Energy Department Awards $6B to Decarbonization Projects
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday awarded $6 billion to 33 projects across more than 20 states to decarbonize energy-intensive industries while creating jobs and revitalizing the communities in which they are located.
Funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act, the projects will create and maintain tens of thousands of high-quality jobs and help accelerate the commercial-scale demonstration of emerging industrial decarbonization technologies, the department said in a press release.
The projects will focus on the highest emitting industries where decarbonization technologies will have the greatest impact, including aluminum and other metals, cement and concrete, chemicals and refining, iron, steel and more.
Together, the projects are expected to reduce the equivalent of more than 14 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year — an amount equivalent to the annual emissions of 3 million gasoline-powered cars, the department said.
Many of the projects will deploy first-in-the-nation emissions-reducing technologies that have the potential for sector-wide adoption and transformation, multiplying the magnitude of the emissions cuts and supporting the future of U.S. manufacturing.
“Spurring on the next generation of decarbonization technologies in key industries like steel, paper, concrete and glass will keep America the most competitive nation on Earth,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a written statement.
“These investments will slash emissions from these difficult-to-decarbonize sectors and ensure American businesses and American workers remain at the forefront of the global economy,” she added.
Nearly 80% of the projects are located in a disadvantaged community, as defined by President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, offering the administration a significant opportunity to invest in good jobs and clean air in communities that have experienced years of divestment.
The industrial sector contributes nearly one-third of the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. This federal investment is matched by the selected projects to leverage more than $20 billion in total to demonstrate commercial-scale decarbonization solutions needed to move the industrial sector toward net-zero emissions.
Funded projects will cut carbon emissions by an average of 77%. The industrial sector’s unique and complex decarbonization challenges require equally unique and innovative decarbonization solutions that leverage multiple pathways including energy efficiency, electrification and alternative fuels and feedstocks such as clean hydrogen.
The projects announced today are part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program, managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
Funding for these projects includes $489 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $5.47 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue
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