U.S. DOE Carbon Capture Program: Advancing Multiple Generations of Carbon Capture Solutions

The changing energy profile of the United States has reduced energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the DOE Energy Information Administration (EIA).  However, this does not preclude the need for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) as an important solution to climate change.  In fact, the change only further supports the need to develop flexible and cost effective carbon capture technologies that can be applied to various fuel sources for power generation application.

One of many approaches, such as CCUS, is critical to significantly reducing domestic and global CO₂ emissions, considering CO₂ atmospheric concentrations reached 400 ppm in May 2013 according to the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Observatory.  However, the energy and capital cost for state-of-the-art carbon capture systems are prohibitive for any meaningful deployment. In order to address these issues the Department of Energy’s Carbon Capture Program has worked with researchers to develop, verify the performance and cost benefits of their concepts, and field test promising advanced capture technologies.

This presentation will discuss the breadth of the Department of Energy’s Carbon Capture Program, the latest status of 12 pilot scale capture technologies within the Program, discuss some lessons learned and highlight the selection of transformational and pilot scale projects from a recent funding opportunity announcements.