The U.S. Department of Energy announced 16 projects across 14 states are set to receive US$23.4 million to provide locally-tailored technical assistance and enhanced stakeholder engagement around carbon management technologies.
The projects, which are housed in both universities and private sector businesses, aim to link carbon management developers with regional communities to promote collaboration and education in order to advance the commercial deployment of carbon capture, transport, and storage technologies throughout the United States. In order to achieve President Biden’s ambitious climate goals, widespread use of carbon management technology will contribute to a reduction in emissions from industrial facilities and power plants that are challenging to decarbonise.
“There’s no denying that to reach our climate goals technology will play a central role in the reduction of harmful carbon emissions that are exacerbating the impacts of climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Today’s investments will help regions across the nation develop locally-focused pathways that advance the deployment of carbon management technology, while delivering more jobs and cleaner air.”
The funding will make it possible for organisations with in-depth knowledge and special expertise in carbon capture, transport, and storage to offer technical advice and administrative support to industry and business partners with a stake in large-scale carbon management.
The selected projects will:
- Provide stakeholders with valuable resources, expert teams, and information necessary to facilitate the regional deployment of large-scale geologic storage facilities, or carbon management hubs, that could each store hundreds of millions of metric tons of CO2 over their operational lifespan at an injection rate of more than 5 million metric tons per year, and
- Provide the opportunity for DOE to work with State Geologic Surveys and related organisations with unique technical capabilities to fill data gaps and identify the potential for these large-scale projects within promising geologic basins in their respective states.
A key element of this assistance is close engagement with the communities affected by current and proposed carbon capture, transport, and storage infrastructure to facilitate public understanding of the technical aspects of the projects. By fostering this collaboration, DOE hopes to lower project costs and risks, increase monitoring efficiency while lowering costs, create more successful public relations campaigns, and provide information to assist legislative and governmental decision-making across multiple regions of the United States.
