Project Cypress, a partnership led by Battelle with leading clean technology developers Climeworks and Heirloom, has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) to establish one of the nation’s first Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs in Louisiana following negotiations that began last August.
Funding for Project Cypress is a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs program. With the initial award of $50 million from OCED, Project Cypress also will mobilize $51 million in private investment to begin the initial phase of the DAC Hub that, when fully operational, is intended to remove 1 million tons of excess carbon dioxide from the air every year by 2030. Project Cypress is eligible for up to $600 million in matched federal investment under this funding opportunity.
Leaders of Project Cypress are determining final siting and storage options in Louisiana, with selected sites including privately owned land in Calcasieu Parish. Project Cypress is negotiating commercial arrangements with service providers, including with Gulf Coast Sequestration, and will use geology that has been studied extensively and deemed viable for safe, permanent carbon storage.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) removal technologies will be powered by renewable energy and will verifiably remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it safely underground where it cannot worsen climate impacts. Louisiana has the ideal elements to support the scaling of carbon removal and storage technologies, featuring a long history serving as an energy leader in the U.S. The state maintains a large base of local talent and expertise in manufacturing and industrial energy and has the geologic storage capacity and available infrastructure to ensure project success.
In addition to removing CO2 from the atmosphere, Project Cypress aims to make robust investments in the local community and region, creating new job pathways in the design, construction, and operation of the DAC Hub, including working with local workforce development groups to identify programs to assist in job training for the project.
The project partners and DOE have aligned on community benefits commitments that set parameters for designing workforce development and community and labor engagement strategies. This will be done in conjunction with communities impacted by the project and with leaders at DOE.
Prior to award, Project Cypress partners engaged in a regional listening program that included more than 80 sessions with local groups and a community briefing in November 2023 that was attended by more than 150 people. To ensure community feedback continues to shape the project’s development, Project Cypress will expand its reach by developing a community engagement strategy with input from community partners through a two-way dialogue. Information on upcoming community engagement opportunities will be posted to projectcypress.com.
Plans for a community workshop are underway with expectations for it to occur in summer 2024. The workshop will update the community with additional information about Project Cypress and share more information about the technologies and project partners involved and serve as an opportunity for two-way engagement between the project team and local community members. In the coming months, project partners will begin recruiting for a Community Engagement Council (CEC) with membership that is demographically representative of impacted communities/community groups. The CEC will serve as an advisory body for Project Cypress, ensuring that the community has a voice in development decisions about the DAC Hub. More information about the application process and a timeline for appointments will be forthcoming.
See the project fact sheet.
About Battelle
Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.
About Climeworks
Climeworks is a global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a service via direct air capture (DAC) technology, empowering companies to advance their net zero roadmaps and fight global warming.
Founded by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher in 2009, Climeworks is on a journey to climate impact at scale with integrity at its core and a focus on the highest quality, permanent removals.
Climeworks is spearheading the DAC industry globally, with the world’s only commercial DAC facility combined with storage installation in operation, modular CO2 collectors designed for scalability, and facilities running exclusively on clean energy. Their growing customer base counts multinationals such as Microsoft, BCG, UBS, JPMorgan Chase and Swiss Re.
At Orca, Climeworks’ DAC facility in Iceland, the CO2 is permanently removed from the air by capturing and geologically storing it for thousands of years with Climeworks’ underground mineralization partner Carbfix. The CDR services delivered from Orca are verified by independent 3rd party DNV.
Remove CO2 from the air – with Climeworks.
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About Heirloom
Heirloom builds low-cost Direct Air Capture technology that will permanently remove CO2 at a billion-ton scale. Their technology rapidly accelerates the natural ability of minerals to absorb CO2 from the air from a timespan of years to days. Heirloom has the only operating commercial Direct Air Capture facility in North America, and its customers are the world’s biggest buyers of carbon removal including Microsoft, Stripe, Klarna, Shopify and more. Heirloom is funded by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Carbon Direct Capital Management, Ahren Innovation Capital, Prelude Capital, Lowercarbon Capital and others. For more see www.heirloomcarbon.com
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