II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2744 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to expand the authority for awarding technology prizes by the Secretary of Energy to include a financial 

award for separation of carbon dioxide from dilute sources. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2009 

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 amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to expand the 

authority for awarding technology prizes by the Secretary 

of Energy to include a financial award for separation 

of carbon dioxide from dilute 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 ‘‘Carbon Dioxide Cap5 ture Technology Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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

2 facilities typically have carbon dioxide concentrations 

3 of approximately 17 percent by volume; 

4 (2) it is possible to separate carbon dioxide 

5 from dilute sources and even the atmosphere, which 

6 has a carbon dioxide concentration of 0.038 percent, 

7 but substantial advances in research and technology 

8 will be necessary to provide the separation in an eco9 nomical manner; 

10 (3) developing practical separations of carbon 

11 dioxide from dilute sources is important to the fu12 ture development of energy technology; 

13 (4) economical onsite separation of atmospheric 

14 carbon dioxide can help leverage the use of carbon 

15 dioxide in energy applications such as enhanced oil 

16 recovery and enhanced geothermal systems at re17 mote sites; and 

18 (5) authorizing the Secretary of Energy to pro19 vide a technology prize for separation of carbon di20 oxide from dilute sources can provide the impetus 

21 for developing the novel technologies that will be 

22 needed in the future as part of the national energy 

23 system of the United States. 

24 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro25 vide incentives to encourage the development and impleVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:06 Nov 06, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2744.IS S2744

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1 mentation of technology to capture carbon dioxide from 

2 dilute sources on a significant scale using direct air cap3 ture technologies. 

4 SEC. 3. CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY PRIZE. 

5 Section 1008 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

6 U.S.C. 16396) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(g) CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY

9 PRIZE.— 

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

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

12 the Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Advi13 sory Board established by paragraph (6). 

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

15 concentration of less than 1 percent by volume. 

16 ‘‘(C) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—The 

17 term ‘intellectual property’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) an invention that is patentable 

19 under title 35, United States Code; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) any patent on an invention de21 scribed in clause (i). 

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

23 means the Secretary of Energy or designee, in 

24 consultation with the Board. 


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

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

3 the program carried out under this section, the Sec4 retary shall establish and award competitive tech5 nology financial awards for carbon dioxide capture 

6 from media in which the concentration of carbon di7 oxide is dilute. 

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

9 the Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (4), develop spe11 cific requirements for— 

12 ‘‘(i) the competition process; 

13 ‘‘(ii) minimum performance standards 

14 for qualifying projects; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) monitoring and verification pro16 cedures for approved projects; 

17 ‘‘(B) establish minimum levels for the cap18 ture of carbon dioxide from a dilute medium 

19 that are required to be achieved to qualify for 

20 a financial award described in subparagraph 

21 (C); 

22 ‘‘(C) offer financial awards for— 

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

24 technology; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a successful bench-scale dem2 onstration of a capture technology; 

3 ‘‘(iii) a design for a technology de4 scribed in clause (i) that will— 

5 ‘‘(I) be operated on a demonstra6 tion scale; and 

7 ‘‘(II) achieve significant reduc8 tion in the level of carbon dioxide; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) an operational capture tech10 nology on a commercial scale that meets 

11 the minimum levels described in subpara12 graph (B); and 

13 ‘‘(D) submit to Congress— 

14 ‘‘(i) an annual report that describes 

15 the progress made by the Board and re16 cipients of financial awards under this sub17 section in achieving the demonstration 

18 goals established under subparagraph (C); 

19 and 

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

21 date of enactment of this subsection, a re22 port that describes the levels of funding 

23 that are necessary to achieve the purposes 

24 of this subsection. 


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

2 paragraph (3)(A), the Board shall— 

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

4 at least 60 days, an opportunity for public com5 ment on, any draft or proposed version of the 

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

7 and 

8 ‘‘(B) take into account public comments 

9 received in developing the final version of those 

10 requirements. 

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

12 be provided under this subsection until the proposal 

13 for which the award is sought has been peer re14 viewed in accordance with such standards for peer 

15 review as are established by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(6) CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY

17 ADVISORY BOARD.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab19 lished an advisory board to be known as the 

20 ‘Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology Advisory 

21 Board’. 

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

23 composed of 9 members appointed by the Presi24 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the 

25 Senate, who shall provide expertise in— 


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1 ‘‘(i) climate science; 

2 ‘‘(ii) physics; 

3 ‘‘(iii) chemistry; 

4 ‘‘(iv) biology; 

5 ‘‘(v) engineering; 

6 ‘‘(vi) economics; 

7 ‘‘(vii) business management; and 

8 ‘‘(viii) such other disciplines as the 

9 Secretary determines to be necessary to 

10 achieve the purposes of this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(C) TERM; VACANCIES.— 

12 ‘‘(i) TERM.—A member of the Board 

13 shall serve for a term of 6 years. 

14 ‘‘(ii) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the 

15 Board— 

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

17 the Board; and 

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

19 manner as the original appointment 

20 was made. 

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

22 30 days after the date on which all members of 

23 the Board have been appointed, the Board shall 

24 hold the initial meeting of the Board. 


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

2 at the call of the Chairperson. 

3 ‘‘(F) QUORUM.—A majority of the mem4 bers of the Board shall constitute a quorum, 

5 but a lesser number of members may hold hear6 ings. 

7 ‘‘(G) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR8 PERSON.—The Board shall select a Chairperson 

9 and Vice Chairperson from among the members 

10 of the Board. 

11 ‘‘(H) COMPENSATION.—Each member of 

12 the Board may be compensated at not to exceed 

13 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

14 pay in effect for a position at level V of the Ex15 ecutive Schedule for each day during which the 

16 member is engaged in the actual performance of 

17 the duties of the Board. 

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

19 Secretary on carrying out the duties of the Sec20 retary under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(7) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of re23 ceiving a financial award under this subsection, 

24 an applicant shall agree to vest the intellectual 

25 property of the applicant derived from the techVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:06 Nov 06, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2744.IS S2744

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1 nology in 1 or more entities that are incor2 porated in the United States. 

3 ‘‘(B) RESERVATION OF LICENSE.—The 

4 United States— 

5 ‘‘(i) may reserve a nonexclusive, non6 transferable, irrevocable, paid-up license, 

7 to have practiced for or on behalf of the 

8 United States, in connection with any in9 tellectual property described in subpara10 graph (A); but 

11 ‘‘(ii) shall not, in the exercise of a li12 cense reserved under clause (i), publicly 

13 disclose proprietary information relating to 

14 the license. 

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

16 intellectual property described in subparagraph 

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

18 an entity that is incorporated in the United 

19 States, until the expiration of the first patent 

20 obtained in connection with the intellectual 

21 property. 

22 ‘‘(8) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 this subsection such sums as are necessary. 


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

2 Board and all authority provided under this sub3 section shall terminate on December 31, 2020.’’. 

Æ 


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