Decarbonization effort

DOE Invests $45M in Development of Carbon Storage Structures

The Department of Energy has announced up to $45 million in funding to support technology production efforts aimed at transforming buildings into net carbon storage structures.

Of that funding, $41 million will go toward the Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere program, the DOE said.

HESTIA, which is managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, promotes the development of carbon-storing materials and technologies that cancel out embodied greenhouse gas emissions in buildings.

Materials developed under HESTIA draw down and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, ensuring net carbon-negative designs.

ARPA-E is currently accepting HESTIA proposals for a range of possible feedstocks, materials, building elements and building types. Submitted technologies must have sufficient retention of carbon storage over their service lifetime and minimized end-of-life emissions where possible by designing for reuse, repurposing and/or recycling.

The remaining $4 million will be earmarked for developing building life cycle analysis tools and frameworks associated with carbon drawdown and storage in building construction.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm lauded the effort and recognized the potential of building materials and construction techniques as carbon sinks.

Decarbonization is a key priority for the DOE and a key element in the Biden administration’s plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

In August, the department provided $24 million in funding to support nine research projects that will explore and develop new methods for capturing and storing carbon from the air. More recently, the DOE announced $61 million in funding for 10 projects focused on the establishment of energy-efficient smart workplaces and smart homes.