WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced $101 million in federal funding for five projects to support the development of carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture, removal, and conversion test centers for cement manufacturing facilities and power plants. Accelerating the responsible development and deployment of technologies to capture CO₂ emissions from industrial operations and power generation and to remove CO₂ directly from the atmosphere will help reduce CO₂ emissions, provide new job opportunities, and strengthen the Nation’s energy security.

“Carbon management technologies such as carbon capture can significantly reduce emissions from fossil energy use and key industrial processes, like cement production,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “By investing in test centers, we are helping reduce barriers to commercial scale deployment of carbon capture, conversion, and removal technologies that will ultimately help reduce pollution and create jobs.”

The five selected projects will support the establishment of test centers to cost-effectively research and evaluate technologies to capture and convert CO₂ into products from utility and industrial sources or remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. Establishing test centers of various sizes that use varying feedstocks from different industries can help establish and improve the efficacy and performance of carbon capture technologies. Each of these projects will enable economical and environmentally sustainable carbon management:

• The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Urbana, Illinois) plans to develop the conceptual design, business, technical and managerial structures for a test center to evaluate and accelerate carbon capture, removal, and conversion technologies in the cement industry.

• Holcim US (Chicago, Illinois) plans to establish a domestic Cement Carbon Management Innovation Center at its Hagerstown Cement Facility in Maryland and explore the feasibility of the testing center location, ownership structure, business model and technology partners.

• Southern Company Services, Inc. (Birmingham, Alabama) intends to maintain and operate the National Carbon Capture Center, a comprehensive test facility capable of evaluating CO₂ capture, removal, and conversion technologies under electric generating plant operating conditions.

• University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (Grand Forks, North Dakota) plans to enhance its existing CO₂ capture, removal and conversion test center to rapidly and cost-effectively test more technologies under relevant power plant operating conditions.

• University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyoming) plans to expand the existing Wyoming Integrated Test Center’s capabilities to accommodate a wider range of carbon management technologies, simulating emissions from natural gas and industrial facilities.

Project funding is subject to appropriations. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), under the purview of FECM, will manage the selected projects. Additional details about the projects can be found here.

FECM reduces emissions from fossil energy production and use and key industrial processes, while strengthening U.S. energy and critical minerals security. To learn more, visit the FECM website, sign up for FECM news announcements, and visit the NETL website.