U.S. Department of Energy Re-Opens Funding Opportunity to Expand National Carbon Dioxide Storage Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced the third opening of a five-year $2.25 billion funding opportunity available through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to support the transport and permanent storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from industrial and power generation facilities, as well as from legacy CO2 emissions removed directly from the atmosphere. Large-scale deployment of carbon management technologies provides new economic opportunities to local communities across the country, and it is crucial to achieving the Administration’s ambitious climate goal of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

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“Successful deployment of carbon storage technology and infrastructure requires several phases of project development,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “As we continue to re-open this funding opportunity, we are characterizing new regional storage facilities, helping to ensure we have adequate support for carbon capture and removal across our nation to help meet President Biden’s net-zero goals.”

Projects selected under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Storage Validation and Testing program will develop new and expanded carbon storage projects through FECM’s Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative, each with the capacity to store 50 or more million metric tons of CO2 over a 30-year period. Multiple openings of this funding opportunity allow for the continuous development of commercial-scale carbon storage infrastructure, with projects focusing on feasibility determination, detailed site characterization, planning, permitting, and construction stages of project development.

Read the latest amendment to this funding opportunity announcement here. All questions must be submitted through FedConnect; register here for an account. The next application deadline is February 20, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Societal Considerations and Impacts

In alignment with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advance environmental justice and equity, funding applicants must carefully address the societal considerations and impacts of their proposed projects as well as community benefits, emphasizing active engagement with communities. Applicants must explain how projects are expected to deliver economic and environmental benefits and mitigate impacts; conduct community and stakeholder engagement; incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and promote workforce development and quality jobs. The selected projects are required to develop and implement strategies to ensure strong community and worker benefits, and report on such activities and outcomes.

DOE’s Advancement of Carbon Transport and Storage Technologies

Since January 2021, FECM has announced investments of more than $841 million in projects that advance the research, development, and deployment of carbon transport and storage technologies and infrastructure. This includes a total of $686 million for 25 storage projects selected in May 2023 and November 2023 under the first and second closings of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Storage Validation and Testing funding opportunity. This progress is essential to help drive economic development, technological innovation, and high-wage jobs as we build a clean energy and industrial economy.

About FECM

FECM minimizes environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions across the U.S. economy. Priority areas of technology work include carbon capture, carbon conversion, carbon dioxide removal, carbon dioxide transport and storage, hydrogen production with carbon management, methane emissions reduction, and critical minerals production. To learn more, visit the FECM website, sign up for FECM news announcements, and visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory website.