US unveils plan to capture and store CO2 directly from the air

The United States has unveiled a $3.5 billion plan for projects to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air, a recent technology seen as a possible solution to the climate crisis.

The money will fund four major umbrella programs which include a variety of projects to capture CO₂ air and plants and then store it, the Department of Energy said in a statement Thursday.

The funding is part of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan that US President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021.

In its latest baseline report, the United Nations said the world will need to capture and store CO₂ air and oceans, regardless of how fast countries succeed in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

Long considered a fringe effort or industrial ploy to avoid reducing carbon emissions, carbon dioxide removal measures are now a necessity, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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Plan to store one million tonnes of CO₂

airborne CO₂ capture-storage is the most recent method and is attracting interest, although its potential for large-scale projects remains unproven.

The four major projects the US Department of Energy plans to fund will capture and store at least one million tons of CO₂ per year.

The government had already announced in early May its intention to finance 2.25 billion dollars of CO₂ storage projects, amount also included in the infrastructure bill.

US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, which have been told to do more to tackle the climate crisis, are also focusing on CO₂ capture and storage technology to reduce their environmental impact.

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Source: AFP