Senators John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, and Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, have joined in introducing a bill that would establish awards for researchers who develop technologies that can economically extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stash it away. In doing so, they are potentially upping the ante offered in 2007 by Richard Branson, the aviation and music magnate, for such an advance.

Various researchers studying the interface of climate and energy policy have said that such technology is well worth pursuing, particularly given that oil and other liquid fossil fuels are almost surely going to be burned — particularly in vehicles or other dispersed sources — for many years to come, according to many assessments. The only way to retrieve the carbon dioxide produced this way is from the air, not tailpipes or smokestacks.

Others certainly disagree. Nate Lewis, a Cal Tech professor focused on advancing solar technology, said this kind of option should be last in line. When I sent him the senators’ news release, this was his response:

It makes no sense to remove CO 2 from air when energy/electricity is not essentially fully decarbonized first (i.e., > 90% and likely > 95%). Otherwise to generate the energy needed to capture the CO 2 from the air, one produces more CO 2 than is captured.

One way or the other, the huge scale, and cost, required to make a dent in the gigatons-per-year emissions of carbon dioxide this way ensures that any such approach is many years from being applied. (One question is why the bill is focused only on permanent storage of the captured gas; there are other proposals to harvest carbon dioxide and “reprocess” it, in a way, to create fuels.) And there are plenty of heat-trapping emissions to capture in the meantime, particularly methane and soot, as well as cheap opportunities to avoid emissions altogether through improved energy efficiency. But without also pursuing long-term options now, the thinking goes, the technical options may not be on hand once the low fruit is all picked.

Here is the news release:





Barrasso, Bingaman Introduce Bill

To Address Global Warming WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Barrasso, (R-Wyo.) and Senator Jeff Bingaman, (D-N.M.), have introduced a bipartisan bill focusing on clean air technology. The bill encourages technology that will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently sequester it. The Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Act, S.2744, will establish an award system for scientists and researchers. Historically, prizes have been used to spur all types of technological development to solve problems. For example, Charles Lindbergh was competing for the Orteig Prize, when he flew in the Spirit of St. Louis, nonstop from New York to Paris in 1927. “Our proposal takes a fresh look at climate change,” Barrasso said. “We want to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. The bill taps into American ingenuity and innovation. It recognizes the need to develop the technological solutions needed to address climate change. It makes sense that we explore alternative approaches for removing and permanently sequestering excess carbon dioxide. With financial awards, we can encourage the extraordinary breakthroughs needed to tackle this problem.” Senator Barrasso introduced similar legislation last year. The Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Act is a new, bi-partisan version of that legislation. “A bipartisan solution is needed to reduce carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. I commend Senator Bingaman’s willingness to work across the aisle to find solutions.” Senator Bingaman is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where the bill has been referred. “If we could capture carbon dioxide emitted by low-concentration sources, or even the atmosphere, it would be a major step toward a cleaner energy future,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. “A federal prize to inspire inventive solutions to this technical challenge could help us get there quicker. That’s why I’m backing Senator Barrasso’s bill.” The program would be established by a federal commission under the Department of Energy. Commission members, appointed by the president, would be comprised of climate scientists, physicists, chemists, engineers, business managers and economists. Awards will go to public and private entities that design technology to remove and permanently sequester carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. Once the technology is developed, the United States would share the intellectual property rights with the inventor.

After reading the release, Robert Mendelsohn, a economist at Yale studying climate and energy policy, sent this reaction: “It is a great idea to tap American ingenuity. However, the key to any competition is to determine the rules that will lead to the desired outcome. We do not need technologies that can sequester carbon. We need technologies that can do it cheaply. The question is whether they will award higher prizes as the cost of the technology declines.”