December 22, 2016

Manchin Encouraged by Department of Energy Loan Guarantees for Carbon Capture Technology

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is encouraged by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) recent announcement that it’s committed to guarantee loans up to $2 billion to construct the world’s first methanol production facility to employ carbon capture technology.

“Coal will power the United States and the world for decades to come. Instead of demonizing coal, we should be investing in technology that will allow us to use it in a cleaner more affordable manner, while also developing equipment that we can manufacture and export to the world creating jobs at home. That is why I am encouraged to see this announcement and will monitor the loan guarantee and progress of this important project,” Senator Manchin said.

“This loan program has been completely underutilized, which is why I included provisions in the comprehensive energy bill to reform our research and development of carbon capture technology and to ensure the Department of Energy is committing funds toward the development of this technology. I want to ensure that these loan guarantees are deployed in a manner that will support projects that will eventually lead us to broad commercial deployment of this technology. We must find a pathway forward for carbon capture technology that is cost-effective and allows for large-scale commercialization. I look forward to working with the Department of Energy on future projects, particularly for power generation units.”

Senator Manchin championed key provisions in the Energy Policy Modernization Act focused on ensuring the development and deployment of carbon capture utilization and sequestration technology.

Lake Charles Methanol, LLC would be the world’s first methanol production facility to employ carbon capture technology in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The captured carbon would be utilized for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in Texas. This plant would also be the first petroleum coke (petcoke) to methanol facility in the U.S. Petcoke is a byproduct from oil refining and methanol is one of the world’s most widely-used industrial chemicals. By using petcoke as the feedstock and carbon capture at the project, the proposed project will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released.

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