Department of Energy Announces $30 Million for Transformational Carbon Capture Technologies



Washington, DC - - (September 27, 2018) - - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing up to $30 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development (R&D) under the second closing of the Office of Fossil Energy’s (FE’s) Novel and Enabling Carbon Capture Transformational Technologies funding opportunity announcement.

Selected projects will support the development of solvent, sorbent, and membrane technologies to address scientific challenges and knowledge gaps associated with reducing the cost of carbon capture, supporting DOE’s goal to develop technologies that can significantly reduce the cost of CO2 capture from coal fired power plants.

Specifically, projects must address one area of interest, Development of Novel Transformational Materials and Processes, with the following three subtopics:

Subtopic 1A: Novel Solvents for Lab-Scale R&D

Projects under this subtopic will support the development of high-performance capture systems via the design of new solvents and solvent mixtures with the necessary property combinations to lead to transformational technology development.

Subtopic 1B: Novel Sorbents for Lab-Scale R&D

Projects under this subtopic will support (1) development of tailor-made sorbent materials targeted to specific carbon capture applications and (2) development of specific sorbent materials that show enhanced long-term reactivity and recyclability and other properties.

Subtopic 1C: Novel Membranes for Lab-Scale R&D

Projects under this subtopic will seek to fill research gaps in either membrane transport properties or process designs. Research in transport properties should lead to new membrane materials with improved performance, while development of new process designs should reduce pressure drop and energy consumption.

Hybrid systems are also eligible for this FOA based on the three subtopic technology types capable of revolutionary step-change reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) capture costs and energy penalties. Hybrid technologies proposed should be submitted to the most appropriate subtopic.

The R&D requested in this FOA aligns with the scientific challenges and knowledge gaps identified in the DOE ministerial level Mission Innovation report, Accelerating Breakthrough Innovation in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage, which can be found here . Successful applicant projects will join 11 other projects previously chosen by FE to receive approximately $28.9 million during the first closing of this FOA in Fiscal Year 2018.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the projects. More information about NETL is available HERE . This FOA is supported by DOE’s Carbon Capture Program under the Office of Fossil Energy .



Credit: U.S. Department of Energy