The US Office of Fossil Fuel Research has a new mission: cleaning up the mess

Now he’s responsible for helping clean up the industry.

In July, the agency, which has about 600 employees and a budget of about $900 million, added “and carbon management” to its name, reflecting the core of its new mission: to develop the technology and build an industry that can prevent emissions by removing carbon dioxide from power plants and factories, from the air. Wash, transport and store permanently.

The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) continues to operate a research unit focused on oil, gas and coal production. But now it’s been renamed the Office of Resource Sustainability, and its central work is reducing the impact of fossil fuel production, said Jennifer Wilcox, a decarbonization researcher who joined the office early in the Biden administration. She now serves as FECM’s principal deputy assistant secretary, overseeing both research and development units with the office’s assistant secretary, Brad Crabtree.

FECM’s efforts will pay off with a series of federal laws, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which adds tax subsidies for carbon capture, removal and storage. The CHIPS and SCIENCE Act, signed into law in August, authorized (but not appropriated) $1 billion for carbon removal research and development in the FECM. But specifically, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in late 2021 would direct about $12 billion to carbon capture and storage pipelines and storage facilities.

FECM plays a key role in determining where most of the money goes.

Following the passage of the infrastructure bill, the Department of Energy announced a $2.5 billion investment in pilot and demonstration projects to accelerate and validate ways to safely store carbon dioxide in underground formations and to offset nearly all carbon emissions. From fossil fuel power plants and industrial facilities such as cement, pulp and paper, and iron and steel. It also moved forward with a $3.5 billion program to develop four regional hubs with live air projects.

Last week, I spoke with Wilcox and Noah Deitch, the deputy assistant secretary for carbon management at FECM, about the new direction at the Department of Energy, the billions of dollars that will be spent, and how they are trying to address concerns. About carbon sequestration and the continuing harms from fossil fuels.

“We must invest today.”

Wilcox and Deitch face a difficult balancing act.