Introduction

NETL’s Carbon Management Program, comprised of a world-class team of high-performing leaders, scientists, and engineers, houses the necessary engineering and scientific expertise to manage external R&D projects that further the DOE Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Program’s goals. Research in this area supports point source carbon capture, CO₂ removal, CO₂ conversion into products, reliable CO₂ storage, blue hydrogen production, and critical mineral production from industrial and mining waste.

NETL’s Carbon Management Program

Limiting the Climate and Environmental Impacts from our Dependence on Fossil Fuels

• Ensuring Affordable, Abundant, and Reliable Energy: Providing solutions that are focused on innovative technologies that will help build a clean energy economy, including sourcing low-carbon hydrogen that will be critical to produce fuels and chemicals with CO₂ as a feedstock.

• Developing Technologies to Manage Carbon Across the Full Life Cycle:  Limiting the climate and environmental impacts of fossil fuels through point source carbon capture and reliable storage (CCS) as well as CO₂ removal from the atmosphere to address our hardest to decarbonize sectors, are essential to get where we need to be – a low-carbon economy at the lowest possible cost. This effort will include developing and deploying low-carbon supply chains like cement and concrete, steel, paper, fuel, nylon polyester and other important products that we rely on every day.

• Enabling Environmental Sustainability for all Americans:  Improving the conditions of communities impacted by the legacy of the continued use of fossil fuels and envisioning a clean energy transition that produces good-paying jobs.

Advanced Energy and Hydrogen Systems

Increasing the availability, efficiency and reliability of carbon neutral power derived from fossil fuels and other feedstock such as waste biomass and plastics through RDD&D.

• 21st Century Power Plants
• Transformational Power Generation
• Advanced Combustion and Gasification
• Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
• Advanced Turbines
• Carbon Ore Processing

Carbon Capture

Advancing technologies and techniques focusing on point source carbon capture utilizing both new technologies and the demonstration
of more proven approaches. 

• Pre- and Post-Combustion Capture Systems 
• Advanced Solvents, Sorbents, Membranes and Novel Concepts

Carbon Utilization and Storage

Developing the tools, techniques, and innovations needed to enable safe, , lowest cost, permanent CO₂ storage and to pioneer its use and reuse for industry.

• Long-Term Storage Monitoring, Verification, Accounting, and Assessment 
• Storage Infrastructure Demonstration
• Carbon Utilization

Crosscutting Research

Accelerating science and engineering-based solutions across multiple operational platforms to optimize plant performance, reduce O&M costs and water consumption, and develop the next-generation of structural and functional materials.

• High-Performance Materials
• Sensors and Controls
• Simulation-Based Engineering
• Water Management
• Energy Storage
• University Training and Research

STEP (Supercritical CO₂)

Developing and modeling sCO₂ power cycles with the potential to achieve efficiencies greater than 50%, and broad applicability to fossil, nuclear, waste-heat, and concentrated solar energy.

• High-Efficiency Power Cycle
• Reduced Water Consumption and Air Emissions
• Reduced Power Cycle Footprint