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Tucson Electric Power Co. has joined a $4.7 million pilot project to try storing carbon dioxide underground instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

The "carbon sequestration" project is an effort to find ways to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions while still allowing energy companies to use existing fossil fuel resources, TEP spokesman Joe Salkowski said.

Arizona's other large electric companies, Arizona Public Service Co. and the Salt River Project, also are partners in the research coalition, called the West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership.

The partnership includes 70 public, private and non-profit agencies working with funds from the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission.

The project site is one mile east of Joseph City in Navajo County. It was chosen for its deep rock formations.

Although the site is near the APS Cholla Power Plant, using actual carbon dioxide emissions is not possible because of a lack of technology, Salkowski said. Instead they'll use commercial carbon dioxide, similar to the kind found in soda, transporting it to the test site and pumping it three-fourths of a mile underground.

"Until now, society hasn't seen a need to sequester CO2," Salkowksi said. "Companies are currently working to develop the technology" to capture carbon dioxide at the power source.

Carbon sequestration is essentially "buying time" for society to develop non-emitting energy and transportation systems, Robert Trautz, a hydrogeologist at the University of California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said in a news release.

"Society needs to embrace multiple solutions, including more efficient energy use, alternative fuels, electric-drive transportation, electricity from non-CO2-emitting sources and carbon sequestration," he said.

The project is expected to take two years to complete.

During the next 10 years, the Department of Energy plans to invest $197 million for similar projects through its Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships program, which was launched in 2003, according to another news release.

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