U.S. Energy Department Announces $127.5 Million for Carbon Capture Test Centers

The U.S. Energy Department announced up to $127.5 million in funding to support carbon capture, removal, and conversion test centers. The department plans to make up to 10 awards with 20-30 percent cost-sharing from awardees. The funding will support test centers at cement manufacturing facilities and power plants facilitating cost-effective research and evaluation of these technologies in an industrial or utility environment.

The funding will focus on three areas of interest. Firstly, establishing a test center at an electric generating unit will develop post-combustion flue gas testing capabilities representative of domestic coal and/or natural gas-based power systems. The second area of interest pertains to enabling capital Improvements at existing test facilities by adding infrastructure upgrades to current flue gas testing centers representative of domestic fossil-based power systems. Thirdly, a test center at a cement manufacturing facility will focus on providing flue gas testing representative of domestic cement manufacturing facilities.

The Biden administration has set climate targets for carbon dioxide emissions, requiring innovative carbon capture and removal technology. By 2050, the administration aims to capture and sequester 400 to 1,800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. However, these carbon emissions goals require technology with high capital, research, and development costs before commercial implementation. Hence, the administration has launched several avenues for federal funding allocated to carbon capture, removal, and storage programs.

In December 2023, three carbon capture and storage projects in California, North Dakota, and Texas won $890 million in funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. These projects have the potential to prevent 7.75 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere every year.

The submission deadline for full applications is on Oct. 31, with selections to be announced in April 2025.