By Benjamin J. Hulac, Roll Call – March 29th
Reconciliation support
The House-passed budget reconciliation proposal includes $9.7 billion for an Agriculture Department program that would include loans and grants for electrical co-ops to purchase renewable energy or carbon capture systems. The measure remains stalled in the Senate.
A still-nascent technology, carbon capture broadly refers to the use of mechanical hardware at fossil fuel plants, such as coal-fired power stations, to contain greenhouse gases before they enter the atmosphere.
A related strategy, called carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, requires trapped carbon to be injected underground for permanent storage.
There were 24 operating CCS facilities worldwide in 2020, according to the Global CCS Institute, half of which were in the U.S.
In the House, Reps. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, Angie Craig, D-Minn., and Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., filed legislation to establish a tax credit for selling or blending fuels that contain ethanol, a colorless alcohol derived from agricultural feedstocks like corn, sugar cane or grass.