Thread by @IAmNickReynolds

Sen. Barrasso's committee on Energy and Natural Resources is currently holding a hearing to examine challenges and opportunities for advancing and deploying carbon utilization technologies in the United States.

Jason Begger, from the ITC, is testifying.

energy.senate.gov/hearings/2021/…

A little shout-out for @The_News_Record this morning.

And here's Jason Begger.

Right now, he's mostly informing the committee of the work the ITC does and how the facility works.

Notes there have been no federal funds used here -- all state and public sector funding.

Testimony here: energy.senate.gov/services/files…

What the main trend of this testimony has been: more money needed from the feds to labs and producers, more incentives, to make this industry viable.

But the upside, proponents say, are big. More jobs, decarbonization of heavy industries like construction, etc.

At this point, big carbon capture projects have had some trouble. But some companies still pursuing them. This published yesterday. houstonchronicle.com/business/energ…

Begger said we need to be able to demonstrate this technology can be scaled-up. Others say we need funding, political will, and policies like "buy clean" purchasing mandates to get the industry going.

Permitting is another key issue.

"We need to think of this as a Manhattan Project" said Randall Atkins, CEO of Ramaco Coal.

Atkins said coal communities already have infrastructure to sustain these industries.

Barrasso also brings up banking industry, where more than finances -- social or climate concerns -- play into decisions to finance these projects.

Big Trump interest. thehill.com/policy/energy-…

Scale has been a big conversation here but, as Sen. Heinrich argued, there are more complicated aspects to this. We're not making iPhones, he said, and the dynamic is different.

Begger said that it comes down to a diversity of technologies being deployed all at once.

Dr. Brian Anderson, Director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy, says that numerous products utilizing CCUS are already close to market. Some products are looking at 2-5 years of development to get there.

Also looking at byproducts as feedstock for rare earth minerals production. Some talk about its potential for geothermal, but it's still experimental at this point.

Anderson: "If we are to decarbonize our economy, we do need price signals that the private sector can run to the bank and are bankable."

There was some fed money proposed under Joe Manchin's EFFECT Act of 2019 but that hasn't been touched since... 2019. energy.senate.gov/services/files…

Now we're looking at the American Jobs in Energy Manufacturing Act of 2021, which specifically looks at policies to boost carbon capture, including tax credits. manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press…

Sen. Cantwell questions the wisdom of using taxpayer dollars to "pick winners and losers" in an experimental field. Though Wyoming's test bed has shown promise, she said, she's still iffy on taking business risks with taxpayer dollars.

Gaurav Sant (the winner of the XPrize competition) says they can't really understand that until they actually prove scalability for industrial applications. That's a chicken and egg issue... they need money and will to do that, as they've said several times in the hearing.

(Btw this piece on XPrize was a good one.) wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/carbon-xp…