[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 1, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H13368-H13370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON GAS TURBINES

  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3029) to establish a research, development, and technology 
demonstration program to improve the efficiency of gas turbines used in 
combined cycle power generation systems, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3029

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

     SECTION 1. HIGH EFFICIENCY GAS TURBINES.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy shall carry out a 
     multiyear, multiphase program of research, development, and 
     technology demonstration to improve the efficiency of gas 
     turbines used in power generation systems and to identify the 
     technologies that ultimately will lead to gas turbine 
     combined cycle efficiency of 65 percent or simple cycle 
     efficiency of 50 percent.
       (b) Program Elements.--The program under this section 
     shall--
       (1) support first-of-a-kind engineering and detailed gas 
     turbine design for megawatt-scale and utility-scale electric 
     power generation, including--
       (A) high temperature materials, including superalloys, 
     coatings, and ceramics;
       (B) improved heat transfer capability;
       (C) manufacturing technology required to construct complex 
     three-dimensional geometry parts with improved aerodynamic 
     capability;
       (D) combustion technology to produce higher firing 
     temperature while lowering nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide 
     emissions per unit of output;
       (E) advanced controls and systems integration;
       (F) advanced high performance compressor technology; and
       (G) validation facilities for the testing of components and 
     subsystems;
       (2) include technology demonstration through component 
     testing, subscale testing, and full scale testing in existing 
     fleets;
       (3) include field demonstrations of the developed 
     technology elements so as to demonstrate technical and 
     economic feasibility; and
       (4) assess overall combined cycle and simple cycle system 
     performance.
       (c) Program Goals.--The goals of the multiphase program 
     established under subsection (a) shall be--
       (1) in phase I--
       (A) to develop the conceptual design of advanced high 
     efficiency gas turbines that can achieve at least 62 percent 
     combined cycle efficiency or 47 percent simple cycle 
     efficiency on a lower heating value basis; and
       (B) to develop and demonstrate the technology required for 
     advanced high efficiency gas turbines that can achieve at 
     least 62 percent combined cycle efficiency or 47 percent 
     simple cycle efficiency on a lower heating value basis; and
       (2) in phase II, to develop the conceptual design for 
     advanced high efficiency gas turbines that can achieve at 
     least 65 percent combined cycle efficiency or 50 percent 
     simple cycle efficiency on a lower heating value basis.
       (d) Proposals.--Within 180 days after the date of enactment 
     of this Act, the Secretary shall solicit grant and contract 
     proposals from industry, universities, and other appropriate 
     parties for conducting activities under this Act. In 
     selecting proposals, the Secretary shall emphasize--

[[Page H13369]]

       (1) the extent to which the proposal will stimulate the 
     creation or increased retention of jobs in the United States; 
     and
       (2) the extent to which the proposal will promote and 
     enhance United States technology leadership.
       (e) Competitive Awards.--The provision of funding under 
     this section shall be on a competitive basis with an emphasis 
     on technical merit.
       (f) Cost Sharing.--Section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 
     2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) shall apply to an award of financial 
     assistance made under this section.
       (g) Limits on Participation.--The limits on participation 
     applicable under section 999E of the Energy Policy Act of 
     2005 (42 U.S.C. 16375) shall apply to financial assistance 
     awarded under this section.
       (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary for carrying out this 
     section $85,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 
     2014.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Tonko) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on H.R. 3029, the bill now under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  My bill establishes a research, development, and demonstration 
program through the Department of Energy to improve the efficiency of 
natural gas turbines used in electric power generation systems. The 
Department had a similar public-private partnership research program in 
the 1990s that led to technologies used in turbines today. Resurrecting 
this capability is essential if our country is going to be the energy 
technology leader of the world.
  Currently, the United States uses natural gas for nearly 20 percent 
of our power generation, and with the recent discovery of natural gas 
in different regions of our country, that percentage is most likely to 
grow.
  Efficiency is paramount in turbines. The most advanced combined-cycle 
gas turbine systems today are capable of reaching somewhere near 60 
percent efficiency. The goal of this bill is to develop systems that 
achieve up to 65 percent efficiency.
  The energy and fuel savings created by more efficient turbines will 
help ratepayers save more than a billion dollars per year in fuel costs 
alone. Deployment of 65 percent efficient gas turbines throughout the 
country would result in significant reductions in fuel use, leading to 
savings in electricity costs of some $180 billion through the year 
2040.
  Energy efficiency should be our fuel of choice, a fuel we need to 
drill and mine like we currently drill for oil and mine coal. That's 
exactly what this bill does, Mr. Speaker. It makes energy efficiency 
our fuel of choice.
  Just 1 percentage point improvement in efficiency would result in 
CO2 emissions reductions of 4.4 million tons per year, as 
well as palpable reductions in NOX, SOx, and other harmful 
emissions.
  In addition to the environmental benefits and energy and fuel 
savings, this bill promotes United States technology leadership, 
putting our country in a position to assume a greater share of the 
worldwide energy market by creating and retaining high-value domestic 
jobs in turbine manufacturing. Furthermore, many technologies developed 
under this program can be retrofitted onto the existing fleet of 
turbines.
  This program will create thousands of domestic jobs in a variety of 
technology sectors. There are potential jobs in our labs, jobs in our 
factories, and jobs in our construction sector. This bill is a positive 
step toward restoring our energy, economy, creating clean-energy jobs, 
and enhancing our energy security.
  Getting this legislation to the floor today would not have been 
possible without the help of my colleagues on the House Science and 
Technology Committee. After the full committee markup of this bill, we 
continued to work to address the concerns of my colleagues, Mr. Hall, 
Mr. Bilbray, and Ms. Kosmas. With their help and leadership, we were 
able to expand the scope of this bill to include simple-cycle turbine 
systems, in addition to combined-cycle.
  I want to thank them for their suggestions and working with me to 
create an even stronger bill. In so doing, we also modestly expanded 
the authorization levels for the bill to reflect the inclusion of 
simple-cycle turbine systems.
  I want to thank Ranking Member Hall, his staff, and all of my Science 
and Technology Committee colleagues for continuing to work with me to 
improve this bill. Our chairman has been most helpful.
  Finally, I also want to thank Mr. Inglis for understanding the 
importance of this legislation and joining me as a cosponsor of this 
bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 3029, to establish a research, development, 
and technology demonstration program to improve the efficiency of gas 
turbines used in combined-cycle power generation systems. The bill 
we're considering on the floor today is a slightly different version 
than the bill that was passed out of the Committee on Science and 
Technology on July 29 of this year.
  Two changes were made between committee and floor consideration. The 
first is the addition of simple-cycle gas turbine efficiency to the 
combined-cycle gas turbine efficiency already called for in the bill. 
This addition allows for increased competition as well as beneficial 
efficiencies across the spectrum of gas turbines. The second change 
increases the annual authorization level from $65 million to $85 
million for fiscal years 2011 through 2014. That will expand eligible 
participants in the R&D program.
  Prior to committee consideration of H.R. 3029, the text as introduced 
on June 24, 2009, was included in H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy 
and Security Act of 2009, which passed the House 2 days later. In the 
event that this version before us here today passes the House, we would 
prefer that this language be substituted in place of the language that 
was included in H.R. 2454, should that bill go to conference with the 
Senate.
  Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and is a highly efficient 
form of energy. It has fewer impurities and its combustion generally 
results in less pollution and has therefore become a very popular 
choice for electricity generation. While we currently have an abundant 
supply of natural gas in our country, we should always strive to use 
our resources in the most efficient way. This bill will help us do that 
with this precious domestic resource.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no more speakers, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. TONKO. Let me again thank those of the committee and subcommittee 
respectively, Chairman Gordon and Chairman Baird, for their tremendous 
help in this measure, along with the ranking members on the committee.
  Before we close this debate, I think it's important to acknowledge 
the numerous letters of support that we have received dealing with this 
legislation. We have letters of support from the Gas Turbine 
Association, from General Electric, from Solar Turbines, Strategic 
Power Systems, Inc., and Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
  Having strong industry support is vital if we're going to be 
successful, Mr. Speaker, in moving forward with an innovation economy. 
We all must work together to move our country and our economy forward 
to a greener and brighter future. The bill before the House is a 
measure that will obviously underscore the value of energy efficiency 
and will allow us to make use of natural gas turbines in a way that 
promotes that added 5 percent of efficiency that will translate to 
billions of dollars of savings and economic and environmental savings 
that will come from the efforts of this bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3029, as amended.

[[Page H13370]]

  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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