NETL is exploring new avenues by which Appalachian energy communities can realize exciting new economic opportunities through the use of carbon-neutral modular gasification technologies to produce hydrogen and other valuable products. The Lab recently released a report that details the availability of waste coal and biomass within Appalachia and explores various opportunities for using these resources to provide new economic activities for mining and power production communities throughout Appalachia. NETL collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research Office to conduct the study.

The November 2021 edition of RWFI E-Note Monthly, the newsletter of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative, details a funding opportunity from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that focuses on increasing and broadening the participation of students in engineering careers. The NSF seeks to strengthen the future U.S. engineering workforce by enabling and encouraging the participation of all citizens in the engineering enterprise. The Broadening Participation in Engineering Program is supporting not only research to increase interest in engineering, but also collaborative endeavors to foster the professional development of a diverse and well-prepared engineering workforce. In addition, the program encourages the development of innovative approaches to building capacity through inclusivity and equity within the engineering academic experience.

NETL’s Program Execution and Integration functions are powered by highly trained experts that are developing clean energy technologies, assisting with problem-solving and evaluating and managing project risk, as well as defining, soliciting, negotiating, awarding, managing and delivering federally sponsored research and development benefits to the nation. Applying these assets, NETL has guided a range of successful research, development and demonstration projects. A sample of NETL’s many collaborative successes in 2021 follow: A University of California, Los Angeles technology developed in cooperation with NETL won the grand prize of $7.5 million in the prestigious NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE global competition for the development of an eco-friendly process that infuses a revolutionary concrete with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions directly captured from power plants and other industrial facilities.

NETL strives to realize new technologies for carbon capture and storage (CCS), which have been recognized as having potential to help achieve a net-zero carbon emissions energy sector. However, taking CCS processes from concepts to reality requires reliable data from a multitude of sources in a one-stop digital stop. That’s where NETL’s Energy Data eXchange (EDX) Carbon Storage Data Resources can help.

NETL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), are collaborating with natural gas producer Olympus Energy to optimize produced water management in the Appalachian Basin. The partnership with Olympus is part of DOE FECM’s three-year, $5 million Produced Water Application for Beneficial Reuse, Environmental Impact and Treatment Optimization (PARETO) initiative, which will develop, demonstrate and deploy an optimization framework for oil and gas produced water management.

A forward-looking NETL study is underway to determine how to best initiate and grow a hydrogen economy in the Appalachian region by identifying pathways using existing and future infrastructure scenarios. “The Appalachian region has been hard hit by declining coal production, but hydrogen offers a path to sustainable long-term growth,” said NETL Director Brian J. Anderson, who also leads the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization. “With the Appalachian Hydrogen Infrastructure Study, NETL is evaluating how the region’s current natural gas transportation and storage infrastructure might be adapted for use with hydrogen. We are also looking at what additional transportation and storage facilities might be needed to successfully revitalize these communities through a transition to a hydrogen economy.”

Learn about the latest developments in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/NETL Carbon Capture Program in this month’s edition of the Carbon Capture Newsletter. The DOE/NETL Carbon Capture Program is developing the next generation of advanced carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies that can provide step-change reductions in both cost and energy requirements as compared to currently available technologies. The Carbon Capture Program focuses on the broad portfolio of projects, including post- and pre-combustion capture to reduce carbon emissions across a wide spectrum of industries. Other focus areas include carbon-based power generation and negative emissions technologies such as direct capture of CO2 from the atmosphere and bioenergy with carbon capture. Information featured in this month’s edition includes:

NETL researchers supporting computational science & engineering (CSE) are working to develop science-based simulation models, mathematical methods and algorithms, and software tools required to address technical barriers to the advancement of next-generation technologies. This research helps to generate information and understanding beyond the reach of experiments alone, saving time, money and materials. The Lab accomplished many CSE successes in 2021. For example:

NETL’s Advanced Alloys Signature Center (AASC) will drive the development of next-generation, high-performance materials needed to generate affordable, clean electricity, support growth in emerging U.S. industries and strengthen America’s position as a world leader in alloy design and production. In a recently released NETL fact sheet, the Lab outlines the technical capabilities and benefits of the AASC, which will be based at NETL’s existing alloys research site in Albany, Oregon.

Advanced magnetics technologies with potential application in energy and electric vehicle manufacturing developed at NETL and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) were recently licensed to Pittsburgh-based startup CorePower Magnetics Inc. to bring them to the private sector. The technology license covers a broad portfolio of soft magnetics technologies developed by teams led by CMU’s Michael McHenry Ph.D., co-founder and chief scientist of CorePower Magnetics, and University of Pittsburgh’s Paul Ohodnicki Ph.D., co-founder and chief technology officer of CorePower Magnetics and former NETL researcher. This combination of novel magnetic materials and advanced manufacturing techniques enable a level of control in magnetics engineering not currently available.