DOE Announces CO₂ Capture Projects

Chemical plants, refineries, cement plants, paper mills, and other manufacturing facilities are the recipients of $21.6 million in Department of Energy recovery act funding for the initial planning of 12 demonstration projects that capture CO₂ and sequester it underground. DOE announced these projects last week in the first round of a $1.4 billion carbon capture and sequestration effort directed at industrial sites. The pilot projects aim to capture CO₂ in the range of 1 million tons per year from large-scale industrial sources rather than from electric utilities, which were the focus of past DOE sequestration grants. The companies must match the funds, taking the 12 projects’ total at the conceptual stage to $44 million. The duration of this initial phase is about seven months, DOE says, and then the companies will face an additional competition to obtain the rest of the $1.4 billion for project design, construction, and operation. Projects will be run by Air Products & Chemicals, Archer Daniels Midland, Cemex, Praxair, Shell Chemicals, and others.