Four Regional Initiatives (RIs) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) are augmenting previous nationwide efforts to identify and address challenges facing stakeholders for commercial deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), a key component to realizing a decarbonized power sector and economy.

DOE’s regional CCUS effort began with the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP) Initiative, which lasted from 2003 through 2019. The RCSP Initiative was highlighted by six successful large-scale geologic carbon storage projects demonstrating the safe storage of more than 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the establishment of regional teams possessing first-hand experience in conducting such projects. To build on these successes, DOE competitively selected four new research and development (R&D) projects under the FY19 Funding Opportunity Announcement titled “Regional Initiative to Accelerate CCUS Deployment.”

These four new R&D projects, collectively known as the “Regional Initiatives (RIs)”, are providing a broad range of technical, procedural, and outreach assistance to CCUS efforts across the U.S. The projects are the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative in the Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic U.S. and Illinois Basin, the Southeast Carbon Sequestration Partnership in the Southeastern U.S., the Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership in the Great Plains Region and the Carbon Utilization and Storage Partnership covering Southwestern and Western U.S. Each of these regional projects engages stakeholders in academia, industry and government agencies, helping the stakeholders fill cost and performance knowledge gaps to enable deployment of carbon management activities, including CCUS.

The RIs have generated and shared a tremendous amount of critical technical information enabling the development and eventual large-scale deployment of carbon management technologies. Together, focusing on CCUS deployment in the U.S., the participants in the RIs have published more than 300 abstracts, papers and posters on RI efforts and accomplishments related to CCUS deployment; participated in more than 400 presentations and panel sessions around the country; conducted or hosted over 100 CCUS workshops, webinars and technical educational series with a variety of targeted audiences throughout the country and participated in hundreds of collaborative discussions and meetings with project developers, state/federal agencies and other interested parties involved in CCUS deployment within their respective regions. 

Due in part to recent changes in federal tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act, regulatory structures, current DOE research and development efforts, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, industry interest in commercial-scale carbon capture, transport and storage for mitigation and removal has increased significantly over the past several years. As CCUS progresses towards commercial deployment, the efforts of the Regional Initiatives are poised to continue providing critical enabling support.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.