to establish the basic rules of how this burgeoning industry will unfold ,” he says . “ Having this framework in place increases the opportunities for carbon capture in the state by providing the regulatory certainty that these projects require . This was matched by the passage of the federal Inflation Reduction Act , which extended and expanded 45Q tax credits for carbon sequestration to provide a mechanism to recover the significant investment and operation costs for deploying this technology , thereby ensuring its economic viability for many years to come .”
Dr . Anne Marti works in the Functional Materials Division for Carbon Capture . Photo provided by the NETL .
I ’ ve been pushing hard over the past year to get permitting reform legislation signed into law , and it will continue to be a top priority for me . We can ’ t have energy security without energy independence , and we can ’ t have either unless we are able to build the energy infrastructure this country desperately needs .”
This infrastructure will need to include updated power plants like the one CPV is building , according to Wilkerson .
“ Carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) is most efficient when flue gas is least complicated ,” he says . “ Natural gas power plants will be a natural fit for these efforts . While Pennsylvania and Ohio have seen multiple plants built over the last few years that can now utilize CCS , West Virginia has yet to successfully build any combined-cycle natural gas power plants .”
The Hydrogen Hub Race
Combined with the energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act , the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helps provide billions of dollars in loan opportunities , tax credits and grants to incentivize carbon capture investments .
Eight billion dollars in funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law were designated for clean regional hydrogen hubs , which require CCS if the hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels . This is an exciting prospect for the Mountain State , which is located in a region with enormous natural gas resources . Using heat , steam and pressure , methane can be converted into what is known as blue hydrogen , a net-zero , carbon-free energy resource . The proposed hydrogen hubs would centralize clean hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure to serve multiple end-use sectors .
NETL Director Brian Anderson . Photo provided by the NETL .
An illustration showing offshore carbon sequestration methods . Image provided by the NETL .
While the challenges may seem insurmountable , several recent advances in tax structure and legislation have increased opportunities for carbon capture in West Virginia . According to Litchfield , in 2022 , West Virginia passed key legislation to codify how carbon sequestration would work in the Mountain State .
“ Governor Jim Justice signed the bill into law , and West Virginia became one of a limited number of states
“ Hydrogen is intended to serve the difficult-to-decarbonize sectors of our economy , where carbon capture or electrification are not feasible ,” says Dr . Brian Anderson , director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory and executive director of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization . “ Hydrogen can fill this need in medium and heavy-duty trucking and long-duration energy storage in the electric power sector while providing process heat to heavy industry and serving as a feedstock to lower carbon chemical and fuel production .”
As part of the infrastructure legislation , capital was allocated to the U . S . Department of Energy ( DOE ) for the
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