Austin - The Texas House of Representatives passed a key energy bill which could lead to lower electric rates through the development of clean coal technology for electric generation. House Bill 469 will allow Texas to be the first state in the nation to use carbon emissions from clean coal generating facilities to recharge depleting oil fields.
The bill author Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) indicated just how important the bill can be for clean energy in Texas.
Just as the state has successfully used targeted incentives to make Texas the national leader in wind energy this bill will help make sure that Texas is at the forefront of technological developments that use carbon emissions in enhanced oil recovery operations (EOR)."
King added It provides a double benefit for Texas: cleaner air and more jobs."
According to the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology:
CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology allows operators to recover oil that would normally be left in the ground when a field reaches the end of its conventional economic life.
Texas is currently the leader of CO2-EOR producing 3 to 4 times the volume of the rest of the states combined. HB 469 could assist in allowing oil companies to recover up to 8 billion barrels of oil through the use of EOR that is otherwise not able to be produced.
There is potential for significant growth in CO2-EOR in Texas. Conservative estimates predict an economic value of over $200 billion and the creation of 1.5 million jobs.
While the supply of CO2 for EOR projects comes primarily from natural CO2 reservoirs CO2 captured from power plants and other sources is beginning to become economically viable.
In the past year several companies have announced plans to build clean coal plants some using carbon sequestration technologies.
HB 469 now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Austin - The Texas House of Representatives passed a key energy bill which could lead to lower electric rates through the development of clean coal technology for electric generation. House Bill 469 will allow Texas to be the first state in the nation to use carbon emissions from clean coal generating facilities to recharge depleting oil fields.
The bill author Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) indicated just how important the bill can be for clean energy in Texas.
Just as the state has successfully used targeted incentives to make Texas the national leader in wind energy this bill will help make sure that Texas is at the forefront of technological developments that use carbon emissions in enhanced oil recovery operations (EOR)."
King added It provides a double benefit for Texas: cleaner air and more jobs."
According to the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology:
CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology allows operators to recover oil that would normally be left in the ground when a field reaches the end of its conventional economic life.
Texas is currently the leader of CO2-EOR producing 3 to 4 times the volume of the rest of the states combined. HB 469 could assist in allowing oil companies to recover up to 8 billion barrels of oil through the use of EOR that is otherwise not able to be produced.
There is potential for significant growth in CO2-EOR in Texas. Conservative estimates predict an economic value of over $200 billion and the creation of 1.5 million jobs.
While the supply of CO2 for EOR projects comes primarily from natural CO2 reservoirs CO2 captured from power plants and other sources is beginning to become economically viable.
In the past year several companies have announced plans to build clean coal plants some using carbon sequestration technologies.
HB 469 now moves to the Senate for consideration.
