II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 757 

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, and Mr. ENZI) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

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. 

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

3 SECTION 1. CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY 

4 PRIZE. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

6 (1) flue gases from coal-fired electric generating 

7 facilities typically have carbon dioxide concentrations 

8 of approximately 17 percent by volume; 


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1 (2) it is possible to separate carbon dioxide 

2 from dilute sources and even the atmosphere, which 

3 has a carbon dioxide concentration of 0.038 percent, 

4 but substantial advances in research and technology 

5 will be necessary to provide the separation in an eco6 nomical manner; 

7 (3) developing practical separations of carbon 

8 dioxide from dilute sources is important to the fu9 ture development of energy technology; 

10 (4) economical onsite separation of atmospheric 

11 carbon dioxide can help leverage the use of carbon 

12 dioxide in energy applications such as enhanced oil 

13 recovery and enhanced geothermal systems at re14 mote sites; and 

15 (5) authorizing the Secretary of Energy to pro16 vide a technology prize for separation of carbon di17 oxide from dilute sources can provide the impetus 

18 for developing the novel technologies that will be 

19 needed in the future as part of the national energy 

20 system of the United States. 

21 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

22 provide incentives to encourage the development and im23 plementation of technology to capture carbon dioxide from 

24 dilute sources on a significant scale using direct air cap25 ture technologies. 


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1 (c) CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY

2 PRIZE.—Section 1008 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

3 (42 U.S.C. 16396) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(g) CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY

6 PRIZE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means 

9 the Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Advi10 sory Board established by paragraph (6). 

11 ‘‘(B) DILUTE.—The term ‘dilute’ means a 

12 concentration of less than 1 percent by volume. 

13 ‘‘(C) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—The 

14 term ‘intellectual property’ means— 

15 ‘‘(i) an invention that is patentable 

16 under title 35, United States Code; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) any patent on an invention de18 scribed in clause (i). 

19 ‘‘(D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

20 means the Secretary of Energy or designee, in 

21 consultation with the Board. 

22 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date of enactment of this subsection, as part of 

24 the program carried out under this section, the Sec25 retary shall establish and award competitive techVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:42 Apr 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S757.IS S757

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1 nology financial awards for carbon dioxide capture 

2 from media in which the concentration of carbon di3 oxide is dilute. 

4 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—In carrying out this subsection, 

5 the Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (4), develop spe7 cific requirements for— 

8 ‘‘(i) the competition process; 

9 ‘‘(ii) minimum performance standards 

10 for qualifying projects; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) monitoring and verification pro12 cedures for approved projects; 

13 ‘‘(B) establish minimum levels for the cap14 ture of carbon dioxide from a dilute medium 

15 that are required to be achieved to qualify for 

16 a financial award described in subparagraph 

17 (C); 

18 ‘‘(C) offer financial awards for— 

19 ‘‘(i) a design for a promising capture 

20 technology; 

21 ‘‘(ii) a successful bench-scale dem22 onstration of a capture technology; 

23 ‘‘(iii) a design for a technology de24 scribed in clause (i) that will— 


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1 ‘‘(I) be operated on a demonstra2 tion scale; and 

3 ‘‘(II) achieve significant reduc4 tion in the level of carbon dioxide; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) an operational capture tech6 nology on a commercial scale that meets 

7 the minimum levels described in subpara8 graph (B); and 

9 ‘‘(D) submit to Congress— 

10 ‘‘(i) an annual report that describes 

11 the progress made by the Board and re12 cipients of financial awards under this sub13 section in achieving the demonstration 

14 goals established under subparagraph (C); 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) not later than 1 year after the 

17 date of enactment of this subsection, a re18 port that describes the levels of funding 

19 that are necessary to achieve the purposes 

20 of this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In carrying out 

22 paragraph (3)(A), the Board shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) provide notice of and, for a period of 

24 at least 60 days, an opportunity for public com25 ment on, any draft or proposed version of the 


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1 requirements described in paragraph (3)(A); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) take into account public comments 

4 received in developing the final version of those 

5 requirements. 

6 ‘‘(5) PEER REVIEW.—No financial awards may 

7 be provided under this subsection until the proposal 

8 for which the award is sought has been peer re9 viewed in accordance with such standards for peer 

10 review as are established by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(6) CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY

12 ADVISORY BOARD.— 

13 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab14 lished an advisory board to be known as the 

15 ‘Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Advisory 

16 Board’. 

17 ‘‘(B) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be 

18 composed of 9 members appointed by the Presi19 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the 

20 Senate, who shall provide expertise in— 

21 ‘‘(i) climate science; 

22 ‘‘(ii) physics; 

23 ‘‘(iii) chemistry; 

24 ‘‘(iv) biology; 

25 ‘‘(v) engineering; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) economics; 

2 ‘‘(vii) business management; and 

3 ‘‘(viii) such other disciplines as the 

4 Secretary determines to be necessary to 

5 achieve the purposes of this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(C) TERM; VACANCIES.— 

7 ‘‘(i) TERM.—A member of the Board 

8 shall serve for a term of 6 years. 

9 ‘‘(ii) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the 

10 Board— 

11 ‘‘(I) shall not affect the powers of 

12 the Board; and 

13 ‘‘(II) shall be filled in the same 

14 manner as the original appointment 

15 was made. 

16 ‘‘(D) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 

17 30 days after the date on which all members of 

18 the Board have been appointed, the Board shall 

19 hold the initial meeting of the Board. 

20 ‘‘(E) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet 

21 at the call of the Chairperson. 

22 ‘‘(F) QUORUM.—A majority of the mem23 bers of the Board shall constitute a quorum, 

24 but a lesser number of members may hold hear25 ings. 


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1 ‘‘(G) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR2 PERSON.—The Board shall select a Chairperson 

3 and Vice Chairperson from among the members 

4 of the Board. 

5 ‘‘(H) COMPENSATION.—Each member of 

6 the Board may be compensated at not to exceed 

7 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

8 pay in effect for a position at level V of the Ex9 ecutive Schedule for each day during which the 

10 member is engaged in the actual performance of 

11 the duties of the Board. 

12 ‘‘(I) DUTIES.—The Board shall advise the 

13 Secretary on carrying out the duties of the Sec14 retary under this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(7) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of re17 ceiving a financial award under this subsection, 

18 an applicant shall agree to vest the intellectual 

19 property of the applicant derived from the tech20 nology in 1 or more entities that are incor21 porated in the United States. 

22 ‘‘(B) RESERVATION OF LICENSE.—The 

23 United States— 

24 ‘‘(i) may reserve a nonexclusive, non25 transferable, irrevocable, paid-up license, 


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1 to have practiced for or on behalf of the 

2 United States, in connection with any in3 tellectual property described in subpara4 graph (A); but 

5 ‘‘(ii) shall not, in the exercise of a li6 cense reserved under clause (i), publicly 

7 disclose proprietary information relating to 

8 the license. 

9 ‘‘(C) TRANSFER OF TITLE.—Title to any 

10 intellectual property described in subparagraph 

11 (A) shall not be transferred or passed, except to 

12 an entity that is incorporated in the United 

13 States, until the expiration of the first patent 

14 obtained in connection with the intellectual 

15 property. 

16 ‘‘(8) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

18 this subsection such sums as are necessary. 

19 ‘‘(9) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The 

20 Board and all authority provided under this sub21 section shall terminate on December 31, 2020.’’. 

Æ 


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