Energy agency announces $6 billion to slash emissions in industrial plants

The Biden administration announced $6 billion in funding Monday for projects that will slash emissions from the industrial sector — the largest-ever U.S. investment to decarbonize domestic industry to fight climate change.

The industrial sector is responsible for roughly 25% of all the nation’s emissions, and has proven difficult to decarbonize due to its energy-intense, large-scale operations.

Iron, steel, aluminum, food and beverage, concrete and cement facilities are some of those involved in this initiative. Recipients of the funding, which is coming from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, include 33 demonstration projects in more than 20 states.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during a call with news media that the technologies being funded are “replicable,” “scalable,” and will “set a new gold standard for clean manufacturing in the United States and around the world.” White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said this funding aims to eliminate 14 million metric tons of pollution each year, equivalent to taking about 3 million cars off the road.

Among the funded projects:

■ Century Aluminum Company plans to build the first new U.S. primary aluminum smelter in 45 years. The plant would double the size of the current U.S. primary aluminum industry while avoiding an estimated 75% of emissions from a traditional facility, with its energy-efficient design and use of clean energy, according to DOE.

■ Constellium in Ravenswood, West Virginia, is going to operate a firstof-its-kind zero-carbon aluminum casting plant and install low-emission furnaces that can use clean fuels such as hydrogen. The company produces aluminum for a range of products including cars and planes.

■ Kraft Heinz will install heat pumps, electric heaters and electric boilers to decarbonize food production at 10 facilities, including in Holland, Michigan.

■ Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corp. in Middletown, Ohio, will retire one blast furnace, install two electric furnaces, and use hydrogen-based ironmaking technology. The project aims to eliminate 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year from the largest supplier of steel to the U.S. automotive industry.

■ Heidelberg Materials US Inc. will build a system that captures and stores carbon underground at its plant in Mitchell, Indiana. The project aims to capture at least 95% of the carbon dioxide released by the cement plant, which will prevent 2 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year.

“I think the United States can be a leader here,” said Mike Ireland, president and CEO of the Portland Cement Association, a non-profit that promotes cement and concrete. Ireland said the innovative cement and concrete technologies being scaled in the U.S. can be adopted by developing countries in the Global South to build highways and buildings in a more sustainable way.

There are not many U.S. plants that manufacture virgin steel, and even fewer make virgin aluminum, so tackling emissions at even just a few facilities could make an outsized contribution to reducing the country’s carbon footprint, said Todd Tucker at the Roosevelt Institute, the nonprofit partner of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.