The US Department of Energy took a pair of steps to advance carbon capture technologies over several days. DOE Sec. Rick Perry announced $36 million in funding on Sept. 22 to support cost-shared projects research and development to continue development to either the engineering scale or a commercial design. He then reportedly asked the National Petroleum Council 3 days later to help find more ways to use captured carbon in enhanced oil recovery.
In its Sept. 22 funding opportunity announcement (FOA), DOE said that selected projects would fall under two areas of interest:
• Up to four awards, with combined DOE funding of as much as $30 million, for scaling of carbon capture technologies to engineering scales using existing host site systems.
• Up to two awards, with combined DOE funding of as much as $6 million for initial engineering, testing, and design for a commercial-scale, post-combustion carbon dioxide capture system.
“Carbon capture technologies are one of the most effective ways we can continue to leverage the sustainability of our nation’s fossil fuel resources while advancing environmental stewardship,” Perry said.
The projects will undertake engineering-scale testing of transformational solvent—or membrane-based CO2—capture technologies, and will conduct design work for a commercial-scale, post-combustion CO2-capture system at an existing coal-fueled generating unit, according to DOE’s Fossil Energy Office.
Reuters reported that at the Sept. 25 NPC meeting Perry said he wanted to hear from the oil industry on how to deploy the technology more widely, and to provide policy and research and development recommendations.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
