US: The biggest investment to date in reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions was announced today by the Biden administration. 33 projects in more than 20 states have been chosen by the Department of Energy (DOE) to earn up to $6 billion in government funding for renewable energy technologies. This group of companies is varied and includes Kraft Heinz, a maker of mac and cheese, as well as producers of chemicals, paper, and building supplies.
Almost 25% of the country’s planet-heating pollution comes from industrial pollutants. It’s also commonly acknowledged as the type of climate pollution that is hardest to stop. Compared to other renewable energy technologies, alternatives to industrial processes and furnaces powered by fossil fuels have not kept up. By providing funds for these initiatives, the Biden administration hopes to reverse that and create long-lasting models that apply to larger areas of industry.
In a press conference on Friday, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm stated, “The solutions that we are funding are replicable and scalable, meaning they’re going to set a new gold standard for clean manufacturing in the United States and around the world.”
Under the program, Kraft Heinz is qualified to receive up to $170.9 million in funds. The money will used to modernize and electrify ten locations across nine states, including the Holland, Michigan plant that makes those recognizable blue mac and cheese packaging.
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With an investment of up to $20.9 million, ice cream factories in Vermont, Missouri, and Tennessee will also upgraded. With the money, Unilever will buy electric boilers and heat pumps to replace their gas boilers. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the production of packaged ice cream goods such as Talenti, Magnum, Popsicle, Breyers, and Ben & Jerry’s is the aim.
With up to $75 million in funding, Diageo Americas Supply, the manufacturer of Bulleit Whiskey, will also switch out gas-fired heat for greener alternatives. It intends to deploy modern heat batteries and electric boilers that driven by renewable energy produced on-site at its plants in Illinois and Kentucky. Diageo has teamed up with Rondo Energy, a business that received funding from Bill Gates’ climate investment fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, to develop the heat battery.
Twelve more initiatives focused on reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the manufacture of iron, steel, cement, and concrete. Five projects involving copper and aluminium also chosen for financing. All of these elements are essential for developing the infrastructure required to help the US economy become carbon neutral.
Oil, coal, and gas emissions can avoided by electrifying industry and buildings, but only if the electrical system redesigned to function on clean energy. That entails installing a significant number of additional steel-reinforced aluminium and copper power cables. Conversely, 8 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions caused by concrete alone, which is the second most used material worldwide after water.
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According to the DOE, the projects it chose have the potential to stop emissions of carbon dioxide equal to almost 14 million metric tons per year. It would be equivalent to removing three million gas-powered vehicles from the road annually. Its anticipated that the initiatives will help lessen other types of pollution from burning fossil fuels, such as nitrogen oxides that cause smog and soot. As to the Biden administration, about eighty per cent of the initiatives situated in underprivileged communities. Additionally, community benefits plans that include locals and labour unions in the planning process must created by grantees.
$489 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and an additional $5.47 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act are the funding sources for these projects. The projects that have already chosen will need to negotiate with the DOE before awarded funding. The projects chosen, according to senior administration officials, based on evaluations of their capacity to cut emissions, market viability, deployment speed, and possible community benefits including new jobs and a cleaner environment.
