DOE’s Carbon Negative Shot Joins Federal Focus on CO2 Reductions

Mark Green
Posted November 10, 2021

Bringing significant focus to accelerating deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions, while also reducing their costs, is the aim of the U.S. Energy Department’s new Carbon Negative Shot initiative announced last week.

Biden administration support for CDR and technologies such as direct air capture, which a number of natural gas and oil companies are investing in to take CO₂ out of the air anywhere, is timely given the recent release of the administration’s strategy for reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and the winding down of COP26, as countries shift their focus to delivering deep GHG emissions reductions to meet Paris Agreement goals.

Carbon Negative Shot is the third piece of the department’s Energy Earthshots Initiative and aligns with previous administration support for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced the administration’s new goal of removing gigatons of CO₂ and durably storing it for less than $100 per ton of net CO₂-equivalent. This is good use of the administration’s “bully pulpit” to advance deployments and signals Energy Department budget and significant know-how will be engaged.

API’s Aaron Padilla, Climate & ESG Policy director:

“We applaud the White House and the U.S. DOE for launching the Carbon Negative Shot. API member companies have years of experience in all aspects of carbon management, including CO₂ capture, transport, geologic evaluation and subsequent safe storage, and are investing in CCUS and direct air capture solutions.”

Carbon Negative Shot’s support for reducing emissions aligns with backing for CCUS in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) – both of which are key to industry reducing its emissions while meeting growing energy demand. The BIF awaits President Biden’s signature after passing the U.S. House last week. The BIF’s direct air capture and CCUS elements include:

• Support for CO₂ transportation infrastructure development.
• Additional funds for EPA to advance permits for secure geologic storage of CO₂.
• Access to the outer continental shelf for storing CO₂.
• Funds to establish four regional direct air capture hubs of at least 1 million tons of CO₂ each.

These initiatives follow the U.S. Energy Act of 2020, which authorized more than $6 billion for CCUS research, development and demonstration, and enhancements of 45Q tax credits that incentivize CCUS projects.

Certainly, bold innovation from the private sector and government is needed to address the climate challenge. Solutions such as CDR and CCUS will help reduce emissions from a range of sectors, not just natural gas and oil – emissions that are among the hardest to abate, including agriculture, aviation, cement and steel manufacturing, and shipping.

For natural gas and oil, such technologies are fundamental to dramatically reducing emissions while also providing the energy that drives the U.S. economy today and is expected to help drive it for decades to come.

Recently, API issued an updated Standard 1104 for safe welding practices for pipelines and is reviewing additional revisions to enable the safe movement of CO2 from wherever it is captured to secure geologic formations for storage. API also is considering updates to other standards to assist in the energy transition.

API supports public-private partnerships that will foster innovation, leading to a broad range of large-scale, low-cost options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the entire economy. The Energy Department’s Carbon Negative Shot is an example the kind of government leadership and support needed to move this innovation along. Padilla:

“Scaling these solutions is essential to meeting U.S. climate targets, and the natural gas and oil industry is looking forward to more opportunities for collaboration with the department to continue advancing these critical climate technologies.”