Biden administration announces $1.2B in funding for projects to pull carbon from the air

The Biden administration will put up to $1.2 billion into two projects that will pull planet-warming carbon dioxide from the air in Texas and Louisiana. 

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced the funds for the two projects in a call with reporters on Thursday. She said that these projects will help to “prove out the potential” of carbon-pulling technology. 

She described the technology, known as direct air capture, as “giant vacuums that can suck decades of old carbon pollution straight out of the sky,” which can then be trapped underground or used in things like building materials, agricultural products or fuel.

Granholm said that the two “hubs” are expected to remove more than 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually — the equivalent of taking almost 500,000 gas-powered cars off the road. 

She also said that the projects are expected to create 4,800 jobs. 

The projects receiving funds are called South Texas DAC Hub and Project Cyprus, respectively. Granholm says the projects will build regional hubs that link up the capture of the carbon to its processing and storage.

The funds come from a broader $3.5 billion program for regional hubs to capture and remove carbon from the air that was passed under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Zack Budryk contributed.

–Updated at 9:31 a.m.