Feds announce $6B plan to decarbonize industries
The Energy Department on Monday announced up to $6 billion for 33 projects across more than 20 states to decarbonize energy-intensive industries and reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters in a call ahead of the announcement that when factoring in the companies’ share in the projects, the initiative’s total investment would amount to $20 billion.
“These projects offer solutions to slash emissions in some of the highest emitting sectors of our economy, including iron and steel and aluminum, cement, concrete chemicals, food and beverages, pulp and paper,” she said. “And together these industries make up roughly a third of our CO2 emissions of our carbon footprint.”
Billed as the ‘largest-ever investment’ in decarbonizing industry, the projects, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, will eliminate 14 million metric tons of pollution each year, according to the Department of Energy.
“That’s equivalent to taking about 3 million gas powered cars off the road,” said Granholm.
In Ravenswood, West Virginia, for instance, Constellium, a manufacturer of aluminum products, could get up to $75 million in federal funding to deploy a first-of-its-kind, zero-carbon aluminum casting plant. The aluminum rolling facility, which is one of the largest in the world, supplies material to the aerospace, defense, marine and transportation sectors.
Multinational food company Kraft Heinz will get up to $170.9 million to upgrade, electrify and decarbonize food production at 10 facilities nationwide, including in Holland, Michigan, where the company produces its famous Mac and Cheese.
“It takes a whole lot of heat to dry all that macaroni, which produces a whole lot of emissions,” Granholm said. “And so this project is going to deploy clean
“These projects offer solutions to slash emissions in some of the highest emitting sectors of our economy,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. “... And together these industries make up roughly a third of our CO2 emissions of our carbon footprint.” tech like heat pumps and electric heaters and electric boilers to slash those emissions by 99%.”
Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corp., America’s largest flat-rolled steel producer, will be retiring a blast furnace and installing two electric furnaces. The project will receive up to $500 million in federal funding.
“This will slash emissions at the facility by one million tons of greenhouse gases each year, which means cleaner water, cleaner air for the Middletown community,” Granholm said.
Nearly 80% of the projects are located in a disadvantaged community, as defined by President Joe Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, offering a significant opportunity to invest in good jobs and clean air in communities that have experienced years of divestment, the department notes.
For instance the Cleveland-Cliffs project anticipates creating 170 permanent jobs and 1,200 temporary union construction jobs, while preserving the site’s existing 2,500 jobs – including 2,000 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.