Carbon Dioxide Removal

The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM) Carbon Dioxide Removal Program is accelerating the development and deployment of technologies that remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide removal includes technologies and approaches such as direct air capture with storage, soil carbon sequestration, biomass carbon removal and storage, enhanced mineralization, ocean-based or marine carbon dioxide removal, and afforestation/reforestation to remove carbon dioxide emissions that are already in the atmosphere and counter-balance emissions from hard-to-abate sectors, such as shipping and aviation.

The Carbon Dioxide Removal program is focused on research, development, and demonstration, rapidly scaling up, and deploying a commercially viable carbon dioxide removal sector in the United States by:

  • Funding pilot projects and testing facilities,
  • Supporting research and development for nascent carbon dioxide removal pathways,
  • Galvanizing voluntary private sector carbon removal credit purchases,
  • Improving measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification tools and protocols, and 
  • Ensuring that carbon dioxide removal delivers community, workforce, and environmental benefits.

FECM works to achieve these goals through engagement with industry, academia, technology developers, National Laboratories, nongovernmental organizations, communities, and other stakeholders.

Programs and Initiatives

CARBON NEGATIVE SHOT

To support an emerging and necessary carbon dioxide removal industry, in 2021 DOE launched the Carbon Negative Shot—the U.S. government’s first major carbon dioxide removal effort. Part of DOE’s larger Energy Earthshots Initiative, the Carbon Negative Shot is a Department-wide call for crosscutting innovation and commercialization of a wide range of carbon dioxide removal technologies and approaches. This Earthshot sets the goal of reducing the cost of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to less than $100 per net metric ton of carbon dioxide-equivalent by 2032, together with robust monitoring, reporting, and verification and durable storage. 

CARBON DIOXIDE REMOVAL LAUNCHPAD

The Carbon Dioxide Removal Launchpad is a coalition of governments who have agreed to work together to accelerate the advancement of technologies that remove carbon dioxide directly from the air, by investing in demonstration projects and sharing data and experiences.

As a co-lead of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Launchpad, DOE and a coalition of countries, including Canada, the European Commission, Iceland, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom, are working to reduce the costs and accelerate the development of carbon dioxide removal technologies. Members of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Launchpad agreed to build at least one 1,000+ ton/year carbon dioxide removal project by 2025, contribute to a collective $100 million investment for demonstration projects by 2025, and support efforts to advance measurement, reporting, and verification.

VOLUNTARY CARBON DIOXIDE REMOVAL PURCHASING CHALLENGE

The Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Challenge is a parallel effort that builds off and amplifies the impact of DOE’s own Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize. The Challenge calls on organizations purchasing carbon removal credits to make public bigger and bolder purchase commitments like DOE has made with its own $35 million carbon removal purchase pilot. The Challenge aims to address the non-financial barriers holding back carbon removal credit purchases, including lack of transparency into the market and lack of recognition that carbon removal credit purchases are essential and valuable today.  

FECM Resources

 

Last Updated: January 15, 2025