The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a funding of up to $22m for research on capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air.
The funding, which will come from the DOE’s Office of Science (SC) and the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy (FE), will be used for undertaking the spectrum from fundamental research in materials and chemical sciences to field testing of prototypes.
DOE Office of Science director Dr Chris Fall said: “Accelerating success in direct air capture of carbon dioxide would strengthen America’s energy security and open new avenues for commercial applications.
“While we’ve seen real progress in this field, both basic and applied research are needed to develop highly effective direct air capture technologies on a large scale.”
US DOE National Laboratories invites proposals for fundamental research
Under the SC funding opportunity, the US DOE National Laboratories is seeking proposals for breakthrough fundamental research in materials and chemical sciences.
Additionally, the FE funding opportunity will focus on both the applied development of new materials and the field testing of prototypes.
US DOE Fossil Energy Assistant Secretary Steven Winberg said: “The Office of Fossil Energy is excited about leveraging our existing expertise and research and development on carbon capture, utilization, and storage and working with other DOE offices to accelerate the development of direct air capture technologies.
“Our combined efforts and shared funding is a clear example of how the Department works seamlessly across offices.”
For project three years in duration, SC plans to provide a total of $12m whereas FE plans to provide the projects from two to three years in duration with $10m funds in Financial Year 2020.
In 2019, the FE had granted approximately $110m in federal funding for cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).
