STATEMENT: U.S. Heavy Industry Awarded $6 Billion to Modernize and Decarbonize
WASHINGTON (March 25, 2024) — Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $6 billion worth of projects to catalyze greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in energy-intensive heavy industries. The Industrial Demonstration Program — by far the largest federal funding program for industrial decarbonization — was authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) announced 33 first- or early-of-a-kind commercial-scale projects across 20 states that will demonstrate technical and commercial viability of decarbonization technologies. Investments in these technologies will promote widespread adoption in some of the most emissions-intensive sectors in the U.S., such as steel, cement and chemicals.
Following is a statement from Angela Anderson, Director of Industrial Innovation and Carbon Removal, U.S. Climate, World Resources Institute:
“The U.S. is investing in modernizing industrial operations at such a large scale because cleaner and safer facilities are essential to our future. As emissions from electricity generation and transportation fall, the industrial sector could soon become the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
“Today’s awards demonstrate that U.S. companies across heavy industrial sectors such as cement, steel and chemicals are willing and able to change the way they produce goods to reduce carbon emissions.
“Technological innovations are rapidly becoming commercially available and awards like these can help them scale and become cost competitive.
“The pathway to a fossil- and emissions-free industrial sector will not be quick nor easy and industry will need continued support to decarbonize. But DOE and these leading businesses show that transformational technology is here today and will catalyze faster and deeper emissions reductions in the years ahead.”