Biden-Harris Administration Announces Up To $1.2 Billion For Nation's First Direct Air Capture Demo...

[OKIsItJustMe]

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Up To $1.2 Billion For Nation’s First Direct Air Capture Demonstrations in Texas and Louisiana

AUGUST 11, 2023
President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda Will Fund Projects to Kickstart Critical New Industry, Remove Historic Climate-Harming Carbon Emissions Out of the Air, and Create 4,800 Good-Paying Jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $1.2 billion to advance the development of two commercial-scale direct air capture facilities in Texas and Louisiana. These projects—the first of this scale in the United States—represent the initial selections from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded Regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs program, which aims to kickstart a nationwide network of large-scale carbon removal sites to address legacy carbon dioxide pollution and complement rapid emissions reductions. These emissions are already in the atmosphere, fueling climate change and extreme weather and jeopardizing public health and ecosystems across the globe. The Hubs are expected to ensure meaningful community and labor engagement and contribute to the President’s Justice40 Initiative. Together, these projects are expected to remove more than 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year from the atmosphere—an amount equivalent to the annual emissions from roughly 445,000 gasoline-powered cars—and create 4,800 good-paying jobs in Texas and Louisiana.

Today’s announcement will be the world’s largest investment in engineered carbon removal in history and each Hub will eventually remove more than 250 times more carbon dioxide than the largest DAC facility currently operating. Their development will help inform future public and private sector investments and jumpstart a new industry critical to addressing the climate crisis on a global scale—highlighting how Bidenomics is driving a manufacturing boom that is delivering new economic opportunities, positioning America to be a global leader in the industries of the future, and accelerating efforts to meet the President’s goal of a net-zero economy by 2050.

“Cutting back on our carbon emissions alone won’t reverse the growing impacts of climate change; we also need to remove the CO2 that we’ve already put in the atmosphere—which nearly every climate model makes clear is essential to achieving a net-zero global economy by 2050,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With this once-in-a-generation investment made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, DOE is laying the foundation for a direct air capture industry crucial to tackling climate change—transforming local economies and delivering healthier communities along the way.”

DAC is a process that separates CO2 from the air, helping to reduce legacy CO2 in the atmosphere. The separated CO2 can then be safely and permanently stored deep underground or converted into useful carbon-containing products like concrete that prevent its release back into the atmosphere. Widespread deployment of DAC and other innovative technologies that capture emissions are key to combatting the climate crisis and reinforcing America’s global competitiveness in the zero-carbon economy of the future. DOE estimates that reaching President Biden’s ambitious plan for a net-zero emissions economy will require that between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons of CO2 be removed from the atmosphere and captured from emissions sources annually by 2050. The two DAC Hubs selected for award negotiations today will help further demonstrate the ability to capture and store atmospheric CO2 at scale.

…

[flamingdem]

1. Dang, what if this works

Does it have a chance?

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. So, if you check the release, there are two pilot project here

…

• Project Cypress (Calcasieu Parish, LA): Battelle, in coordination with Climeworks Corporation and Heirloom Carbon Technologies, Inc., aims to capture more than 1 million metric tons of existing CO2 from the atmosphere each year and store it permanently deep underground. This hub intends to rely on Gulf Coast Sequestration for offtake and geologic storage of captured atmospheric CO2. The project is estimated to create approximately 2,300 jobs, with a goal to hire workers formerly employed by the fossil fuel industry for 10% of the overall workforce. Project Cypress will implement a robust two-way communication program with local communities and stakeholders to solicit input into the project while also generating new employment opportunities and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility principles.


• South Texas DAC Hub (Kleberg County, TX): 1PointFive, a subsidiary of Occidental, and its partners, Carbon Engineering Ltd. and Worley, seek to develop and demonstrate a DAC facility designed to remove up to 1 million metric tons of CO2 annually with an associated saline geologic CO2 storage site. The project is estimated to create approximately 2,500 jobs in construction, operations, and maintenance with existing agreements for local hiring. The selectees will also establish a Citizen Advisory Board to ensure meaningful community engagement.

…

“More than 1 million metric tons” & “up to 1 million metric tons” For purposes of argument, let’s say they work, achieving their goals. That makes 2 million metric tons (maybe more) removed from the atmosphere, each year.

The same release states that by 2050 we will need to remove, “between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons” of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

So (assuming they work as advertised) we would need to build between 400 and 1,800 of these plants in about 25 years. (On average, each state would need between 8 and 36 plants.) They cannot be sited just anywhere. They depend on suitable geology. We don’t know how much power these plants will consume. We will need to build clean power sources for them.

We really have got to do it, I just doubt that we can.

[flamingdem]

5. Thank you

Of course have to wonder if China and India can do this as well. Not like there's much time to get on board.

[Think. Again.]

3. Bravo Joe!

Excellent news!

I'm also very happy that this funding only applies to "legacy" CO2 removal that already exists in the atmosphere and can not be misused to continue burning fossil fuels.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. Well... it's not magic.

If there's a coal plant in the area (or some other source of CO₂ that CO₂ is just as likely to be absorbed as the “legacy” CO₂ (perhaps more, since the concentration will probably be higher.)

[Think. Again.]

8. And that would be GREAT!...

...absorbing the higher concentrations of CO2 near it's source would be a very effective use of this tech.

What I was referring to though, is how CO2 emitters are hoping they will be allowed to continue with their standard operations and emissions if they install a system at the emission source.

That sounds okay at first, but directly capturing CO2 at the source is not only very undependable (for reasons I admit I don't know enough about, but I think they can't absorb 100% or something), but allowing emitters to do that would also prolong the use of fossil fuels which in turn would weaken and delay our much needed full transition AWAY from fossil fuels.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. You could magnify its impact by making oil companies stop burning or releasing methane.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/new-mexico-regulators-fine-oil-producer-40-million-100522511

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1125894105/oil-field-flaring-methane-report

https://www.marketplace.org/2023/08/07/methane-emissions-oil-and-gas-profi/

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/07/26/opinion-californians-should-not-have-to-pay-for-oil-wells-cleanup/

https://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/2023/07/24/california-taxpayers-should-not-have-to-pay-for-idle-oil-well-cleanup/70446997007/

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. Well, yes, naturally, cutting emissions is vitally important it's just not sufficient

We need to remove the CO₂ and CH₄ which have already been emitted.

[Think. Again.]

9. yes we do..

...but, we can't allow ourselves to fall into an 'all or nothing' mindset.

Every step forward is just as important as the entire race.

[Lulu KC]

10. I am finding it hard to find--

what is the fuel that runs these air capturers? I may not have the attention span to find it in the article, if someone can help.

[orthoclad]

11. The most cost-effective approach

to reducing CO2e concentration is to leave it in the ground.

I worry that corporations will use carbon capture as a greenwashing excuse to keep drilling, baby, drilling. Willow, Gulf leases, fracking, pipelines get green-lighted. Will they pump CO2 down to force out more fossil fuel, ala fracking?

I suppose we'll procrastinate about emissions until the corps can hold us hostage to geoengineering and carbon capture projects. "Give us lots of money and we'll fix it." Yeah, we'll have to use capture tech, but the patents should be PUBLICLY OWNED, since we're paying for it. Plus complete transparency about processes and materials used, and all data about potential polution.

Sorry, not optimistic about commercial projects, both implementation and motivation.

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

12. A little background

[link:https://www.reuters.com/world/us/facing-brutal-climate-math-us-bets-billions-direct-air-capture-2023-04-18/|

It can cost over $1000 per ton to capture and store the CO2, and is very energy intensive.