DOE Re-opens Funding Opportunity, Making $500 Million Available to Build Out a Safe and Reliable National Carbon Transport Network

The funding opportunity will provide future growth grants under DOE’s Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation program

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced it is re-opening a funding opportunity to make up to $500 million available for projects that will help expand carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation infrastructure across the United States. Accelerating the development and deployment of carbon management technology to capture CO2 emissions from industrial operations and power generation, as well as directly from the atmosphere, requires a safe and reliable system that can transport the captured CO2, either for permanent geologic storage or for conversion to useful, durable products. These efforts will reduce CO2 emissions, provide new job opportunities, and enhance our Nation’s energy security.

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“As we continue to expand our Nation’s carbon management infrastructure to reduce the harmful effects of carbon dioxide emissions, we must jointly explore solutions to move the growing volumes of captured carbon dioxide to geologic storage or other end-use locations,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “DOE is making investments in large-capacity, common-carrier carbon dioxide transport projects to help spur the development of regional networks our country will need to meet this future increase in demand.”

America’s carbon transport system is already of significant scale, including multiple methods such as pipelines, trucks, and freight that together transport almost 60 million metric tons of CO2 per year. However, the United States will likely need to capture and permanently store approximately 400–1,800 million metric tons of CO2 annually to deliver a net-zero emissions economy by mid-century. To accommodate the expected rapid growth of a carbon capture and storage industry, we must significantly expand the infrastructure to transport carbon dioxide over the next decade. 

Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Future Growth Grants

This funding opportunity will provide future growth grants under DOE’s Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (CIFIA) program, made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Future growth grants are intended to provide financial assistance for designing, developing, and building CO2 transport systems whose capacity exceeds the CO2 volumes currently under commercial contract. Building this excess capacity up front will make it available for future carbon capture and direct air capture facilities as they are developed and for additional CO2 storage and/or conversion sites as they come into operation. 

Under this funding opportunity, the transport system—which may include pipelines, rail, trucks, barges, and/or ships—must connect, either directly or indirectly, two or more CO2 emitting sources to one or more conversion sites or secure geologic storage facilities. DOE is interested in projects sited in different regions that will provide an increased understanding of varying CO2 transport costs, transport modes, and transport network configurations, as well as technical, regulatory, and commercial considerations. This information will help inform DOE’s research and development strategy and encourage commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture and storage and CO2 removal.

The funding opportunity will remain open for one year, with four review periods with distinct windows for application, selection, and negotiation. For more information on these review periods and other details, read the full funding opportunity here.

DOE’s Broader Advancements in Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage

FECM has committed an estimated $1.4 billion since January 2021 for projects that advance research, development, and deployment of carbon transport and storage technologies and infrastructure. This progress is essential to help drive economic development, technological innovation, high-wage jobs, and national security as we build a clean energy and industrial economy.

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 National Energy Technology Laboratory website.