{"id":1690,"date":"2026-02-03T13:28:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ayercut.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/how-the-end-of-carbon-capture-could-spark-a-new-industrial-revolution\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:28:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:28:58","slug":"how-the-end-of-carbon-capture-could-spark-a-new-industrial-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ayercut.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/how-the-end-of-carbon-capture-could-spark-a-new-industrial-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"How the end of carbon capture could spark a new industrial revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"
Steelmaking uses a lot of energy, making it one of the highest greenhouse gas-emitting industries. <\/span> David McNew\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s decision to claw back US$3.7 billion in grants<\/a> from industrial demonstration projects may create an unexpected opening for American manufacturing.<\/p>\n

Many of the grant recipients were deploying carbon capture and storage<\/a> \u2013 technologies that are designed to prevent industrial carbon pollution from entering the atmosphere by capturing it and injecting it deep underground. The approach has long been considered critical<\/a> for reducing the contributions chemicals, cement production and other heavy industries make to climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the U.S. policy reversal could paradoxically accelerate emissions cuts from the industrial sector. <\/p>\n

An emissions reality check<\/h2>\n

Heavy industry is widely viewed as the toughest part of the economy to clean up.<\/p>\n

The U.S. power sector has made progress, cutting emissions 35% since 2005 as coal-fired power plants were replaced with cheaper natural gas, solar and wind energy<\/a>. More than 93% of new grid capacity<\/a> installed in the U.S. in 2025 was forecast to be solar, wind and batteries. In transportation, electric vehicles are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. automotive market<\/a> and will lead to meaningful reductions in pollution. <\/p>\n

But U.S. industrial emissions have been mostly unchanged, in part because of the massive amount of coal, gas and oil required to make steel, concrete, aluminum, glass and chemicals. Together these materials account for about 22% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n