Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the termination of 24 major awards on May 30, 2025, citing economic viability concerns and taxpayer protection
The U.S. Department of Energy has terminated $3.73 billion in federal funding across 24 clean energy projects, marking one of the largest cancellations of climate-focused industrial investments in recent history. The decision, announced by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, affects cutting-edge carbon capture, cement decarbonization, and industrial electrification projects spanning from California to Texas.
The timing of these awards reveals a stark political divide over climate policy. Nearly 70% of the terminated projects—16 out of 24—were signed between Election Day and President Trump's inauguration on January 20th, representing what appears to be a last-minute push by the previous administration to secure climate funding before the transition of power.
"After a thorough and individualized financial review of each award, DOE found that these projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars," Wright stated in the announcement.
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The terminated awards include some of the most ambitious industrial decarbonization projects ever proposed in the United States:
Cement Industry Transformations ($1.09 Billion)
Carbon Capture Demonstrations ($1.07 Billion)
Chemical Industry Innovation ($707 Million)
The canceled projects represented some of the most innovative approaches to industrial decarbonization:
Game-Changing Cement Production. Brimstone Energy's $189 million project promised to revolutionize cement manufacturing using calcium silicate rocks instead of limestone—a process that would actually remove CO2 from the atmosphere rather than emit it. The cement industry accounts for 7.5% of global CO2 emissions, making this technology potentially transformational.
Advanced Glass Manufacturing. Four glass companies—including Libbey Glass, Owens-Brockway, and Gallo Glass—lost a combined $223 million in funding for hybrid electric furnaces that would have reduced carbon intensity by 40-50% while maintaining product quality standards.
Mining Decarbonization. Nevada Gold Mines' $95 million project would have installed 100 MW of solar power and 248 MWh of battery storage across active gold mining operations, demonstrating how extractive industries could achieve net-zero operations.
The terminated projects were distributed across key industrial states:
The projects were expected to create thousands of construction and permanent jobs while demonstrating technologies that could be replicated across American industry.
The cancellations represent a fundamental shift in federal energy policy, moving away from direct subsidies for emerging clean technologies toward market-driven solutions. Critics argue the decision abandons American leadership in industrial innovation at a critical moment when other nations are investing heavily in similar technologies.
The cement industry, in particular, faces mounting pressure to decarbonize as demand is expected to double by 2050. Without federal support for breakthrough technologies, American cement producers may lag behind international competitors developing carbon-neutral alternatives.
The terminated awards free up $3.6 billion in immediate taxpayer savings, which the Trump administration says will be redirected toward projects that "strengthen national security" and "bolster affordable, reliable energy sources."
However, the decision effectively ends federal support for several promising industrial decarbonization pathways that had progressed through rigorous technical and financial reviews. Companies affected by the cancellations will need to either proceed with private funding or abandon projects that took years to develop.
The cancellations mark a clear departure from the previous administration's industrial decarbonization strategy, signaling that future clean energy development will likely depend on market forces rather than federal demonstration funding.
The 24 terminated projects represented awards across cement manufacturing, carbon capture and storage, glass production, chemical processing, mining operations, and industrial electrification—technologies that collectively could have prevented millions of tons of annual CO2 emissions while maintaining American industrial competitiveness.
Source: Notus.org
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