DOE cancels $500M grant for Heidelberg Materials project in Mitchell
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The U.S. Department of Energy last week canceled grants for 24 projects, including a $500 million award for a carbon capture and sequestration project at the Heidelberg Materials cement plant in Mitchell.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the now-canceled projects “failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.”
The DOE awarded the $500 million grant to Heidelberg Materials in March 2024, under then-President Joe Biden.
Heidelberg opened the $600 million Lawrence County plant in June 2023. The facility has the capacity to produce 2.4 million tons of cement annually.
The carbon capture project aimed to capture at least 95% of the carbon dioxide released by the plant and store it underground. The effort would prevent 2 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere annually, officials said when the project was announced.
Heidelberg Materials did not respond to a request from Inside INdiana Business to comment on the grant’s cancellation. However, David Perkins, senior vice president of sustainability and public affairs for Heidelberg Materials North America, told WFIU in Bloomington that the company might appeal the decision.
“The cement sector is a really critical part of our overall economic prosperity,” Perkins said. “So we’re hopeful that we can work with the DOE to help them understand that and how this really does align with that mission of supporting domestic manufacturing.”
A grant for another project with ties to Indiana was also canceled. Kraft Heinz Food Co. received a grant of up to $171 million to install heat pumps, electric heaters and electric boilers to decarbonize food production at nearly a dozen facilities, including one in Kendallville.
The Trump administration has taken an ax to Biden-era environmental ambitions, rolled back landmark regulations, withdrawn climate project funding, and instead bolstered support for oil and gas production in the name of an “American energy dominance” agenda.
Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, called the news “shortsighted.”
Carbon capture has been a controversial climate solution, as skeptics say it enables the continued burning of fossil fuels oil, coal and natural gas that emit planet-warming greenhouse gases — including carbon dioxide — and distracts from the need to cut ties with those energy sources altogether. Though investment in the technology has grown, it also remains challenging to scale.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.