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It’s been a long and arduous process, but our persistence is paying off. Today, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) introduced new legislation to prioritize research and development of carbon utilization technologies under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fossil Energy program.

The bill (S. 1282) would add “Improving the conversion, use, and storage of CO₂ produced from fossil fuels” to the list of DOE Fossil Energy R&D objectives under Section 961(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16512(b)).

The bill is recognition of the growing importance of algae and other technologies that can convert captured CO₂ to fuels, chemicals and other products.

“Algae and other biological carbon utilization platforms are under development or demonstration in more than 30 states, and the inclusion of carbon utilization as an R&D priority for DOE’s Fossil Energy program will help further link these projects with fossil energy generators to optimize fossil carbon conversion and speed commercial deployment.

Algae and other similar biological platforms have shown exceptional ability in pilot and demonstration projects throughout the country to convert CO₂ into low-carbon advanced biofuels, plastics, fish and animal feed, and even fertilizer.

ABO’s Executive Director Matt Carr and executives from many member companies have spoken with dozens of members of Congress in the past year and have received bi-partisan support for this common sense approach to emissions reductions. We look forward to seeing the proposal adopted.