Adding “Utilization” to Carbon Capture and Storage

President Obama has made clear that the United States’ energy security and economic competitiveness depend on our ability to develop every source of American energy. In the Office of Fossil Energy (FE), we are doing our part to advance this  all-of-the-above energy strategy by continuing to work with industry to safely, responsibly and sustainably develop our nation’s fossil energy resources. Part of that commitment includes focused research in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies, widely recognized by energy experts worldwide as essential in helping to reduce the carbon pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. Today, the Energy Department is leveraging its cutting-edge research to show that not only can CCS technology help industry make fossil energy use cleaner, safer and more sustainable, it also shows promise as a method to extract more, hard-to-access and presently untapped fossil energy resources.  The Energy Department is strategically focusing the program’s R&D toward the economic “utilization” of captured carbon dioxide (CO2) for commercial purposes – evolving from CCS to Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage, or CCUS.  By putting the captured CO2 to use, CCUS provides an additional business and market case for companies or organizations to pursue the environmental benefits of CCS.