The Industrial Demonstrations Program will provide
competitive grants to technology developers, industry,
universities and others for up to 50% of the cost of projects
that aim to cut emissions from industry that also includes
production of chemicals, ceramics and paper, the Department of
Energy (DOE) said.
The program is part of President Joe Biden's pledge to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the program will help cut pollution while ensuring the competitiveness of American manufacturing.
"It's not super-defined," Granholm said at the CERAWeek conference in Houston about the program which aims to fund projects at existing and new facilities alike.
The decarbonization technologies should be something "we can learn from and then have that technology be replicated and taken to scale," Granholm said. The funding comes from the infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed in 2021, and the Inflation Reduction Act, he signed last year.
Environmental groups praised the program and urged DOE to
allocate at least 40% of the resources to facilities near
communities that face environmental and social impacts from
heavy industry.
"This new funding is an unmissable opportunity to
modernize American primary steel manufacturing, reduce climate
and health harming pollution and create jobs," said Hilary
Lewis, steel director at Industrious Labs, a nonprofit working
on the energy transition. "Without investment today, the
industry risks falling behind in the race to green steel."
Concept papers expressing interest in the grants are due April 21, with full applications due on Aug. 4, DOE said.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
