- The US Energy Department has provided $6 billion in federal funding to cut carbon emissions.
- Dow Chemical will receive up to $95 million for a U.S. Gulf Coast facility to use approximately 100,000 tons of CO2 annually.
The US Energy Department has provided $6 billion in federal funding to subsidise 33 industrial projects in 20 states to cut carbon emissions. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will unveil the awards during a visit to a Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corp facility in Middletown, Ohio, which will receive up to $500 million to install two new electric arc furnaces and hydrogen-based technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 million tons.
Also, Granholm said the initiative, the single largest industrial decarbonisation investment in U.S. history, would leverage $20 billion, including the companies’ share of the costs. Together, the projects are expected to eliminate 14 million metric tons of pollution each year, equivalent to taking some 3 million gas-powered vehicles off the road, she said.
Granholm said the funding would slash emissions from industries such as iron and steel, cement, concrete, aluminium, chemicals, food and beverages, pulp and paper, which account for about a third of U.S. carbon emissions.
Dow Chemical will receive up to $95 million for a U.S. Gulf Coast facility to use approximately 100,000 tons of CO2 annually to produce key components of electrolyte solutions needed for electric vehicle batteries, while Kraft Heinz will get up to $170.9 million to upgrade and decarbonize operations at 10 facilities, reducing annual emissions by more than 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
ExxonMobil won a $331.9 million award to enable the use of hydrogen in place of natural gas for ethylene production in Baytown, Texas, for the key chemical feedstock in textiles, synthetic rubbers, and plastic resins. The Energy Department said nearly 80% of the projects are in disadvantaged communities that had experienced years of divestment.