A $100 million grant program aimed at subsidizing carbon recycling purchases by state and local governments, as well as public utilities was announced. The initiative, spearheaded by the Energy Department, will fund a range of technologies and projects that recycle carbon waste, work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build a circular economy — an economic model based on manufacturing goods from things that have already been produced.
Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said that the funding will also help stimulate demand and make these technologies more competitive. “The program will significantly lower the cost of these products for state and local governments and public utilities, which in turn will increase the size of the market for recycled carbon,” he said.
The funding consists of grants to help cities and towns pay for carbon recycling technologies that transform waste emissions into valuable resources. The Energy Department said municipalities can apply for grants to fund projects that either divert waste or reduce future carbon emissions, which can include recyclable materials that would otherwise end up in landfills.
“We’re figuring out how to pull carbon out of our waste emissions or even directly from the air and turn that back into the concrete or the plastic or some other valuable useful thing,” said Noah Deich, deputy assistant secretary for carbon management. “Even potentially things like aviation fuel or other types of fossil fuel today can be made directly from those CO2 emissions.”