After the collapse of national Cap and Trade efforts in 2010, an unlikely coalition of oil companies, small energy generators, and environmental groups came together in an attempt to save an orphaned piece of climate legislation: the 45Q tax incentive for carbon capture and storage (CCS).
At the time, NET Power, a Green Strategies client, was planning a small natural gas-fired power plant in La Porte, Texas, that would burn oxygen rather than air, thus emitting no carbon dioxide. This technique allowed the plant’s CO2 emissions to be easily collected and stored. Bill Brown, the CEO of NET Power, wanted to take advantage of the modified 45Q to build a larger power plant by 2021 using the U.S.-engineered process to store carbon dioxide or to use it to make low carbon fuel.
The coalition spent 8 years building support for 45Q, finally finding a home for the CCS incentive within the 2018 omnibus budget bill. Read the full story and Roger’s quote in E&E News.
Image: Financial Times
