How carbon removal can fuel the next wave of American economic growth

Over the last decade, the United States has built the foundation for the largest and most innovative carbon removal industry in the world. Federal programs have spurred a wave of development — from early demonstration projects to the first commercial deployments of enhanced rock weathering, marine carbon removal, direct air capture, and biomass with carbon removal and storage. This momentum is tangible; there are nearly 180 carbon removal companiesopens in a new tab based in the U.S., representing nearly a third of all carbon removal companies in the world. 

The U.S. government’s unique expertise and experience in driving innovation and catalyzing private-sector investment has made this progress possible. The rapid growth of the direct air capture (DAC) industry was largely enabled by the 2018 expansion of the 45Q tax creditopens in a new tab that provided eligibility to DAC facilities at a higher credit level. Prior to this expansion, there were fewer than five commercial direct air capture companies in the world — today, there are nearly 50 in the United States alone.

America has also led the world in developing policies that support long-term market growth. The Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize — a program I helped design, implement, and run — was the first ever initiative for a federal government to purchase carbon removal credits directly from the private sector and has since served as a model for other nations, such as Canada. 

This leadership is not an accident. It is the result of intentional, bipartisan policymaking that took place over the course of a decade. Neither is this leadership guaranteed. Countries like Chinaopens in a new tab, Canadaopens in a new tab, and Germanyopens in a new tab, are moving fast to assert their leadership and claim the economic and technological advantages of carbon removal. 

International competition is not a reason to pull back from carbon removal policy,it is a reason to lean in. Right now, U.S. policy is dominated by conversations about energy independence, rebuilding American manufacturing, securing critical minerals, speeding up permitting, protecting legacy industries, and setting the stage for a new era of economic growth. Each of these topics presents an avenue of opportunity for carbon removal, and integrating our work into them is how we will create a durable and expansive carbon removal industry.

The opportunities

Over the next year, there are several policy areas that offer real openings for continued U.S. leadership and bipartisan support on carbon removal. These opportunities are aligned with current administration and congressional priorities and would meaningfully advance the carbon removal field.

Securing American leadership on critical minerals

Revitalizing the domestic mining industry is not only a bipartisan priority for national security, it is also key for the continued growth of the solar, wind, and electric vehicles industries. Earlier this year, President Trump issued the executive order Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Productionopens in a new tab to help address permitting and regulatory roadblocks. Federal agencies have also directly invested in critical minerals projectsopens in a new tab and announced plans for nearly a billion dollars of federal fundingopens in a new tab for these activities. This work is widely bipartisan; a recent pollopens in a new tab by Data for Progress found that 67% of Americans support the federal government taking a more active role in critical mineral extraction.

As we wrote earlier this yearopens in a new tab, carbon removal can integrate directly into active and legacy mining operations. These partnerships can provide significant operational, economic, and strategic benefits to the mining industry, including enhanced recoveryopens in a new tab rates of critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, and phosphorus. Carbon removal can even help increase domestic production of rare earth elements, a subset of the critical minerals industry that China has all but monopolizedopens in a new tab. Working together, the domestic mining and carbon removal industries can reduce our reliance on foreign supply chains, improve our energy security, and reinvigorate our industrial base.

Promoting American energy security

Carbon removal complements and accelerates our progress toward energy security. As the Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, wrote earlier this year,opens in a new tab “to compete globally, we must expand energy production and reduce energy costs for American families and businesses. America must lead the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs.” Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) furthers this goal by adding safe, affordable, reliable energy to our grid while providing new sources of revenue to communities across the country. BECCS technologies are set to produce millions of tonsopens in a new tab of carbon removal and hundreds of megawatts of power across the country, especially in states like Louisianaopens in a new tab.

Direct air capture (DAC) technologies can also produce carbon dioxide that is utilized to make critical fuels. For example, the Department of Defense continues to fund several grants that exploreopens in a new tab how DAC can derisk the carbon dioxide supply chain for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). As a 2024 bipartisan congressional letter stated, this program “enhances our military readiness, decreases tactical vulnerability, improves our fuel security, and helps spur innovation in the private sector.

Protecting American farmers

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) companies are already partnering closely with farmers across the country. Many of these farmers apply agricultural lime to their soils to raise the pH and neutralize their soils. This is a critical component of soil health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture statesopens in a new tab that “soil pH is an excellent chemical indicator of soil quality.” Yet, agricultural lime costs roughly $90/ton to purchase and apply, and each acre of farmland needs upwards of four tons of it per year, depending on the soil. 

ERW replaces agricultural lime with different minerals that efficiently accomplish the same goal — deacidifying the soil — while reducing, or eliminating the cost of this amendment to farmers. This potentially saves farmers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, making them more competitive and improving their soil health. ERW companies are operating across the country, but primarily in the Southeast and the Corn Belt. Farmers in states like Virginia, Mississippi, and North Carolina are benefitting from these partnerships, and larger agricultural companiesopens in a new tab are taking notice.

Advancing American investment in Artificial Intelligence

American companies lead the world in developing the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and software. Investment in this space is only accelerating — earlier this year, Microsoft announced plans to spend over $40 billion on AI data centersopens in a new tab in the United States. These data centers consume an enormous amount of energy (potentially accounting for up to 10%opens in a new tab of all U.S. electricity consumption by 2030), most of which is produced by natural gas or coal.opens in a new tab Yet, at the same time, many of the AI hyperscalers have ambitious net-zero emissions targets, putting their desire to win the AI race in direct competition with their corporate sustainability goals. 

Carbon removal can help satisfy both demands. In fact, Microsoft and Google, two companies investing heavily in AI, account for over account for a large portion of carbon removal purchases to date. These companies are also investing in building renewable sources of energy — from nuclear opens in a new tabpower plants to wind and solaropens in a new tab — but they acknowledge that near-term demand for firm electricity outstrips current renewable energy supply. If they wait for more renewable energy to come online, they risk being surpassed by international competitors in the AI race. Buying carbon removal credits allows them to continue investing in American data centers and energy infrastructure while also accomplishing their sustainability goals.

Major legislative vehicles, like a bipartisan permitting reform package, the National Defense Authorization Act, and the upcoming Farm Bill, are all pathways for promoting these carbon removal efforts within broader national priorities.

The path forward

U.S. federal policy has been, and remains, the driving force that turns emerging technologies into transformative industries. Fortunately, we have a clear vision for how to apply this playbook to advance carbon removal. Embedding carbon removal into bipartisan priorities such as mining, energy security, AI, and agriculture, is a win-win. It will allow us to accelerate carbon removal while delivering meaningful benefits to American workers, communities, and industries.

The role of federal policy in the history of American innovation is clear: from solar panels to semiconductors to the internet, when the United States commits to catalyzing new technology, we unlock incredible results. Carbon removal belongs in that lineage.