The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the launch of a new funding opportunity, providing up to $100 million to support projects to remove, store and utilize carbon from the atmosphere as part of efforts to develop a carbon removal industry. commercially viable carbon dioxide in the US
Carbon removal is emerging as a key tool in the fight against climate change, although most technologies and solutions for capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere remain at a very early stage. According to the IPCC's landmark climate change mitigation study released last year, scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C include carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods, which could reach billions of tons of removal annually over the next few decades.
The new funding opportunity follows DOE's 2021 launch of the Carbon Negative Shot, which aims to support innovation in CO2 removal pathways – such as direct air capture (DAC), soil carbon sequestration, CO2 removal based in oceans and reforestation, among others – enable carbon capture and storage on gigaton scales for less than $100 per net metric ton of CO2e by 2032.
According to the DOE, the new opportunity aims to support the goals of the Carbon Negative Shot and will support projects to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere for storage in geological, bio-based and ocean reservoirs or for conversion into value-added products. for the funding announcement includes small biomass carbon removal and storage pilots, small mineralization pilots to test improved mineralization technologies, and support test facilities to evaluate, develop and integrate multiple carbon dioxide removal pathways across ecosystems, climates and communities.
Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, said:
“DOE funding for carbon dioxide removal technology pilots and testing facilities will help accelerate the commercialization and broader deployment of technologies that are essential not only to achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s net-zero goals, but also to allow for the cleanup of legacy emissions thereafter.”
