Carbon Storage Program: U.S. Energy Department To Commit $2.25b

The U.S. Department of Energy intends to commit $2.25 billion for projects to store carbon dioxide underground and help fight climate change, it said on Thursday.

The funding for carbon storage validation and testing over the next five years will come from the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden last year.

Grubert said the money would come “quickly” but gave no further details on timing.

The program will look at storing carbon from projects including capturing emissions from power plants and other industrial sites or removing carbon directly from the air.

It will look at potential storage sites both onshore and offshore, such as depleted oil and natural gas fields under the seabed in the Gulf of Mexico.

Capturing carbon emissions from power plants adds costs to the generation of electricity and companies typically want subsidies to help cover the expense.