(U.S. Department of Energy) Removing CO2 from the Atmosphere will Help America Achieve Net-Zero Emissions, Create Jobs The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today (March 5, 2021) announced up to $24 million for research into technology that captures carbon emissions directly from the air, replicating the way plants and trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2). This technology, known as direct air capture, has the potential to create good-paying jobs, advance America’s fight against climate change, and achieve President Biden’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
“If we can figure out how to remove polluting emissions directly from the air, it would be a game changer in America’s fight against climate change,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “Let’s make America the leader in this new field, create jobs, and make our carbon-free future a reality.”
This article originally appeared on Undark.
After four long years of a presidential administration that was openly hostile to science that sought to undermine federal agencies ability to protect the public from everything from pollution to a pandemic the U.S. government is once again listening to scientists. Earlier this month, Democratic lawmakers reintroduced the Scientific Integrity Act, which would help guard federal science against political interference. This legislation, together with President Biden s January 27 memorandum addressing scientific integrity, could represent the strongest protections for federal scientists we have ever seen.
One could easily get the impression that, almost overnight, science has been restored to its rightful place and the work is done.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy has announced that contracts have been awarded from a recent Congressionally directed Strategic Pet.
DOE to award up to $24M to advance direct air carbon capture technology
2. (DE-FOA-0002481)
2 from ambient air, this FOA also considers the removal of CO
2 from partially concentrated air (e.g., building HVAC exhaust) and from natural fluids (e.g., the ocean and surface waters) that received their CO
2 directly from ambient air.
DOE is seeking innovative fundamental research in three topical areas:
Novel Energy Transfer Mechanisms for Regeneration of and Mass Transport in Direct Air Capture Systems;
Understanding Temporal Changes That Occur during Separations; and
Science-Driven Synthesis and Assembly of Innovative Materials for Direct Air Capture.
Energy Transfer Mechanisms. Most contemporary DAC approaches utilize energy poorly, as evident by second-law efficiencies for CO