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A Message from Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary
This month’s newsletter features extraordinary news for our work at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM).
As you may know, Congress passed and President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on August 16. This landmark legislation makes a historic commitment to climate action that will drive innovation and deployment of clean energy, industrial and manufacturing technologies, and infrastructure to put our nation on track to meet the President’s ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, while investing in communities and American workers.
The IRA features a comprehensive package of clean energy and industrial tax credits, including the most ambitious incentives in the world to date for the deployment of carbon management technologies at the heart of FECM’s mission, such as carbon capture, direct air capture, and the conversion of captured carbon emissions into useful products. Substantial improvements to the federal 45Q tax credit include increased credit values to $85 per ton of carbon dioxide captured and stored from industrial facilities and power plants and $180 per ton for direct air capture facilities, an extension of the credit to a full ten years, the ability to claim the credit directly as a cash payment, and expanded eligibility for smaller industrial and power generation facilities.
By leveraging private sector investment in carbon management and other clean energy and industrial projects, the transformative federal incentives in the IRA will bolster the impact of the federal investments that FECM and other DOE offices are making through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to demonstrate and deploy critical carbon management and other clean energy and industrial technologies.
Taken together, the IRA and BIL provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to meet our climate obligations, deliver economic and environmental benefits to communities, and invest in American workers.
At FECM, we are also excited to welcome the addition of a new carbon management all-star to the team: Tom Curry has assumed the role of Division Director of Policy and Analysis in FECM’s Office of Resource Sustainability, where he will focus on the rollout of our natural gas strategy. Read his bio below to learn more about his background.
We have also formed the Advanced Research Technologies-Water Management program, which integrates FECM’s water-related research and development activities and represents one of the first combined programs of its type within DOE. You can learn more in the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL) summer edition of the Water-Energy Nexus News.
Finally, the coming weeks will bring new carbon management funding opportunities; the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh, Pa. that will gather thousands of climate and clean energy leaders from government, industry, labor, NGOs, and communities around the world; and DOE's first Justice Week that will focus on incorporating equity, justice, and communities in all of the work that we do.
We at FECM look forward to collaborating with carbon management advocates and stakeholders like you on all of these endeavors as we seek to implement the extraordinary opportunities now made possible by passage of the IRA and BIL.
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Sincerely,
Brad Crabtree
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
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Get the Recap of DOE’s First-Ever Carbon Negative Shot Summit
DOE’s Carbon Negative Shot Summit was a great success! Read a recap, watch the highlight reel, or access the full recording to learn what we covered in this event to advance DOE’s Carbon Negative Shot. You can also find out what’s next in these efforts by reading DOE’s vision for building a commercially viable, just, and sustainable carbon dioxide removal industry from demonstration to deployment.
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Tom Curry
This month, Tom Curry joined FECM as the Director of Policy and Analysis in FECM’s Office of Resource Sustainability. Tom has nearly two decades of experience providing business, governmental, and non-profit clients with strategic assistance on energy and environmental policy issues. He has managed the development of methane emissions intensity protocols for companies that operate in the natural gas supply chain and has extensive experience working with companies, investors, and trade associations on greenhouse gas emission inventories. Tom has worked to help companies and environmental groups identify policy drivers for advanced technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon capture, utilization and storage; hydrogen; and advanced methane detection.
Tom holds a Master of Science degree from the Technology and Policy Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with a double major in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. Tom was most recently Partner at Environmental Resources Management and previously was Senior Vice President at M.J. Bradley & Associates.
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What's New in Carbon Management
DOE Announces $32 Million to Reduce Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Sector
On August 5, DOE announced available funding for the research and development of new monitoring, measurement, and mitigation technologies to help detect, quantify, and reduce methane emissions across oil and natural gas producing regions of the United States. Learn More
DOE Seeks Information on Water Research Needs Related to Produced Water and Legacy Wastewater Associated with Thermal Power Plants
Today, DOE released a request for information seeking input on technologies that transform wastewater from energy production into safe, alternative uses like irrigating non-edible crops or generating hydrogen. Learn More
New Interactive Resources to Assist with Advancing U.S. Carbon Management Technologies and Infrastructure
Learn about two new interactive resources—the Carbon Matchmaker Tool and the Carbon Management Interactive Diagram—and access these new tools designed to connect users across the carbon capture, removal, utilization, transport, and storage value chain and highlight carbon management provisions in the BIL and other DOE funding opportunities. Explore the Resources
DOE Announces Up to $6 Million to Develop Useful Products from Coal and Coal Wastes
On August 1, FECM announced up to $6 million to fund projects that will repurpose domestic coal resources for products that can be employed in clean energy technologies such as batteries and advanced manufacturing. Learn More
Fact Sheet: The Division of Minerals Sustainability
Learn how FECM’s Division of Minerals Sustainability is advancing a research, development, demonstration, and deployment portfolio to increase the domestic production of critical minerals and rare earth elements in the United States. Download Now
DOE Announces Contract Awards for the Fifth Emergency Sale of Crude Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Following a Notice of Sale announced on July 26, DOE announced that contracts have been awarded in the fifth emergency purchase of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on August 11. These contract awards are part of President Biden’s announcement to release one million barrels of crude oil a day for six months to address the significant global supply disruption caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine, act as a bridge for domestic production to increase, and help stabilize volatile energy costs for American families. Learn More
FECM’s In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): Summer 2022
Need a refresher on everything the FECM team has been working on so far this year? Read our ICYMI blog post for the highlights of what’s already been a very full 2022. Read More
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 PARETO Wins 2022 Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation
NETL’s produced water optimization program, Produced Water Application for Beneficial Reuse, Environmental Impact and Treatment Optimization (PARETO), was named a winner in Hart Energy’s 2022 Special Meritorious Awards for Engineering Innovation for its water management capabilities. This free and open-source software tool provides an optimization framework for onshore produced water management to help identify cost-effective and environmentally sustainable ways to manage, treat, and beneficially reuse produced water from oil and gas operations.
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It is critical to engage communities, workers, and key stakeholders regarding the societal considerations and impacts of projects that will build the clean energy economy at local and regional levels. Visit our new societal considerations and impacts planning page for guidance documents and other resources to help applicants for DOE funding ensure that projects are designed from their inception to provide tangible economic, environmental, and other benefits to communities, workers, and others affected by these projects.
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National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Week
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Coming Up on FECM Social Media
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August 29-31: Energy Jobs Report
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September 1-9: Labor Day & FECM Careers
- September 12-16: Justice Week
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest advancements in carbon management.
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