U.S. govt funds $3.5bln carbon capture program

STORY: The Dept of Energy is paying for four large-scale regional projects to remove CO2 from the air

The Biden administration says the technology is needed to meet 2050 net zero emissions targets

Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Energy Secretary:

“The UN's latest climate report made clear that removing legacy carbon pollution from the air through direct air capture and safely storing it is an essential weapon in our fight against the climate crisis.”

Current carbon removal technology can only suck up small amounts of CO2

Source: DOE

But by midcentury carbon removal must sequester the equivalent emissions of 250 million vehicles per year

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has offered inventors $100mln to develop new processes

Big tech firms like Google, Shopify, Meta, and Stripe have also launched a $1bln fund

It will buy carbon removal credits in advance, as a way of incentivizing industry innovation