I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2312 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to encourage cooperation 

between the United States and China on joint research, development, 

or commercialization of carbon capture and sequestration technology, 

improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy sources. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2009 

Mr. ISRAEL (for himself, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. KIRK, and Mrs. 

DAVIS of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to 

encourage cooperation between the United States and 

China on joint research, development, or commercialization of carbon capture and sequestration technology, improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy sources. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-China 

5 Energy Cooperation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The December 2004 National Intelligence 

4 Council report entitled ‘‘Mapping the Global Future 

5 in 2020’’ states that the single most important fac6 tor affecting the demand for energy will be global 

7 economic growth, especially that of China and India. 

8 (2) The United States and China are both rich 

9 in coal and look to it for a majority of their elec10 tricity needs. 

11 (3) China is building its power generation base 

12 for the first time and the United States is preparing 

13 to replace a generation of aging electric power facili14 ties. 

15 (4) Carbon capture and sequestration is a via16 ble technology that still needs significant amounts of 

17 research and development before it can be widely 

18 commercialized. 

19 (5) A study by MIT (2007) on ‘‘The Future of 

20 Coal’’ outlines the need for several integrated 

21 projects to demonstrate the feasibility of carbon cap22 ture and sequestration in a variety of countries and 

23 geological settings. 

24 (6) The United States and China are already 

25 working together on the FutureGen project in the 

26 United States. FutureGen is an initiative to build 


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1 the world’s first integrated sequestration and hydro2 gen production research power plant. The project is 

3 intended to create the world’s first zero-emissions 

4 fossil fuel plant. 

5 (7) Joint American-Chinese research and devel6 opment on carbon capture technology would improve 

7 the energy security of both nations. 

8 (8) Further, both the United States and China 

9 are actively seeking to promote industrial efficiency 

10 and conservation. United States industry consumes 

11 more than one third of all energy used in the United 

12 States. The United States Department of Energy’s 

13 Industrial Technologies program aims to invest in 

14 research and development to reduce industrial en15 ergy use while stimulating productivity and growth. 

16 (9) The industrial sector represents 68 percent 

17 of all primary energy consumption in China. In 

18 2006, China’s National Development and Reform 

19 Commission launched a major program to improve 

20 energy efficiency in China’s 1,000 largest enter21 prises, which together consume one third of China’s 

22 primary energy. Additionally, the Chinese Govern23 ment plans to retire many inefficient power plants 

24 and close many inefficient industrial plants. 


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1 (10) There is a need to build capacity among 

2 scholars in both China and the United States in the 

3 area of analytic energy and climate change policy. 

4 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) APPLICATION.—In order to receive a grant under 

6 this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 

7 the Secretary containing such information and assurances 

8 as the Secretary may require. 

9 (b) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall review any ap10 plication submitted by any eligible entity and select eligible 

11 entities meeting criteria established by the Secretary to 

12 receive a grant under this section. The amount of each 

13 grant awarded for a fiscal year under this section shall 

14 be determined by the Secretary. 

15 (c) RECOUPMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary shall establish procedures and criteria for 

19 recoupment in connection with any eligible project 

20 carried out by an eligible entity that receives a grant 

21 under this section, which has led to the development 

22 of a product or process which is marketed or used. 

23 (2) AMOUNT REQUIRED.— 

24 (A) Except as provided in subparagraph 

25 (B), such recoupment shall be required as a 


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1 condition for award and be proportional to the 

2 Federal share of the costs of such project, and 

3 shall be derived from the proceeds of royalties 

4 or licensing fees received in connection with 

5 such product or process. 

6 (B) In the case where a product or process 

7 is used by the recipient of a grant under this 

8 section for the production and sale of its own 

9 products or processes, the recoupment shall 

10 consist of a payment equivalent to the payment 

11 which would be made under subparagraph (A). 

12 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may at any time 

13 waive or defer all or some of the recoupment re14 quirements of this subsection as necessary, depend15 ing on— 

16 (A) the commercial competitiveness of the 

17 entity or entities developing or using the prod18 uct or process; 

19 (B) the profitability of the project; and 

20 (C) the commercial viability of the product 

21 or process utilized. 

22 (4) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under this 

23 subsection shall not apply to purely academic en24 deavors that have no commercial value. 


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1 (d) USE OF EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Secretary 

2 shall carry out this section through existing programs at 

3 the Department of Energy. 

4 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after receiving 

5 a grant under this section, each recipient shall submit a 

6 report to the Secretary— 

7 (1) documenting how the recipient used the 

8 grant funds; and 

9 (2) evaluating the level of success of each 

10 project funded by the grant. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti14 ty’’ means a joint venture comprised of both Chinese 

15 and United States private business entities, a joint 

16 venture comprised of both Chinese academic persons 

17 (who reside and work in China) and United States 

18 academic persons, or a joint venture comprised of 

19 both Chinese and United States Federal, State, or 

20 local government entities which— 

21 (A) carries out an eligible project; and 

22 (B) is selected by the Secretary using the 

23 criteria established by the Secretary. 

24 (2) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

25 project’’ means a project to encourage cooperation 


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1 between the United States and China on joint en2 ergy and climate change policy education programs 

3 and joint research, development, or commercializa4 tion of carbon capture and sequestration technology, 

5 improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy 

6 sources. 

7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Energy. 

9 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to ex11 pend not more than $20,000,000 to carry out this Act 

12 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2019. 

13 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Amounts au14 thorized under this section may be made available notwith15 standing any other provision of law that restricts assist16 ance to foreign countries. 

Æ 


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