Pipedream to Pipeline: Ownership of Kentucky's Subterranean Pore Space for Use in Carbon Capture and Sequestration
![handle is hein.journals/branlaj49 and id is 295 raw text is: PIPEDREAM TO PIPELINE: OWNERSHIP OF
KENTUCKY'S SUBTERRANEAN PORE SPACE FOR
USE IN CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION
Mark A. Imbrogno*
I. INTRODUCTION
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is presently a technology of
great interest, mainly because of growing concern over both the
environment and our reliance on fossil fuels. The United States generates
fifty percent of its electricity from coal,' and despite coal's reputation for
environmental degradation, this will likely continue into the foreseeable
future.2 CCS is an important new technology with the potential for
preserving our environment while allowing for continued fossil fuel use, as
we wait for economically viable alternative energy sources.3 In the context
of proposed cap and trade legislation,4 proponents of CCS view it as a
means of lowering the carbon tax burden on coal-fired power plants.5 In
2009, the federal government set aside $2.4 billion of stimulus funds for
research to expedite CCS implementation, indicating its interest in the
technology.6
Closer to home, Kentucky has several reasons to consider CCS
necessary to the Commonwealth's future. As the United States' third-
largest coal producer,7 Kentucky is home to twenty-two coal-fired power
- J.D. Candidate (May 2011), Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville. B.BA (2002),
University of Kentucky. The author would like to thank his family, friends, and Felicia for their patience and
support during the writing of this Note.
I Federal Acdtis and de Habili ofCO2 Cpture and Storag, AIR POILUTION CONSULTANTJan. I, 2009, at 1.1,
1.1; Cimate Oange The lsion ofoan Coal, EcoNOMIST, Mar. 7-13, 2009, at 20, 20.
2 See Trouble in Store, ECONOMIST, Mar. 7-13, 2009, at 74, 74, available at http://www.economist.com/
node/13226661.
3 See Rqulatoy Aspeats ofCarbon Capor, Traspertato, and Sequestratin* Hearig on SB. 2144 and SR 2323 Before
the S Conm. on Fogy and Naral Resoore, I10th Cong. 54 (2008) [hereinafter Haing] (statement of Scott
Anderson, Environmental Defense); James Bruggers, Waning Pits Region's Coal in the Cross Hms, COURIER-J.
(Louisville), Feb. 3, 2007, at Al; Trouble in Store, supra note 2, at 74.
4 Seo ag., American Clean Energy & Security Act of 2009, H.R. 2454, 111th Cong. (2009).
5 See Trouble in Store, spra note 2, at 75.
6 Press Release, U.S. Dep't of Energy, Secretary Chu Announces $2.4 billion in Funding for Carbon
Capture and Storage Projects (May 15, 2009), available at http://www.energy.gov/news/7405.htm.
7 Ky. OIMCE OF ENERGY POLICY ET AL, KENTUCKY COAL FACTS 7 (2008), available at
http://www.kentuckycoal.org/documents/CoalFacts08.pdl Bruggers, srao note 3.
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Pipedream to Pipeline: Ownership of Kentucky's Subterranean Pore Space for Use in Carbon Capture and Sequestration
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