U.S. DOE Reinstates $1.2 Billion in Direct Air Capture Hub Funding

TrustVal Team  |  22 April 2026

The U.S. Department of Energy confirmed in April 2026 that both major Direct Air Capture hub projects — the South Texas DAC Hub and Louisiana's Project Cypress — will retain their combined $1.2 billion in federal funding, resolving months of uncertainty that had cast doubt over the world's largest government-backed engineered carbon removal investment.

The two hubs were originally awarded under the Biden administration and faced potential cancellation following an October 2025 DOE review of clean energy programs. Their confirmation on a list of nearly 2,000 projects retaining funding signals that direct air capture has survived the political transition and remains a priority within U.S. federal energy infrastructure spending.

Project Details

The South Texas DAC Hub — developed by Occidental's carbon management arm, 1PointFive — received a $500 million federal award. Project Cypress in Louisiana, led by a consortium including Heirloom, Climeworks, and Battelle, received $550 million in federal support. At full operation, the combined hubs are designed to remove more than 2 million metric tonnes of CO₂ directly from the atmosphere annually.

The EPA also issued its second-ever Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act permit in April 2026, greenlighting a marine CDR pilot in Louisiana — further confirming the U.S. regulatory posture toward engineered carbon removal is constructive across multiple pathways.

MRV Requirements at Scale

DAC projects at this scale require robust, continuous monitoring of CO₂ capture rates, storage integrity, and atmospheric removal accounting. The volume of carbon removed must be verifiable to a standard that withstands both federal reporting requirements and voluntary carbon market scrutiny. This creates a significant demand for the kind of sensor-based, auditable dMRV infrastructure that TrustVal specialises in.

Microsoft clarified in April 2026 that it is not exiting the carbon removal market, but is applying a "disciplined approach" to procurement pace — maintaining a portfolio that combines emissions reductions, efficiency, and engineered CDR. This signals that large corporate buyers remain committed to the segment even as they optimise purchase timing.

TrustVal Perspective

Engineered CDR at the scale these hubs represent requires MRV infrastructure that goes far beyond periodic audits. Continuous sensor networks, atmospheric monitoring integration, and digital verification systems are the operating standard for credible DAC accounting. TrustVal's dMRV platform is built for exactly this operating environment.