Carbon Solutions

Climate experts agree the only way to meet the Paris climate accord’s vital reduction in the planet’s rising temperature by 2050 is to shrink its carbon footprint – and corralling atmospheric CO2 is essential.

To do that, we must lock away nearly 30 times more CO2 than we’re sequestering today. That means government and businesses will have to work together to deliver the carbon solutions our environment deserves.

We can achieve that goal – and also boost domestic oil production the world economy needs without damaging the environment. But to do that, Congress must act now.

Lawmakers must give the same industrial carbon credit used in enhanced oil recovery, or EOR, as the credit given for storing the CO2 safely underground.

For half a century, it has been shown that injecting compressed CO2 sucked from the atmosphere into old oil fields rejuvenates them to produce stranded oil reserves. Congress has encouraged this EOR production. The result: the largest industry today that sequesters CO2 while also producing net-negative carbon-emitting oil.

Specifically, the Senate must increase the House-passed 45Q credit value for captured CO2 used in EOR to the same level it provides for captured CO2 taken to dedicated storage: $85/metric ton for both.

If we do this, we can – at the same time – boost domestic oil production the world needs without damaging the environment and progressing on our multi-years-long path to create carbon solutions for our net zero and emissions goals. Why? Because large-scale industrial CO2 storage sites plus new CO2 pipelines will take some time to build out. But CO2-related EOR projects are a nearer-term way for large-scale carbon capture while also delivering needed world oil supplies that are net carbon negative.

If we do this, we can make the progress we require on our multi-year-long path to meet our net zero and emissions goals.

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