The Business Case for Carbon Utilization

Statement

On this Earth Day, when many are making the case for conservation, I'd like to make the case for innovation. Whether or not you agree with the EPA's authority to regulate carbon, there's one thing that's not up for debate: carbon has value.

Only recently have technologies evolved that can convert waste carbon into valuable products. Most of the CO2 reduction focus -- and federal dollars -- has gone to expensive and unproven technologies that simply aim to bury carbon. Yet to do so requires up to 40 percent more power generation, increasing costs to utilities and ratepayers.

There is a better way. Feed the carbon to algae, which grow more productively when absorbing the carbon. Then, use algae to produce a variety of products like fuels, including some of the most efficient jet fuels and green crude, chemicals, animal feed and other valuable commodities.

In doing so, we unlock the power of the market to drive real innovation in technologies that will enable us to protect our investments in our power plants, keep a lid on costs for taxpayers, bring us closer to real energy independence and create economic development in communities across the country -- all while reducing carbon emissions.

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