Department of Energy Outlines U.S. Carbon Management Strategy
The draft report lays out the Biden Administration's roadmap for the rollout of carbon capture, removal, and utilization technologies through 2030
Breaking the Ice:
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) just released a comprehensive Carbon Management Strategy report, outlining the diverse tools and approaches it will use through the remainder of the decade to deploy carbon management solutions in line with President Biden’s climate, economic, and social priorities. This strategy is a critical component of the DOE’s broader climate mitigation efforts, aiming for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector by 2035 and economy-wide by 2050.
The DOE is also emphasizing public-private partnerships to catalyze private investment, ensuring that carbon management solutions are deployed responsibly and effectively. This roadmap aims to not only scale the technologies required to meet climate goals but also to do so in a way that delivers clear economic and environmental benefits for communities across the nation.
(Editor’s Note: If you don’t understand carbon management in its various forms, don’t worry! AccumulationZone explains this in “The Thaw” below.)
Quick Melt:
The DOE’s Carbon Management Strategy highlights the necessity of carbon capture and storage (CCS) for both industrial sectors and direct air capture. In the near term, the DOE is focusing on five core initiatives:
Research and Development: Focus on innovation for priority use cases such as capturing emissions from cement and steel production, which lack feasible alternatives to reduce emissions.
Building Transport and Storage Infrastructure: Develop CO2 transportation networks and storage hubs to create economies of scale that make CCS more affordable.
Effective Policy and Regulations: Provide technical support to streamline permitting and ensure effective policies for carbon management.
Community Engagement: Ensure benefits are delivered to communities and that environmental, health, and safety considerations are addressed, prioritizing justice and equity.
Global Collaboration: Work towards global adoption of carbon management technologies, especially in areas with young fossil fuel infrastructure.
The DOE is also targeting funding for technologies that will assist in decarbonization in the industrial and energy sectors. These approaches include carbon dioxide removal, industrial decarbonization, developing clean fuels and products, and power grid decarbonization (clean power generation). The DOE’s Carbon Management Strategy is a testament to the growing recognition of CCS as an essential tool in the climate action toolkit. Scaling CCS is critical not just for mitigating future emissions, but also for addressing residual and historical emissions.
The Thaw:
What Are The Approaches To CCS That The DOE Is Pursuing? AccumulationZone Explains.
CCS is crucial for addressing legacy CO2 emissions that have accumulated since the industrial age. Several climate models show that emission reductions alone won't be enough, making CCS essential to achieve net-zero goals, especially for hard-to-abate sectors like agriculture and shipping. The DOE’s “Carbon Negative Shot” initiative aims to drive innovation in CCS technologies, targeting gigaton-scale removal at less than $100 per metric ton of CO2. To put this into context, one gigaton of CO2 is equivalent to approximately one-fifth of the United States’ annual CO2 emissions.
The DOE is primarily focused on six methods of CCS, as described below.
Direct Air Capture with Storage (DACS)
DACS involves using chemical processes to capture CO2 directly from the air, which is then stored in geological formations or underground reservoirs. It is highly scalable but energy-intensive.
Representative Solution Provider: Based in Switzerland, Climeworks operates the world's largest DACS facility in Iceland, which can capture 4,000 tons of atmospheric CO2 annually.
Soil Carbon Sequestration
This approach enhances soil's ability to absorb and store carbon by implementing agricultural practices like cover cropping, reduced tillage, and organic amendments. It improves soil health and locks CO2 in the soil.
Representative Solution Provider: Based in Denmark, Agreena operates the largest soil carbon program in Europe, with more than 2 million hectares of farmland under management, spanning more than 1,000 farms across 19 countries.
Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS)
BiCRS captures carbon by growing biomass (plants or algae) that absorbs CO2, and then converting it into durable products or bioenergy with carbon capture, and storing the carbon in secure sites.
Representative Solution Provider: Based in the U.S., Vaulted Deep is an example of a BiCRS solution provider. It focuses on turning carbon-rich organic waste (e.g., biosolids, manure, and agricultural waste) into a slurry, which is then injected deep underground into disposal wells for permanent storage.
Enhanced Mineralization
This method accelerates natural weathering processes by spreading finely crushed minerals that react with atmospheric CO2 to form stable carbonates, which can then be stored permanently.
Representative Solution Provider: Based in Iceland, Carbfix is a pioneer in CO2 mineral storage. Its process involves dissolving CO2 in water and injecting it into basaltic rock formations, where it rapidly turns into stone, providing a permanent storage solution.
Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal
Ocean-based approaches increase the ocean’s ability to absorb CO2 through techniques like ocean fertilization, alkalinity enhancement, or seaweed farming thereby capturing carbon and storing it in deep waters or sediments.
Representative Solution Provider: Based in the U.S., Equatic has developed an innovative seawater electrolysis process to capture carbon dioxide from the ocean while simultaneously producing green hydrogen. Its technology not only captures CO2 but also addresses ocean acidification, a critical environmental issue.
In addition, researchers like Mukul Sharma at Dartmouth College are exploring innovative approaches to carbon sequestration. Dr. Sharma's recent work focuses on enhancing the ocean's natural carbon sink capabilities through a process involving plankton and the biological carbon pump (Editor’s Note: AccumulationZone described the biological carbon pump in detail in an earlier Substack post discussing ocean microbes).
The ocean already absorbs about a quarter of human-caused CO2 emissions. Sharma's research focuses on using plankton to increase this capacity. Plankton consumes CO2, and when they die, their remains sink, effectively storing carbon. However, the biological carbon pump is often ineffective at storing carbon below the euphotic zone (i.e., the area closer to the surface where sunlight penetrates and photosynthesis occurs). Sharma's team is developing a method to make carbon storage more permanent by spraying clay minerals onto the ocean surface. These minerals become part of algal flocs, which are aggregates of algae, dying or dead phytoplankton, and other bacteria and organic matter. When consumed by zooplankton, the flocs' density increases, allowing them to sink into the deep ocean and sequester carbon for longer periods.
Afforestation / Reforestation
Planting trees (afforestation) or restoring forests (reforestation) captures atmospheric CO2 as the trees grow, storing carbon in the biomass and soils over long periods.
Representative Solution Provider: Blue Forest is a UAE-based project developer committed to the protection and restoration of mangrove forests, which are the most efficient carbon sinks globally (Mangroves can store 5x-10x more CO2 than other tree species).
Final Thoughts
While all of these CCS methods seems promising, careful consideration of potential ecological impacts is necessary before implementing such strategies on a large scale. The challenge now lies in scaling these technologies, reducing their costs, and implementing them in ways that are simultaneously effective and environmentally responsible.