§16298 Carbon Utilization Program

Summary

The Secretary, working with the EPA Administrator, must run a program to research, test, and bring to market ways to use carbon. The program must track lifecycle greenhouse gas changes and other safety signals for new technologies and for methods used to recover more oil or gas. It must find and test new carbon uses (including turning carbon oxides into products) that, over their whole life, permanently cut or avoid adding CO2 to the air. It must also study industrial carbon capture and zero-net-emission uses of coal, like carbon engineering, carbon fiber, and coal conversion. When picking projects to demonstrate and commercialize, the Secretary must favor ones that have access to a stationary-source CO2 stream of at least 250 metric tons per day, have small-scale test gear plus nearby larger test bays, and already partner with a National Lab, college, company, or government. These activities must be combined with related work under section 16298a into one Department program. Up to $50,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program, to remain available until expended.