FOSS & COMPANY SPOTLIGHT: MATT LAUER, VICE PRESIDENT, CARBON CAPTURE, UTILIZATION AND STORAGE

Foss & Company is comprised of a group of experienced professionals, representing the best in class within their respective fields. In this blog series, we highlight different Foss & Company team members to shine a light on the diverse and dedicated people that help make us who we are. 

Matt Lauer joined Foss & Company in July of 2021. In his role as Vice President for Carbon Capture, Utilization & Sequestration (CCUS), he is responsible for the identification of and development of new CCUS opportunities. He has over 10 years of experience working in all aspects of the tax equity space on projects including refined coal, solar, and CCUS.  

Matt’s experience includes assisting in the development of refined coal opportunities, providing financing solutions (PPAs) to commercial solar customers and working with producers of mixed alcohol products and the associated capture of carbon dioxide. A graduate of California State University at Northridge, Mr. Lauer holds a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. 

 

Get to know Matt in the latest Spotlight Series Blog:

 

How did you get involved in the tax credit industry? 

My background has always been in finance. I had been working for the last 10 years at a private equity firm and I was fortunate to work on some fairly complex and esoteric projects. One of those projects involved a refined coal tax credit (Section 45 Refined Coal), whereby, a tax credit was generated for reducing toxic emissions from coal fired power plants. While there, I gained broad experience both from developing tax credit projects as well as securing tax equity investments. In addition to the refined coal tax credit, I spent some time working at a solar EPC firm where I became intimately familiar with the Solar ITC.   

  

What originally interested you about carbon capture and the sustainability industry? 

The refined coal tax credit I previously mentioned expired in 2021 and I was really proud of the underlying impact that we achieved. We ultimately reduced the amount of toxic emissions entering the atmosphere and I considered it a perfect blend of marrying my finance background with my core desire to be a good steward of the environment. When Foss reached out and asked if I wanted to join their team and head up their carbon capture efforts, I jumped on the opportunity.  I see carbon capture as an elegant initial, and ultimately long-term solution, to reducing our impact on the planet. What I really like and appreciate about carbon capture is that it is something that can be implemented with existing operations as well as incorporated into new operations.   We can make incremental changes toward larger climate goals. 

  

What is one thing people may not know about Foss & Company? 

Foss & Company has expanded into helping producers of CO2 (such as ethanol biorefineries, ammonia, hydrogen, etc.) capture and sequester their CO2 emissions. We have partnered with world renowned sub-surface and capture experts to offer one-stop carbon capture and sequestration solutions to producers of CO2 looking to reduce their carbon footprints. If you or someone you know is considering implementing carbon capture into your operations, but aren’t sure where to start, contact one of our experts who can guide you through the process.  

  

Any major changes in the renewable energy tax credit industry that you are excited about or that people should be aware of? 

I believe that we are on the verge of a major transformation in the renewable energy space. I think the Inflation Reduction Act provided us with the building blocks to start shifting our energy production. In addition to enhancing the carbon capture tax credit, it also created some new and complimentary incentives such as the clean fuel and hydrogen production tax credits. The underlying technologies these tax credits support can be mixed and matched (e.g., hydrogen production and carbon capture create “blue” hydrogen) which will ultimately unlock new applications and technological advancements.