Among a slew of spending and tax credits tucked into the budget bill signed by U.S. President Trump, one of them, known as 45Q, expands tax incentives for carbon capture, including from the air.  With advocates from both sides of the aisle, the act shows bipartisan support for carbon capture technology. The policy also signals a shift toward greater development and deployment for something known as carbon dioxide removal.

Broadly speaking, carbon dioxide removal involves two crucial steps: trapping carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas causing climate change) and reliably storing it.

For every qualifying project, 45Q generates a tax credit: $50 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) buried in underground storage, $35 per ton for either utilization or enhanced oil recovery.

45Q gathered diverse backers, ranging from fossil fuel companies to unions and environmentalists. While these stakeholders touted different benefits for the economy and the environment, they generally agreed on the importance of federal incentives for carbon capture and utilization. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR), an important pathway to geologic carbon dioxide sequestration, will likely receive many of the 45Q tax credits.

Read the full article on tax credits for carbon capture by Rory Jacobson at TriplePundit