據海上工程網8月14日報道，美國能源部（DoE）近日宣布計劃投資高達12億美元，以推進兩個商業規模的直接空氣捕獲（DAC）項目的開發。

美國能源部選擇了路易斯安那州的賽普拉斯項目，作為資金的第一個接收者。該項目由技術非政府組織巴特爾、DAC開發商Climeworks和碳清除公司傳家寶碳技術公司合作經營。第二個被選中的設施位于得克薩斯州，由能源公司西方石油公司 (Oxy)的子公司1PointFive及其合作伙伴Carbon Engineering和Worley運營。

據美國能源部稱，這些項目代表了基礎設施法資助的區域直接空氣捕獲樞紐方案的初步選擇。該方案旨在為建立一個全國性的大規模碳清除站點網絡奠定基礎，以解決遺留的二氧化碳污染并幫助減少排放。

這兩個設施預計每年將從大氣中去除超過200萬公噸的二氧化碳。據該部門稱，這些項目將在得克薩斯州和路易斯安那州創造大約4800個當地就業機會。

這將是迄今為止世界上最大的碳去除工程投資。美國能源部長在一份聲明中表示，僅僅削減碳排放量并不能扭轉氣候變化日益嚴重的影響；我們還需要清除我們已經排放到大氣中的二氧化碳。——幾乎所有的氣候模型都清楚地表明，這對于到2050年實現全球經濟凈零增長至關重要。并補充道，“投資美國”計劃使這項投資成為可能，通過這項投資，能源部正在為一個對應對氣候變化至關重要的直接空氣捕捉行業奠定基礎——在此過程中改變當地經濟，打造更健康的社區。

美國能源部估計，為了達到凈零目標，到2050年，每年必須從大氣中去除4億至18億噸的二氧化碳，并從排放源中捕獲二氧化碳。

1PointFive的發言人在一份聲明中表示，來自美國能源部的資金將使該公司及其合作伙伴能夠與美國能源部的清潔能源示范辦公室進行合同談判。額外的資金將通過推進規劃、詳細設計、環境許可和采購長期領先設備來支持公司DAC中心的發展。

1PointFive總裁兼首席執行官Vicki Hollub表示，感謝美國能源部在推進直接空氣捕獲方面的領導作用，并期待合作伙伴關系，在與氣候相關的規模上部署這項重要的碳去除技術，并使美國和1PointFive成為展示DAC商業可行性的全球領導者。相信這一選擇驗證了我們的準備，技術成熟度以及利用Oxy在大型項目和碳管理方面的專業知識來推動技術向前發展的能力，從而充分發揮其潛力。

Carbon Engineering歐洲副總裁Amy Ruddock最近在接受海上工程網(Offshore Technology)姊妹網站Energy Monitor采訪時表示，國際能源署(IEA)制定的到2030年每年捕集6000萬噸二氧化碳的DAC目標是可行的，但需要改進立法和資金來推進這項技術。

她稱，“當你建造這些工廠時，你需要知道你的收入將從哪里來。今天的需求市場是什么？在美國，從大氣中進行DAC可以獲得180美元/噸的稅收抵免，這很好，但要達到每年6000萬噸或1億噸的規模，你需要合規市場”，“從技術上講，這是一個挑戰，但這是可能的。真正的問題是，合規市場將如何支持這種水平的建設”。

郝芬 譯自 海上工程網

原文如下：

US announces $1.2bn for direct air capture projects

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has announced plans to invest up to $1.2bn to advance the development of two commercial-scale direct air capture (DAC) projects.

The DoE selected Project Cypress in Louisiana, operated by a partnership between technology NGO Battelle, DAC developer Climeworks and carbon removals company Heirloom Carbon Technologies, as the first recipient of the funding. The second facility chosen for the grant, located in Texas, is run by 1PointFive, a subsidiary of energy company Occidental (Oxy), and its partners Carbon Engineering and Worley.

According to the DoE, the projects represent the initial selections from  Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs programme. The programme aims to lay the groundwork for a national network of large-scale carbon removal sites to address legacy pollution and help with emissions reductions.

Combined, the two facilities are expected to remove more than two million metric tonnes of  from the atmosphere each year. The projects will create approximately 4,800 local jobs in Texas and Louisiana, according to the department.

The investment will be the largest in the world in engineered carbon removal to date. US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement: “Cutting back on our carbon emissions alone won’t reverse the growing impacts of climate change; we also need to remove the  that we’ve already put in the atmosphere – which nearly every climate model makes clear is essential to achieving a net-zero global economy by 2050.”

“With this investment, made possible by  Investing in America agenda, DoE is laying the foundation for a direct air capture industry crucial to tackling climate change – transforming local economies and delivering healthier communities along the way,” she added.

The DoE estimates that to reach P net-zero targets, between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tonnes of CO2 must be removed from the atmosphere and captured from emissions sources annually by 2050.

A spokesperson for 1PointFive said in a statement that the funding from the DoE will enable the company and its partners to enter award negotiations with the DoE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. Additional funding will support the company’s development of its DAC Hub through the advancement of planning, detailed design, environmental permitting and procurement of long-lead equipment.

“We appreciate the US Department of Energy’s leadership to advance Direct Air Capture and look forward to our partnership to deploy this vital carbon removal technology at climate-relevant scale and establish the United States and 1PointFive as global leaders in demonstrating the commercial viability of DAC,” said 1PointFive president and CEO Vicki Hollub. “We believe this selection validates our readiness, technical maturity and the ability to use Oxy’s expertise in large projects and carbon management to move the technology forward so it can reach its full potential.”

Amy Ruddock, European vice-president of Carbon Engineering, said in a recent interview with Offshore Technology sister site Energy Monitor that DAC targets from the International Energy Agency to capture 60 megatonnes of CO2 per year by 2030 are feasible, but improved legislation and funding is needed to advance the technology.

“When you are building these plants, you need to know where your revenue is going to come from,” she said. “What is the demand market today? There are tax credits available in the US that will give you $180/t) for doing DAC from the atmosphere, and that is great, but to get to the scale of 60 or 100Mt per year, you need compliance markets.”

“Technologically, it is a challenge, but it is possible,” Ruddock added. “The real question is how compliance markets are going to support that level of buildout.”