During his two decades at NETL, William Fincham, a federal project manager, has developed a passion for technology development. His most recent efforts have included working to utilize technologies developed at the Lab to help support a changing energy future. Fincham grew up in Farmington, West Virginia, and earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Fairmont State University. Fincham first came to NETL as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education student in May 1999. Since then, as a federal project manager, he has overseen and provided technical support to projects associated with exploration and production of oil and natural gas technologies (both onshore and offshore), methane hydrates exploration and production, and fossil energy infrastructure as an oil and gas and as program manager has led the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) the natural gas and oil program.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced $28 million in federal funding for research and development (R&D) and front-end engineering design (FEED) projects that will advance clean hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel for transportation, industrial use and electricity production. Most hydrogen in the United States is traditionally produced using natural gas without carbon capture, which is not clean. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will leverage innovative approaches to produce clean hydrogen at lower costs from materials that include municipal solid waste, legacy coal waste, waste plastics and biomass with carbon capture and storage. These next-generation hydrogen technologies will play a significant role in decarbonizing the U.S. economy and advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

NETL leadership and experts, including NETL Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., joined representatives from 11 universities as they gathered virtually to discuss project successes during the 2021 University Coalition for Fossil Energy Research (UCFER) Annual Technical Review Meeting this week. NETL Deputy Director and Chief Technology Officer Sean Plasynski, Ph.D., kicked off the second day of the meeting with opening remarks, proceeded by an administrative update from UCFER DOE Project Officer Omer Bakshi. “UCFER has provided significant results since its inception six years ago,” Bakshi said. “To date, 18 of the 43 funded projects have been completed, and 25 are ongoing. The presentations we saw this week confirmed that the research of our partner universities will continue to lead to important breakthroughs for the decarbonization of the economy.”

NETL researchers, and project partners at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, are developing advanced air separation technologies that produce oxygen, a valuable gas that can be used to make hydrogen fuel, a much-needed commodity for transitioning to a clean power sector.  Air separation technologies separate atmospheric air into its primary components, nitrogen and oxygen, which can be used for valuable commercial supplies, industrial applications, manufacturing and more.  The projects NETL and its collaborators are advancing are actively addressing climate change by reducing CO2 emissions via clean hydrogen generation in oxygen-blown, gasification-based plants with carbon capture and storage.  Clean hydrogen can be generated from biomass and coal wastes in this manner with zero carbon emissions. The hydrogen can be used as a clean fuel in turbine applications. 

NETL Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., will welcome representatives from 11 universities for the virtual 2021 University Coalition for Fossil Energy Research (UCFER) Annual Technical Review Meeting Oct. 5-6, 2021. “Partnerships like UCFER help the Lab leverage its connections, resources and expertise to develop critical carbon management technologies,” Anderson said. “The dedication of our University partners across UCFER to our mission is an inspiration when we see the innovations from see the best and brightest minds from universities across the country.” During the two-day event, researchers for selected active projects will give virtual presentations on technologies spanning topics that will include carbon capture, carbon storage, crosscutting research, carbon ore processing, fuel cell technologies, gasification systems, coal and coal-biomass to liquids, natural gas technologies, and rare earth elements.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has selected four projects to receive $2 million in Federal funding for cost-shared research and development under funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002376, Enabling Gasification of Blended Coal, Biomass and Plastic Wastes to Produce Hydrogen with Potential for Net Negative Carbon Dioxide Emissions. This FOA focuses on the advancement of net-negative carbon emitting technologies that aim to produce hydrogen or other high-value fuels, whether as the sole product or as a co-product. Developing co-gasification technologies is a way to introduce net-negative carbon technologies that can help alleviate concerns about potential feedstock availability and other operational issues. The four projects selected are described below:

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and NETL have has announced up to $2 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development projects under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002376, Enabling Gasification of Blended Coal, Biomass, and Plastic Wastes to Produce Hydrogen with Potential for Net-Negative Carbon Dioxide Emissions. This FOA seeks applications for the research and development of the co-gasification of coal with biomass and plastic wastes. The aim is to advance net-negative carbon technologies that can produce hydrogen or other high-value fuels, either as the sole product or as a co-product. Like coal, waste plastics are ideal feedstocks to blend with biomass due to their extremely high volatile matter and low moisture and ash content. As a result, the development of co-gasification technologies sought in this FOA will help alleviate concerns over potential feedstock availability and other operational issues.

Many of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers will present new energy technologies at the NETL-hosted Spring Fossil Energy R&D Project Review Meeting Tuesday, April 21, through Thursday, April 23, at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh. The meeting also is expected to attract representatives from electric utilities, as well as research universities and private industries who are interested in partnering with NETL on current and future projects. The conference will explore how research and development (R&D) activities sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) are advancing transformative science and innovative technologies that enable the reliable, efficient, affordable and environmentally sound use of fossil fuels. Fossil energy sources constitute more than 80% of the country’s total energy use, and are important to the nation’s security, economic prosperity and growth. Focus areas will include:

NETL’s work with oxygen carrier technology is making waves in the alternative energy field. The Lab’s material research is cutting costs while maximizing efficiency and contributing to America’s future in clean energy while working to mitigate environmental impact. Specifically, NETL is exercising its world-class expertise through the investigation of special materials known as metal oxides, which are important due to their unique properties and energy applications. These oxides can serve multiple purposes as oxygen carriers, which provide oxygen during gasification.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and NETL have issued a Notice of Intent for a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) expected to fund cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects on next-generation coal gasification technologies that have lower capital costs than traditional utility-scale plants. The objective of DE-FOA-0001994, Next Generation Gasifier Concepts and Components to Advance Modular Coal Gasification, is to competitively solicit and award R&D projects that will develop advanced technology that can implement coal gasification processes into small modular systems. FE seeks projects that will also work toward increasing the efficiency of producing coal syngas for applications in power generation or combined heat and power through process and/or reaction intensification. FE’s Gasification Program will support this FOA.