DOE announces $171M for 49 projects aimed at reducing emissions, developing decarbonization technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $171 million for projects in 21 states focused on cutting industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and speeding the development of decarbonization technologies.
This will go hand-in-hand with another $83 million funding opportunity for those looking to decrease emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors. Both offers support the Biden administration’s Industrial Heat Shot and Clean Fuels & Products Shot, along with its overall goal to achieve net-zero emissions for the U.S. by 2050.
“Today’s announcement will help advance the innovative technologies we need to lower costs and improve energy efficiency in America’s factories and industrial centers,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. “Ensuring America’s industrial sector and its robust workforce remain strong and competitive is key to maintaining our nation’s edge as a global economic powerhouse and accelerating President Biden’s vision of a strong, made-in-America clean energy future.”
The $171 million portion went to 49 projects in all, under the oversight of the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office. Of these, 16 are led by private industry, another 22 by academic institutions, eight by DOE national labs, and three by non-profits. They could be further split into eight areas:
- Decarbonizing Industrial Heat (10 projects, $25.3 million): accelerating high-impact technology innovations for equipment and components to decarbonize thermal processes
- Low-Carbon Fuels Utilization R&D (6 projects, $20.7 million): research, development, validation, and demonstration projects to accelerate commercialization of hydrogen-fueled process heating technology and low carbon, flexible combined heat and power
- Exploratory Cross-Sector R&D (5 projects, $14 million): emerging R&D areas of technologies and materials that allow decarbonization and increase energy efficiency
- Decarbonizing Chemicals (6 projects, $30.5 million): converting between chemical building blocks to create consumer and industrial products, with a focus on decarbonization technologies for high-volume chemicals with serious COS2 emissions
- Decarbonizing Iron and Steel (7 projects, $37 million): decarbonization opportunities in iron and steel production; electrifying manufacturing processes; addressing challenges with hydrogen utilization in steelmaking; and reducing scrap contaminants in recycling
- Decarbonizing Food and Beverage Manufacturing (5 projects, $11.1 million): low- and zero-carbon solutions for process heating, cooling and refrigeration in various energy-intensive food and beverage operations
- Decarbonizing Cement and Concrete (5 projects, $20 million): addressing cement’s direct process emissions and hastening commercialization of new low-carbon or net-zero technologies for the industry that offer energy savings and other benefits
- Decarbonizing Forest Products (5 projects, $12 million): decarbonization opportunities in energy-intensive drying, paper forming, and pulping processes
Looking ahead, the new $83 million Energy and Emissions-Intensive Industries funding opportunity will focus on applied RD&D for the highest emissions industrial subsectors, which together account or more than 65 percent of U.S. industrial manufacturing emissions. Concept papers will be due by the end of March 19, 2024, and will likely be followed by an award of cooperative agreements.
