Point-Source Carbon Capture Can Filter At Least 95% of Emissions from Natural Gas and Industrial Operations, Help Meet Biden Administration Climate Goals 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $45 million in funding for 12 projects to advance point-source carbon capture and storage technologies that can capture at least 95% of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions generated from natural gas power and industrial facilities that produce commodities like cement and steel. These research and development, front-end engineering design and engineering-scale projects are a part of DOE’s efforts to deploy a portfolio of innovative solutions to help achieve the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and a 100% clean electricity sector by 2035.

“In order to dramatically reduce carbon pollution in our fight against climate change, we must deploy all of the tools at our disposal, including the innovative technologies that capture CO₂ emissions before they reach the atmosphere,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “What’s truly exciting about these projects is that not only do they put us on a path to decarbonize existing infrastructure, but they also pave the way for good-paying, union jobs—in the communities that have been impacted the most from our dependence on fossil fuels.”

Point-source carbon capture seeks to stop carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere by filtering out CO₂ and other harmful gases from a power plant or industrial facility. Once deployed at a commercial scale, carbon capture can help create jobs in economically distressed power plant and industrial communities. This DOE investment puts the nation one step closer to responsible demonstration and commercialization of this technology, leading to large dollar investments in communities surrounding these facilities.

These 12 projects were selected by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and fit under three areas of interest: (1) carbon capture research and development, (2) engineering-scale testing of carbon capture technologies and (3) engineering design studies for carbon capture systems. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the selected projects:

• Sustainable Energy Solutions, Inc. (Orem, UT) will design, build and operate a carbon capture process that will scale the system capacity to 30 tonnes of CO₂ per day for the first time and demonstrate CO₂ capture of more than 95% from the flue gas stream. This project will be housed at the Eagle Materials/Central Plains Cement Sugar Creek Plant in Sugar Creek, Missouri. Award amount: $4,999,875.
• University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, KY) will test an innovative CO₂ capture system with four new transformative techniques, treating evolved gas from an electric arc furnace. This project will be housed at Nucor Steel Gallatin Plant, in Ghent, Kentucky. Award amount: $4,999,965.
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) (Champaign, IL) will implement an engineering design study for retrofitting an existing cement manufacturing facility, Holcim’s Ste. Genevieve Cement Plant in Bloomsdale, Missouri, using CO₂ capture technology with the ability to achieve 95% capture from flue gas. Award amount: $3,999,585.
• Wood Environmental & Infrastructure Solutions (Blue Bell, PA) will complete an engineering design study for CO₂ capture for the commercially-operated Shell Chemicals Complex in Deer Park, Texas, that will reduce its CO₂ emissions by 95% using a post-combustion technology to capture CO₂ from several plants, including an on-site natural gas combined heat and power plant. Award amount: $4,000,000.
• Calpine Texas CCUS Holdings, LLC (Houston, TX) will conduct an engineering design study on a commercial-scale, second-generation carbon capture system to capture 95% of total CO₂ emissions from the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) co-generation facility, Calpine Deer Park Energy Center, in Deer Park, Texas, and applying a technology previously tested at commercial scale for CO₂ capture from coal flue gas streams. Award amount: $4,791,966.
• General Electric Company, GE Research (Niskayuna, NY) will develop a design to capture 95% of CO₂ from NGCC flue gas with the potential to reduce electricity costs by at least 15%. Award amount: $1,499,992.
• SRI International (Menlo Park, CA) will design, build and test a technology that can capture CO₂ at 95% or better efficiency to demonstrate progress toward a 20% cost reduction compared with current performance of an NGCC plant with carbon capture. Award amount: $1,499,759.
• CORMETECH, Inc. (Charlotte, NC) will further develop, optimize and test a new, lower cost technology to capture CO₂ from NGCC plant flue gas, which will enhance scalability to large NGCC plants. Award amount: $2,500,000.
• TDA Research, Inc. (Wheat Ridge, CO) will build and test a transformational post-combustion capture process using simulated NGCC flue gas that will demonstrate improved performance while meeting DOE capture targets. Award amount: $2,500,000.
• University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, KY) will address technical challenges from low CO₂ and high oxygen concentrations in NGCC flue gas, along with a high CO₂ capture efficiency, through a process resulting in negative CO₂ emissions and lower costs. Award amount: $2,452,268.
• ION Clean Energy (Boulder, CO) will perform an engineering design study for a carbon capture system that will be retrofitted onto the existing Calpine Delta Energy Center (DEC), in Pittsburg, California, to capture 95% of the CO₂ emissions for geologic storage in the nearby Sacramento Basin. Award amount: $5,811,210.
• GE Gas Power (Schenectady, NY) will complete an engineering design study to incorporate a 95% commercial carbon capture solution into an existing NGCC site that will provide advanced operability, lower costs and high efficiency, and will also be scalable to other commercial sites. Award amount: $5,771,670.

“These projects demonstrate Colorado’s leadership in advancing innovative solutions to climate change while sustaining high quality jobs,” said U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (CO). “Climate change is an urgent crisis that demands an all-of-the-above approach. Investing in carbon capture will advance technological solutions, bring costs down, and cut emissions in order to prevent the worst effects of climate change.”

A detailed list of the selected projects and their associated areas of interest can be found here.

FECM funds research, development, demonstration and deployment projects to decarbonize power generation and industrial sources, to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and to mitigate the environmental impacts of fossil fuel use. To learn more, visit the FECM website, sign up for FECM news announcements and visit the NETL website.