The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), will invest up to $45.5 million to fund technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) as well as the establishment of the corresponding carbon transport and storage infrastructure in the United States.
The funding opportunity, which was announced on Monday, has two focus areas: developing carbon capture technologies and accelerating the deployment of multi-modal transport of CO2.
The technologies must be lower cost and highly efficient and must be aimed at capturing CO2 from power and industrial facilities for permanent storage underground or for conversion into long-lasting products, for example concrete.
Under the second focus area, transportation hubs will be created to connect multiple transport modes of CO2 and thus provide cost-efficient, long-term transportation options for all types of CO2 sources.
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Carbon capture, transportation, and storage on a large scale is key to meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of bringing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions down to net zero by 2050.
“We will need hundreds of millions to billions of gigatons of carbon capture and storage capacity per year in the United States to achieve our climate goals,” Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary for FECM, said in a comment to the funding opportunity announcement.
In addition to falling under one of the two focus areas, proposals must ensure active engagement with the local communities and address societal considerations and impacts related to the project implementation.
Key points to be explained include how projects are expected to deliver economic and environmental benefits and mitigate impacts; conduct community and stakeholder engagement; incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and promote workforce development and quality jobs.
Applications must be submitted through the FedConnect portal by July 18, 2023. More details are available here.
Read more: U.S. Carbon Capture Set For Liftoff According To DOE Report
