Funding worth $24 million (£17.6m) has been awarded for nine research projects in the US to explore and develop new methods of capturing and storing carbon emissions directly from air.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), direct air capture (DAC) technology is a growing field that still requires significant investments in research and development to create a cost-effective and economically viable technology that can be deployed at scale and in time to meet the urgent needs of the climate crisis.

The new research projects are expected to support breakthroughs in understanding how to overcome the limitations of technologies that are currently available, including inefficient energy usage.

They tackle topics including discovery of novel materials, chemistries and processes for extraction of carbon dioxide from air as well as combined experimental and computational studies on carbon dioxide capture for sequestration or reuse.

Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said: “Finding ways to remove and store carbon directly from the air is an absolute necessity in our fight against the climate crisis.

“This investment in carbon capture technology research through universities and DOE laboratories will position America as a leader in this growing field, create good-paying jobs and help make our carbon-free future a reality.”

Article source: https://www.energylivenews.com/2021/08/20/us-awards-24m-for-direct-air-carbon-capture-research/