DOE Invests $101 Million to Establish Carbon Capture, Removal, and Conversion Test Centers

Five projects will help establish test centers to cost-effectively research and evaluate technologies to capture and convert carbon dioxide into products from utility and industrial sources or remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced $101 million in federal funding for five projects to support the development of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, removal, and conversion test centers for cement manufacturing facilities and power plants. Accelerating the responsible development and deployment of technologies to capture CO2 emissions from industrial operations and power generation and to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere will help reduce CO2 emissions, provide new job opportunities, and strengthen the Nation’s energy security.

"Carbon management technologies such as carbon capture can significantly reduce emissions from fossil energy use and key industrial processes, like cement production," said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “By investing in test centers, we are helping reduce barriers to commercial scale deployment of carbon capture, conversion, and removal technologies that will ultimately help reduce pollution and create jobs.”

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Selected Projects

The five selected projects will support the establishment of test centers to cost-effectively research and evaluate technologies to capture and convert CO2 into products from utility and industrial sources or remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Establishing test centers of various sizes that use varying feedstocks from different industries can help establish and improve the efficacy and performance of carbon capture technologies. Each of these projects will enable economical and environmentally sustainable carbon management:

• The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Urbana, Illinois) plans to develop the conceptual design, business, technical, and managerial structures for a test center to evaluate and accelerate carbon capture, removal, and conversion technologies in the cement industry.

• Holcim US (Chicago, Illinois) plans to establish a domestic Cement Carbon Management Innovation Center at its Hagerstown Cement Facility in Maryland and explore the feasibility of the testing center location, ownership structure, business model, and technology partners.

• Southern Company Services, Inc. (Birmingham, Alabama) intends to maintain and operate the National Carbon Capture Center, a comprehensive test facility capable of evaluating CO2 capture, removal, and conversion technologies under electric generating plant operating conditions.

• University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (Grand Forks, North Dakota) plans to enhance its existing CO2 capture, removal, and conversion test center to rapidly and cost-effectively test more technologies under relevant power plant operating conditions.

• University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyoming) plans to expand the existing Wyoming Integrated Test Center’s capabilities to accommodate a wider range of carbon management technologies, simulating emissions from natural gas and industrial facilities.

Project Oversight and Additional Resources

Project funding is subject to appropriations. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), under the purview of FECM, will manage the selected projects. Additional details about the projects can be found here.

FECM reduces emissions from fossil energy production and use and key industrial processes while strengthening U.S. energy and critical minerals security. To learn more, visit the FECM website, sign up for FECM news announcements, and visit the NETL website.