§17253 Geologic Sequestration Training and Research

Summary

The Secretary must hire the National Academy of Sciences to study and design a program for teaching and researching how to capture and store carbon underground. The study must cover needed fields (geology, engineering, hydrology, environmental science, and related areas), focus on undergraduate and especially graduate education and research, make rules for university proposals, and give a budget and funding recommendation for the grant program. The Secretary must send the study to Congress within one year after December 19, 2007. Congress authorized $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 to carry out this part. The Secretary must also create a competitive grant program so colleges and universities can get 4-year grants to pay salary and startup costs for new faculty in integrated geologic carbon sequestration programs and to fund graduate internships. Grants can be renewed for up to two extra 3-year terms based on performance rules from the study, including how many students graduate. Programs should, when possible, work with the Department’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships to give internships and hands-on training. Funding for these grants is authorized as needed.