Underground CO2 capture testing is urged

PITTSBURGH, June 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. professor is urging Congress to pass legislation to fund demonstrations of new technologies that trap and store carbon dioxide emissions underground.

Carnegie Mellon University Professor Edward Rubin, a lead author of a study on CO2 capture and storage by the United Nations, said such funding is vital to controlling global climate change.

The measure was introduced June 12 by U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., to establish a non-governmental fund to support the full-scale demonstration of new carbon capture and sequestration technologies.

"Creating this fund would be a critical step in achieving truly 'clean coal' technologies that are urgently needed," said Rubin, who noted half of all U.S. electricity generation comes from coal, a major source of the planet's carbon dioxide emissions.

Rubin said carbon sequestration is a simple-sounding idea that's exciting energy analysts, governments and energy companies around the world as a way to cut emissions without disrupting energy supplies.