CarbonCapture Inc., a leading US-based direct air capture (DAC) company, announced it has won Phase 1 of the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 (DOE) Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Purchase Pilot Prize. The prize is awarded to developers in the U.S. that can deliver CDR credits with durable storage and a robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) plan. As a semifinalist in the competition, CarbonCapture will now compete to win up to $3 million for the sale of their credits to the U.S. government.
“Winning an initial award as part of the DOE鈥檚 CDR purchase pilot program confirms that our DAC technology and project development鈥攚ith a strong community engagement focus鈥攁re on the right track,鈥� said Patricia Loria, VP of Business Development at CarbonCapture Inc. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to drive our projects forward and, hopefully, begin supplying the U.S. government with durable, scalable, and sustainable carbon removal credits.鈥�
The CDR Purchase Pilot Prize marks the first initiative, and one of the first major government procurement programs, by the U.S. Government to directly purchase CDR from domestic projects in order to achieve the aims of its Carbon Negative Shot of less than $100 per net tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent removed. Through this prize, the DOE will grow the domestic CDR economy and workforce, improve market efficiency and transparency, and establish best practices to advance and improve the most effective CDR technologies. For Phase 2 of the competition, CarbonCapture will negotiate delivery contracts with the DOE, identify and select an independent party to implement its MRV plan, solicit purchase commitments from commercial CDR buyers, and develop a robust community benefits plan.