Washington, DC — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, applauded the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement last week of $2.52 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for two programs meant to spur investment in carbon capture, transport and storage technologies. Chairman Manchin secured this authorization and funding in the Energy Act of 2020 and the BIL with the requirement that at least two demonstrations must be on coal-fired power plants, two on natural gas-fired power plants, and two on industrial sources. 

“I’ve always said that innovation, not elimination, is the only way we can address global emissions. Last week’s announcement of $2.52 billion in funding for carbon capture pilots and demonstrations will advance the technology needed to help reduce emissions from power and industrial sources domestically and allow us to export that technology around the world. With my requirement that two projects be done on coal power plants and two on natural gas power plants, this investment will show the world what I’ve always known — America can produce and use fossil fuels cleaner than anywhere else,” said Chairman Manchin.

The two funding opportunity announcements are:

• Carbon Capture Large-Scale Pilots: This funding opportunity includes up to $820 million for up to 10 projects focused on de-risking transformational carbon capture technologies and catalyzing significant follow-on investments for commercial-scale demonstrations on carbon emission sources across the power and industrial sectors. New carbon capture technologies are emerging from the past two decades of research and development and the next step is testing them at larger scales to help attract the capital necessary for their demonstration and deployment. Funding for this program will provide the support needed to test these novel technologies under relevant conditions in both the power and industrial sectors.

• Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program: This funding opportunity includes up to $1.7 billion for approximately six projects to demonstrate commercial-scale carbon capture technologies integrated with CO₂transportation and geologic storage infrastructure. This program focuses on funding demonstration projects that can be readily replicated and deployed at power plants and major industrial sources of carbon emissions, such as cement, pulp and paper, iron, and steel.

For more information from the U.S. Department of Energy, please click here.