US Department of Energy invests $58 million in carbon dioxide removal technology

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has committed over $58 million in federal funding to bolster a burgeoning carbon dioxide removal industry. The announcement, made by the DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) in conjunction with the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), highlights a significant investment in climate technology as the Biden-Harris Administration seeks to advance its clean energy objectives.

This funding will support eleven innovative projects across the country, each geared towards developing and scaling carbon dioxide removal technologies capable of capturing CO2 directly from the atmosphere. The initiative underscores the administration’s focus on climate action, seeking not only to mitigate emissions from industry and power generation but also to implement large-scale deployment of carbon capture technologies.

Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, commented on the strategic importance of these projects, noting their potential to diversify the DOE's technology portfolio, reduce removal costs, and assess environmental impacts. These efforts align with the Carbon Negative Shot launched by the DOE in 2021. This initiative aims to achieve a cost reduction in carbon dioxide removal to under $100 per metric ton by 2032 and includes focused efforts on measurement, monitoring, reporting, and secure storage.

Key projects funded by the DOE include:

• Mote, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, plans to use wood waste in a gasification system for hydrogen production while capturing CO2.
• Arbor Energy and Resources Corporation in El Segundo, California, will convert unmarketable forest waste into power, storing carbon from the biomass through a supercritical CO2 power system.
• Carba, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, aims to demonstrate permanent CO2 storage by converting biomass into charcoal and utilizing oxygen-free chambers.
• Carbon Lockdown Project Benefit LLC in Silver Spring, Maryland, will pilot biomass burial projects across Appalachian sites to remove carbon using residual biomass.
• Clemson University in South Carolina will inject wood particles into geological formations, demonstrating a novel approach to carbon removal.

In addition to these pilot projects, several entities will explore Enhanced Mineralization Technologies:

• Stanford University in California and Eion Corp in New Jersey are focusing on enhanced weathering techniques for scalable CO2 removal in soil.
• Lithos Carbon in Delaware is applying weathering methods on farmland, specifically targeting over 3,000 acres in the Southeast U.S.
• Northwestern University in Illinois will trial an innovative weathering method to help farmers in the Midwest store CO2 as bicarbonate.

Testbed facilities will also be expanded:

• Arizona State University in Tempe will augment its current capabilities to assess various direct air capture and carbon removal systems, including marine CO2 removal.
• University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks will enhance its facilities to transition from lab-scale concepts to integrated pilot-scale systems.

These projects are integral to the United States' broader strategy of attaining net-zero emissions and are part of an extensive drive to foster technologies that can significantly lower atmospheric CO2 levels. The DOE's funding represents a strategic step toward meeting ambitious environmental goals through advanced technological solutions.

Source: Noah Wire Services