinitely.  On that front, further research, development and demonstration is needed.

            We need to learn more about how the carbon behaves once it is injected underground in large quantities - are there seepage issues or groundwater concerns?  What kind of regulatory regime do we need to have in place to permit carbon injection?  Are their liability issues associated with these projects? 

            Most importantly, when will we have the capture and storage technologies available for reliable and widespread use?

            Is the current flow of research dollars sufficient? Would larger allocations of research monies speed the availability of the technologies?

            I want to welcome our witnesses and thank them for sharing with us information regarding the status and expected future development of carbon capture and storage methods.

I look forward to their testimony.

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