[USA] DOE announces $20 million in funding for four regional CCUS projects

On October 15, 2021, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that $20 million in funding was awarded to four projects working to accelerate the regional deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).[1] According to the news release, expanding the deployment of CCUS will reduce CO2 emissions from industrial sources and help the U.S. achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The projects, referred to as Regional Initiatives to Accelerate CCUS Deployment, represent all four corners of the country and will each receive $5 million in funding. The Regional Initiatives are university-led partnerships with academia, non-governmental organizations, industry leaders, and local and state governments. They include:

  • Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, OH: the Regional Initiative to Accelerate CCUS Deployment in the Midwestern and Northeastern USA project will consist of 20 Midwestern and Northwestern states to review regional infrastructure and technical challenges to deploying CCUS in three sedimentary basins and the Arches province.

  • New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, NM: the Carbon Utilization and Storage Partnership of the Western United States project will be in 15 Western states and focus on compiling geologic datasets in the region for storage resource analyses and identifying lapses in data.

  • Southern States Energy Board in Peachtree Corners, GA: the Southeast Regional Carbon Utilization and Storage Partnership project will extend across 15 Southeast states in an effort to identify at least 50 potential regional sites to evaluate storage resource potential and infrastructure needs.

  • University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks, ND: the Plains CO2 Reduction project consists of 13 Northwest states and four Canadian provinces to identify and address onshore regional storage and transport challenges facing the commercial deployment of CCUS.

The initiatives will work to identify and promote CCUS projects by addressing technical challenges to deployment; facilitating the collection, sharing, and analysis of data; evaluating regional storage and transport infrastructure; and promoting regional transfer of technologies.


[1] https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-awards-20-million-help-states-deploy-carbon-capture-and-storage