U.S. Energy Department Offers $96 Million Funding to Support Carbon Capture Technologies

The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management on Feb. 10 announced a total of $96 million funding allocated for projects aimed at developing technologies that can capture at least 95 percent of point-source carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas power plants and industrial applications.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory will administer this project funding opportunity to facilitate the development and testing of carbon capture materials, equipment, processes, or combinations thereof for applications in natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power generation and industrial processes. NGCC power plants integrated with carbon capture systems will also be the subject of engineering design studies.

The office has supported the advancement of carbon capture technology through more than 20 successful pilot-scale projects, as well as a demonstration-scale project that can capture and store about one million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Support for carbon capture within the natural gas power generation and industrial sectors, including cement and steel, has yet to produce pilot or demonstration-scale results, prompting the current focus on enabling their development. The department’s grant would support similar technological advancements and transparency of costs, which is essential for wide-scale deployment. Therefore, identifying the commercial potential of these technologies will advance the Biden administration’s goal for a zero-carbon economy by 2050.

Four categories of project proposals will be considered:

• Carbon Capture R&D which involves material testing for NGCC plants at laboratory scale
• Development of Engineering-scale testing for capturing carbon after combustion in NGCC power plants
• Testing for industrial plants and waste-to-energy plants of transformational carbon capture technologies at engineering scale
• Front-end engineering design analysis for carbon capture at existing industrial and NGCC power plants

These carbon capture technologies are expected to demonstrate economic and environmental benefits in the future. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides additional resources that will enable scientists, researchers, and businesses to demonstrate breakthroughs in carbon reduction and removal technologies. This in turn is expected to further help to demonstrate the technologies on a large scale and fast-track the deployment of climate-resilient technologies and good-paying jobs.

Proposals are due by April 11.