US allocates $24 m for projects on capturing carbon emissions from air

18 / 08 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The US Department of Energy (DOE) earmarked $24 million for nine research projects aiming to explore and develop new methods of capturing and storing carbon from the air.

Direct Air Capture (DAC) is an expanding field in decarbonization and a key facet of the plan to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

“Finding ways to remove and store carbon directly from the air is an absolute necessity in our fight against the climate crisis,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

“This investment in carbon capture technology research through universities and DOE laboratories will position America as a leader in this growing field, create good-paying jobs, and help make our carbon-free future a reality.”

Studies indicate curbing carbon emissions alone will not be sufficient, and innovative approaches like direct air capture will be required to combat the climate crisis.

Direct air capture technology is a growing field that still requires significant investments in research and development to create a cost-effective and economically viable technology that can be deployed at scale and in time to meet the urgent needs of the climate crisis.

These new research projects will support breakthroughs in understanding how to overcome the limitations of currently available technologies, including inefficient energy usage, with the goal of building a research foundation of entirely new and more effective approaches for direct removal of carbon dioxide from the air.

The nine awards are led by two national laboratories and seven universities, including North Carolina A&T State University, an Historically Black University. The awards tackle topics including discovery of novel materials, chemistries, and processes for extraction of carbon dioxide from air, and combined experimental and computational studies on carbon dioxide capture for sequestration or reuse.

The selected projects include a project of the Washington State University and Oklahoma State University on using energy efficient approaches to convert carbon dioxide capture into useful products. The project received an award amounting to $4.8 million.

Also, a project of the University of Illinois, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Case Western Reserve Universitywas also among selected projects as it offered a novel approaches that use electricity or light to control the capture and/or release of carbon dioxide. The project received a $9 million award.

Also, the selected projects included a project of North Carolina A&T State University, Oregon State University, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on exploring new materials and chemical compounds with the potential for improved efficiency for carbon dioxide capture and regeneration. The project received an award of $6.6 million.

A project of Northwestern University was also included among selected projects. The project examined how the dynamical behavior of promising carbon capture systems impacts their carbon dioxide capture and release. The project received an award of $3.3 million.

Projects were chosen based on peer review under a DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement open to universities, national laboratories, industry, and non-profit research organizations.