DOE Announces Up to $100 Million for Pilot-Scale Testing of Advanced Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced up to $100 million to help develop a commercially viable carbon dioxide removal industry in the United States. The funding will support pilot projects and testing facilities to demonstrate and scale carbon dioxide removal technologies that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution by removing it directly from the atmosphere and then storing the CO2 in geological, biobased, and ocean reservoirs or converting it into value-added products. Alongside strong actions to lower CO2 emissions, large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal technology is crucial for achieving President Biden’s historic climate and clean energy agenda. This effort will also benefit communities across the nation by improving air quality, creating good-paying job opportunities, and prioritizing community needs.

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“As we continue to deploy technologies to build a clean energy and industrial economy, carbon dioxide removal is needed to counterbalance emissions from sectors such as agriculture and shipping,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “DOE’s funding of carbon dioxide removal technology pilots and testing facilities will help accelerate the commercialization and wider deployment of technologies that are essential, not only to achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s net-zero goals, but also to enabling the clean-up of legacy emissions thereafter.”

To support an emerging and necessary carbon dioxide removal industry, in 2021 DOE launched the Carbon Negative Shot — the U.S. government’s first major carbon dioxide removal effort. Part of DOE’s larger Energy Earthshots Initiative, the Carbon Negative Shot is a Department-wide call for crosscutting innovation and commercialization of a wide range of carbon dioxide removal technologies and approaches. This Earthshot sets the goal of reducing the cost of removing CO2 from the atmosphere to less than $100 per net metric ton of CO2-equivalent by 2032, together with robust monitoring, reporting, and verification and secure storage.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) aims to support Carbon Negative Shot objectives across carbon dioxide removal pathways through integrated pilot-scale testing of advanced technologies and detailed monitoring, reporting, and verification protocols. Projects selected under this FOA will focus on three areas of interest:

• Small Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage Pilots — will support integrated pilot-scale testing of biomass carbon removal and storage or conversion with appropriate monitoring, reporting, and verification.

• Small Mineralization Pilots — will support integrated pilot-scale testing of enhanced mineralization technologies with appropriate monitoring, reporting, and verification.

• Multi-Pathways Carbon Dioxide Removal Testbed Facilities — will support testbed facilities suitable for evaluating, developing, and integrating multiple carbon dioxide removal pathways across different ecosystems, climates, and communities.

Applicants for DOE funding must address the societal considerations and impacts of their proposed projects, emphasizing active engagement with communities. Applications must explain 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. Projects selected under this opportunity will be required to develop and implement strategies to ensure strong community and worker benefits, and report on such activities and outcomes.

Read more details about this FOA here. All questions must be submitted through FedConnect; register here for an account. Visit our website to find resources on how to include equity and conduct community engagement in project plans.

FECM minimizes environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions across the U.S. economy. Priority areas of technology work include carbon capture, carbon conversion, carbon dioxide removal, carbon dioxide transport and storage, hydrogen production with carbon management, methane emissions reduction, and critical minerals production. To learn more, visit the FECM website, sign up for FECM news announcements, and visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory website.