The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), introduced on Dec. 13 four programs that will support carbon removal technologies in the United States.
The $3.7 billion in funding will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will support private-sector investment, monitoring and reporting practices for carbon management, and offer grants opportunities for state and local governments to procure and use products created from captured CO2 emissions.
“No matter how fast we decarbonize the nation’s economy, we must tackle the legacy pollution already in our atmosphere to avoid the worst effects of climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides the transformative investments needed to scale up the commercial use of technologies that can remove or capture CO2, which will bring jobs to our regions across the country and deliver a healthier environment for all Americans.”
Relevant: DOE To Invest $3.5 Billion In Carbon Removal
According to DOE’s analysis, estimates the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will bring 2030 emissions to 40% below 2005 levels.
The four programs are the following:
- Direct Air Capture Commercial and Pre-Commercial Prize – DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced the Direct Air Capture Prize that will provide $115 million in total for diverse approaches to direct air capture.
- Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs – DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), in partnership with FECM, announced the Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program. The Departmnent of Energy will spend $3.5 billion to develop four domestic regional direct air capture hubs that have the potential to capture at least 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year and store it permanently in a geologic formations or through its conversion into products.
- Carbon Utilization Procurement Grants – FECM will be responsible for the Carbon Utilization Procurement Grants Program, which will provide grants to state and local governments, and public utilities to support the commercialization of carbon removal technologies while also procuring and using commercial or industrial products created from captured CO2.
- Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) -– DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), together with FECM, will issue a Lab Call to accelerate the commercialization of carbon removal technologies, including direct air capture, by supporting measurement, reporting, and verification best practices and capabilities. OTT plans to award $15 million to projects led by DOE National Laboratories, plants, and sites.
Read more: Carbon Dioxide Removal Bill Introduced Following Ominous IPCC Report
