Electric Transmission Property Depreciation

ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION PROPERTY DEPRECIATION -- (Senate - June 23, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, families in Arkansas want and deserve a national energy policy that truly moves us towards energy independence. We must look beyond oil, gas, and coal and develop cleaner alternatives and new sources of energy, especially renewable fuels.

This bill offers a good starting point in achieving this goal, and I am pleased the Senate has agreed to adopt my amendment that embraces the potential of biodiesel and hythane as part of this effort.

My amendment requires that the Department of Energy, in conjunction with universities throughout the country, prepare two reports. These reports would evaluate the potential markets, infrastructure development needs and possible impediments to commercialization for two alternative fuels: biodiesel and hythane.

Biodiesel can substitute directly for petroleum-based diesel fuel, usually with no engine modifications, and offers a number of health and environmental benefits. It produces less carbon monoxide, less sulfur oxides emissions, and less particulate or soot emissions from some engines. It allows for safer handling. It is an agricultural-based feedstock may be produced anew every year, unlike fossil fuels which have declining reserves. And in Arkansas and other agricultural states, the robust commercializing of biodiesel would mean an economic boon to our farmers.

The promise of biodiesel as a fuel source is just beginning to show. Biodiesel only currently accounts for less than 0.1 percent of diesel fuel consumption in the U.S. But total U.S. diesel fuel use was estimated at 39.5 billion gallons in 2001, including 33.2 billion of on-road highway use.

The enhanced commercialization of biodiesel can help reverse this trend, but only if we enable this industry to get off the ground on a solid footing. We have seen an enormous amount of federal assistance help support and catapult the ethanol industry. Our soybean farmers and our Nation could benefit from similar treatment.

My amendment also requires a study on the feasibility of hythane deployment, which is a blend of hydrogen and methane. Hythane is considered a stepping stone or bridge to the hydrogen economy because it represents an initial commercial application of hydrogen as a legitimate fuel option. It reduces nitrogen oxide, NOx, emissions by 95 percent relative to diesel, and makes significant reductions in carbon dioxide.

China is now leading the way in developing hythane-powered vehicles. In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing, is in the process of replacing 10,000 diesel buses with hythane buses.

Additionally, hythane offers a solution to improve waste management in our communities. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, municipal solid waste landfills are the largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for about 34 percent of these emissions. Landfill gas is created as solid waste decomposes in a landfill and consists of about 50 percent methane.

Instead of allowing this gas to escape into the air, it can be captured, converted, and used to make hythane. As of December 2004, there are approximately 380 operational Landfill Gas energy projects in the United States and more than 600 landfills that are good candidates for projects. Companies ranging from Ford to Honeywell to Nestle are converting landfill gas into energy.

There is similar potential for chemical plants who also release methane into the atmosphere, contributing to local smog and global climate change. If they sequestered methane to sell to a hythane manufacturer, I believe they would take advantage of the profits it would yield.

My State of Arkansas, for example, has significant methane seams, including the Fayetteville shale bed methane seam, which Southwest Energy and CDX Gas are already using to their advantage. These resources could contribute to hythane fuel production as well.

Our Nation's energy problems cannot be solved overnight; however, we would be remiss if we did not at least further explore innovative and practical solutions, such as biodiesel and hythane. This amendment is a win-win situation for our energy dependence, health, economy and environment. I thank my colleagues for their support.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov