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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has allotted over $444 million to support 16 selected projects across twelve states aiming to strengthen the country’s carbon management industry.
The projects are targeted to expand carbon dioxide storage infrastructure needed to “significantly and responsibly reduce CO2 emissions from industrial operations and power plants, as well as from legacy emissions in the atmosphere”, the DOE said in a statement Tuesday, adding that they will be funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The 16 projects were selected for negotiation to support the development of new and expanded large-scale, commercial carbon storage projects, each with the capacity to securely store 50 or more million metric tons of carbon dioxide over a 30-year period, according to the statement. All the projects will support the Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative, managed by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM).
Nine of the 16 projects were selected for CarbonSAFE Phase II: Storage Complex Feasibility, and will perform technical, economic, and community assessments for potential carbon dioxide storage complexes, particularly in regions that currently lack these facilities. The other seven projects were selected for CarbonSAFE Phase III: Site Characterization and Permitting, as they have completed studies of subsurface conditions and are now set to focus on conducting detailed site characterization, planning, and permitting stages of project development. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), under the purview of FECM, will manage the selected projects, according to the statement.
FECM has announced investments of more than $816 million in projects since January 2021 that advance the research, development, and deployment of carbon transport and storage technologies and infrastructure, the DOE said, adding that this includes $242 million for nine storage projects selected in May under the first closing of the Carbon Storage Validation and Testing funding opportunity.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is about transforming our nation for the better—curbing pollution and providing economic opportunities in communities throughout the nation”, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. “Thanks to this historic agenda, DOE is investing in responsible carbon storage infrastructure to help slow the harmful effects of climate change all while revitalizing local economies and delivering cleaner air to the American people”.
The companies and institutions selected for CarbonSAFE Phase II are Ohio’s Battelle Memorial Institute, the Colorado School of Mines, the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Energy, the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc., Omnia Midstream Partners, LLC, the Southern States Energy Board, Trifecta Renewable Solutions, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the University of Wyoming.
For CarbonSAFE Phase III, the companies and institutions chosen are Advanced Resources International, Inc., BP Carbon Solutions, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Projeo, River Parish Sequestration, LLC, the Southern States Energy Board, and Tampa Electric Company.
Further, the DOE said it plans to ensure that the projects under the CarbonSAFE program carefully address societal considerations and impacts, emphasizing early, active, and meaningful engagement with communities. “All funding recipients will advance Community Benefits Plans to ensure local community members have a voice in project implementation, prepare residents for jobs in the emerging carbon capture and storage industry, and generate opportunities for economic development”, the department said.
The FECM aims to minimize the environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions across the U.S. economy. Its 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.
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