Industrial facilities that filter carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are a promising but pricey way to reduce planet-warming emissions. A $52.5 million grant competition announced Friday aims to cut costs by funding technology that sucks up carbon more efficiently.
The Department of Energy’s Commercial Direct Air Capture Pilot Prize is offering researchers up to $12 million through a competition to help develop commercially promising DAC technologies. The competition provides “groundbreaking support” to demonstrate the commercial viability of direct air capture technology “with the ultimate goal of industry deployment,” Brad Crabtree, DOE’s assistant secretary for fossil energy and carbon management, said in a statement.
Direct air capture facilities use carbon-absorbing materials, power and piping to filter CO2 from the atmosphere and store it underground or in long-lasting products like concrete. Only a handful of commercial DAC plants operate around the globe. They are collectively able to remove less carbon annually than a typical coal plant emits.
To avoid the worst damage from climate change, scientists believe the world needs to both rapidly reduce the burning of coal, oil and gas while alsobuilding up the nascent carbon removal industry, which includes emerging technologies beyond DAC.
