[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 757 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 100
112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 757

                          [Report No. 112-33]

 To provide incentives to encourage the development and implementation 
   of technology to capture carbon dioxide from dilute sources on a 
        significant scale using direct air capture technologies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 7 (legislative day, April 5), 2011

  Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Hoeven) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

                             July 11, 2011

              Reported by Mr. Bingaman, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide incentives to encourage the development and implementation 
   of technology to capture carbon dioxide from dilute sources on a 
        significant scale using direct air capture technologies.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY PRIZE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) flue gases from coal-fired electric generating 
        facilities typically have carbon dioxide concentrations of 
        approximately 17 percent by volume;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) it is possible to separate carbon dioxide from 
        dilute sources and even the atmosphere, which has a carbon 
        dioxide concentration of 0.038 percent, but substantial 
        advances in research and technology will be necessary to 
        provide the separation in an economical manner;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) developing practical separations of carbon 
        dioxide from dilute sources is important to the future 
        development of energy technology;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) economical onsite separation of atmospheric 
        carbon dioxide can help leverage the use of carbon dioxide in 
        energy applications such as enhanced oil recovery and enhanced 
        geothermal systems at remote sites; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) authorizing the Secretary of Energy to provide 
        a technology prize for separation of carbon dioxide from dilute 
        sources can provide the impetus for developing the novel 
        technologies that will be needed in the future as part of the 
        national energy system of the United States.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to provide 
incentives to encourage the development and implementation of 
technology to capture carbon dioxide from dilute sources on a 
significant scale using direct air capture technologies.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Prize.--Section 1008 
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16396) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(g) Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Prize.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) Board.--The term `Board' means the 
                Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Advisory Board 
                established by paragraph (6).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Dilute.--The term `dilute' means a 
                concentration of less than 1 percent by 
                volume.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) Intellectual property.--The term 
                `intellectual property' means--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) an invention that is 
                        patentable under title 35, United States Code; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) any patent on an invention 
                        described in clause (i).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' 
                means the Secretary of Energy or designee, in 
                consultation with the Board.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Authority.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this subsection, as part of the program 
        carried out under this section, the Secretary shall establish 
        and award competitive technology financial awards for carbon 
        dioxide capture from media in which the concentration of carbon 
        dioxide is dilute.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) Duties.--In carrying out this subsection, 
        the Secretary shall--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) subject to paragraph (4), develop 
                specific requirements for--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) the competition 
                        process;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) minimum performance 
                        standards for qualifying projects; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) monitoring and 
                        verification procedures for approved 
                        projects;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) establish minimum levels for the 
                capture of carbon dioxide from a dilute medium that are 
                required to be achieved to qualify for a financial 
                award described in subparagraph (C);</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) offer financial awards for--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) a design for a promising 
                        capture technology;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) a successful bench-scale 
                        demonstration of a capture 
                        technology;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) a design for a technology 
                        described in clause (i) that will--</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(I) be operated on a 
                                demonstration scale; and</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(II) achieve significant 
                                reduction in the level of carbon 
                                dioxide; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iv) an operational capture 
                        technology on a commercial scale that meets the 
                        minimum levels described in subparagraph (B); 
                        and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) submit to Congress--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) an annual report that 
                        describes the progress made by the Board and 
                        recipients of financial awards under this 
                        subsection in achieving the demonstration goals 
                        established under subparagraph (C); 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) not later than 1 year after 
                        the date of enactment of this subsection, a 
                        report that describes the levels of funding 
                        that are necessary to achieve the purposes of 
                        this subsection.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(4) Public participation.--In carrying out 
        paragraph (3)(A), the Board shall--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) provide notice of and, for a period 
                of at least 60 days, an opportunity for public comment 
                on, any draft or proposed version of the requirements 
                described in paragraph (3)(A); and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) take into account public comments 
                received in developing the final version of those 
                requirements.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(5) Peer review.--No financial awards may be 
        provided under this subsection until the proposal for which the 
        award is sought has been peer reviewed in accordance with such 
        standards for peer review as are established by the 
        Secretary.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(6) Carbon dioxide capture technology advisory 
        board.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) Establishment.--There is established 
                an advisory board to be known as the `Carbon Dioxide 
                Capture Technology Advisory Board'.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Composition.--The Board shall be 
                composed of 9 members appointed by the President, by 
                and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who 
                shall provide expertise in--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) climate science;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) physics;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) chemistry;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iv) biology;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(v) engineering;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(vi) economics;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(vii) business management; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(viii) such other disciplines as 
                        the Secretary determines to be necessary to 
                        achieve the purposes of this 
                        subsection.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) Term; vacancies.--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) Term.--A member of the Board 
                        shall serve for a term of 6 years.</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) Vacancies.--A vacancy on 
                        the Board--</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(I) shall not affect the 
                                powers of the Board; and</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(II) shall be filled in 
                                the same manner as the original 
                                appointment was made.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) Initial meeting.--Not later than 30 
                days after the date on which all members of the Board 
                have been appointed, the Board shall hold the initial 
                meeting of the Board.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(E) Meetings.--The Board shall meet at 
                the call of the Chairperson.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(F) Quorum.--A majority of the members 
                of the Board shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser 
                number of members may hold hearings.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(G) Chairperson and vice chairperson.--
                The Board shall select a Chairperson and Vice 
                Chairperson from among the members of the 
                Board.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(H) Compensation.--Each member of the 
                Board may be compensated at not to exceed the daily 
                equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect 
                for a position at level V of the Executive Schedule for 
                each day during which the member is engaged in the 
                actual performance of the duties of the 
                Board.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(I) Duties.--The Board shall advise the 
                Secretary on carrying out the duties of the Secretary 
                under this subsection.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(7) Intellectual property.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) In general.--As a condition of 
                receiving a financial award under this subsection, an 
                applicant shall agree to vest the intellectual property 
                of the applicant derived from the technology in 1 or 
                more entities that are incorporated in the United 
                States.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Reservation of license.--The United 
                States--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) may reserve a nonexclusive, 
                        nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license, 
                        to have practiced for or on behalf of the 
                        United States, in connection with any 
                        intellectual property described in subparagraph 
                        (A); but</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) shall not, in the exercise 
                        of a license reserved under clause (i), 
                        publicly disclose proprietary information 
                        relating to the license.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) Transfer of title.--Title to any 
                intellectual property described in subparagraph (A) 
                shall not be transferred or passed, except to an entity 
                that is incorporated in the United States, until the 
                expiration of the first patent obtained in connection 
                with the intellectual property.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(8) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection such 
        sums as are necessary.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(9) Termination of authority.--The Board and all 
        authority provided under this subsection shall terminate on 
        December 31, 2020.''.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology 
Prize Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) flue gases from coal-fired electric generating 
        facilities typically have carbon dioxide concentrations of 
        approximately 17 percent by volume;
            (2) it is possible to separate carbon dioxide from dilute 
        sources and even the atmosphere, which has a carbon dioxide 
        concentration of 0.038 percent, but substantial advances in 
        research and technology will be necessary to provide the 
        separation in an economical manner;
            (3) developing practical separations of carbon dioxide from 
        dilute sources is important to the future development of energy 
        technology;
            (4) economical onsite separation of atmospheric carbon 
        dioxide can help leverage the use of carbon dioxide in energy 
        applications such as enhanced oil recovery and enhanced 
        geothermal systems at remote sites; and
            (5) authorizing the Secretary of Energy to provide a 
        technology prize for separation of carbon dioxide from dilute 
        sources can provide the impetus for developing the novel 
        technologies that will be needed in the future as part of the 
        national energy system of the United States.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide incentives to 
encourage the development and implementation of technology to capture 
carbon dioxide from dilute sources on a significant scale using direct 
air capture technologies.

SEC. 3. CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY PRIZE.

    Section 703 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 
U.S.C. 17251) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Prize.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Board.--The term `Board' means the Carbon 
                Dioxide Capture Technology Advisory Board established 
                by paragraph (6).
                    ``(B) Dilute.--The term `dilute' means a 
                concentration of less than 1 percent by volume.
                    ``(C) Intellectual property.--The term 
                `intellectual property' means--
                            ``(i) an invention that is patentable under 
                        title 35, United States Code; and
                            ``(ii) any patent on an invention described 
                        in clause (i).
                    ``(D) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the 
                Secretary of Energy or designee, in consultation with 
                the Board.
            ``(2) Authority.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of the Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Prize Act of 
        2011, as part of the program carried out under this section, 
        the Secretary shall establish and award competitive technology 
        financial awards for carbon dioxide capture from media in which 
        the concentration of carbon dioxide is dilute.
            ``(3) Duties.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) subject to paragraph (4), develop specific 
                requirements for--
                            ``(i) the competition process;
                            ``(ii) minimum performance standards for 
                        qualifying projects; and
                            ``(iii) monitoring and verification 
                        procedures for approved projects;
                    ``(B) establish minimum levels for the capture of 
                carbon dioxide from a dilute medium that are required 
                to be achieved to qualify for a financial award 
                described in subparagraph (C); and
                    ``(C) offer financial awards for--
                            ``(i) a design for a promising capture 
                        technology;
                            ``(ii) a successful bench-scale 
                        demonstration of a capture technology;
                            ``(iii) a design for a technology described 
                        in clause (i) that will--
                                    ``(I) be operated on a 
                                demonstration scale; and
                                    ``(II) achieve significant 
                                reduction in the level of carbon 
                                dioxide; and
                            ``(iv) an operational capture technology on 
                        a commercial scale that meets the minimum 
                        levels described in subparagraph (B).
            ``(4) Public participation.--In carrying out paragraph 
        (3)(A), the Board shall--
                    ``(A) provide notice of and, for a period of at 
                least 60 days, an opportunity for public comment on, 
                any draft or proposed version of the requirements 
                described in paragraph (3)(A); and
                    ``(B) take into account public comments received in 
                developing the final version of those requirements.
            ``(5) Peer review.--No financial awards may be provided 
        under this subsection until the proposal for which the award is 
        sought has been peer reviewed in accordance with such standards 
        for peer review as are established by the Secretary.
            ``(6) Carbon dioxide capture technology advisory board.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--There is established an 
                advisory board to be known as the `Carbon Dioxide 
                Capture Technology Advisory Board'.
                    ``(B) Composition.--The Board shall be composed of 
                7 members appointed by the President that provide 
                expertise in--
                            ``(i) climate science;
                            ``(ii) physics;
                            ``(iii) chemistry;
                            ``(iv) biology;
                            ``(v) engineering;
                            ``(vi) economics;
                            ``(vii) business management; and
                            ``(viii) such other disciplines as the 
                        Secretary determines to be necessary to achieve 
                        the purposes of this subsection.
                    ``(C) Initial meeting.--Not later than 30 days 
                after the date on which all members of the Board have 
                been appointed, the Board shall hold the initial 
                meeting of the Board.
                    ``(D) Meetings.--The Board shall meet at the call 
                of the Chairperson.
                    ``(E) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the 
                Board shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of 
                members may hold hearings.
                    ``(F) Chairperson and vice chairperson.--The Board 
                shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from 
                among the members of the Board.
                    ``(G) Duties.--The Board shall advise the Secretary 
                on carrying out the duties of the Secretary under this 
                subsection.
            ``(7) Intellectual property.--
                    ``(A) In general.--As a condition of receiving a 
                financial award under this subsection, an applicant 
                shall agree to vest the intellectual property of the 
                applicant derived from the technology in 1 or more 
                entities that are incorporated in the United States.
                    ``(B) Reservation of license.--The United States--
                            ``(i) may reserve a nonexclusive, 
                        nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license, 
                        to have practiced for or on behalf of the 
                        United States, in connection with any 
                        intellectual property described in subparagraph 
                        (A); but
                            ``(ii) shall not, in the exercise of a 
                        license reserved under clause (i), publicly 
                        disclose proprietary information relating to 
                        the license.
                    ``(C) Transfer of title.--Title to any intellectual 
                property described in subparagraph (A) shall not be 
                transferred or passed, except to an entity that is 
                incorporated in the United States, until the expiration 
                of the first patent obtained in connection with the 
                intellectual property.
            ``(8) Termination of authority.--The Board and all 
        authority provided under this subsection shall terminate on the 
        date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of the Carbon 
        Dioxide Capture Technology Prize Act of 2011.''; and
            (3) in subsection (c) (as redesignated by paragraph (1))--
                    (A) by striking ``There is'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) In general.--There is'';
                    (B) by striking ``this section'' and inserting 
                ``subsection (a)''; and
                    (C) by striking ``2013'' and inserting ``2011 and 
                $195,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 and 2013''; 
                and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Carbon dioxide capture technology prize.--There is 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out 
        subsection (b) $10,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2012 
        through 2016.''.
                                                       Calendar No. 100

112th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 757

                          [Report No. 112-33]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To provide incentives to encourage the development and implementation 
   of technology to capture carbon dioxide from dilute sources on a 
        significant scale using direct air capture technologies.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 11, 2011

                       Reported with an amendment